Chapter 7 - Adrian
As soon as I reach her, I grab her into my arms and pull her behind the crates she’s standing next to.
Her body is as limp as a rag doll. She doesn’t even flinch when I wrap my arms around her.
“Athena!” I shout her name as the gunshots die down in the warehouse. My men are almost in control.
“Hey,” I grab her jaw in my hand. She’s draped over my lap, staring blankly at me.
“Hey, look at me,” I say sternly, lightly shaking her.
Her eyes flicker. She blinks several times.
Suddenly, she gasps, and every muscle in her body tenses. A strange, strangled sound erupts from her throat as her body snaps out of the shock.
“I’ve got you, you’re ok. I’m right here,” I say over and over again. She reaches up and wraps her hands around my neck, clinging to me as she buries her face against my chest.
My heart melts as I pull her tighter against me. “I’ve got you, kitten. You’re safe now,” I whisper as relief washes over me.
“What...” she says, her voice small and muffled against my jacket.
I pull her away enough so that I can look at her. “What...” she stammers again.
“The warehouse was attacked,” I say with a sigh. “We’ve stopped them. It’s ok now.”
Suddenly, she pulls away from me, as though she has only just realized she was curled against me.
She pushes away and scoots across the floor before hurriedly standing up. For a moment, my vision blurs.
“Uh...” I mutter.
“You’re bleeding!” she yelps, moving closer again.
She grabs my jacket and tugs it aside, and I glance down at my own body to see a thick circle of red spreading across my shirt. “Well...shit,” I mutter.
Another wave of dizziness hits me again.
“Help!” Athena shouts.
“No, it’s ok. I can deal with it,” I mumble, trying to stand up.
She quickly slips her arm around my side and helps me. She’s so short, though, that it hardly does anything, and I chuckle at the idea of her supporting my weight.
“What’s so funny!” she asks, angry that I should laugh now.
“Sorry,” I mutter. “It’s not funny. I think I just need to sit down.”
“Where?” she snaps.
“Take me to the car, we need to get out of here. I’m useless if a second attack wave hits.”
“A second wave?” she says, horrified.
I tug my phone from my pocket and dial Antonio. He’s here somewhere.
He answers immediately.
“Boss!”
“You, ok?”
“Yeah, you?”
“Nothing major, but I do need to leave and get the bullet out of me. Have you got this?” I ask tensely.
“Go, I’ve got it. I’ll call you later. Must I send someone to drive you?”
I glance at Athena. “No, I’m fine here. I have help.”
Hanging up the phone, I shove it back into my pocket as we stumble out into the cold air. I pull my keys out and give them to Athena. “Do you know how to drive stick?” I ask.
She nods, taking the keys. I lean against the car while she pulls the door open.
I almost fall into the passenger seat, letting out a heavy breath of relief to sit down.
My side is aching. The blood isn’t flowing too fast, but the bullet is still in there.
I was so busy trying to reach Anthea that I didn’t even realize I got shot in the process.
“Shit,” I mutter.
“What?” she asks, her voice strained. Her hands are shaking as she starts the car.
My eyes trace over her. “Are you ok to drive?” I ask.
She scrunches her nose in offense. “I’m better than you,” she snaps. “Why did you swear?”
“I need to tell Victor what happened,” I sigh.
“Surely that can wait until after the hospital?” she says in horror.
“No, take us home. I have a medical kit there. We aren’t going to a hospital.”
“We are going to a hospital!” she shouts. “You got shot!”
“Athena, kitten, listen to me. Take us home. I promise you it’s all ok.”
She looks too stunned to argue.
Beautiful, in shock, and stunned.
While Athena pulls onto the main road, I dial Victor.
His voice comes through the line.
“Hey man, it’s me. Listen, I just left the warehouse. Antonio is there, so you can call him. We were attacked. Storage unit. Eight guys heavily armed. I took a bullet so I couldn’t stay to clean up, and Antonio has it covered, but he thought you might want to head down there,” I say.
“I’m on my way. Do you need anything?” he asks.
“No, man, I’m good. I’ve got help,” I say. Exhaustion rushes over me, and I close my eyes as we end the call.
“Who?” she asks, sounding worried.
“Who what, kitten?”
“Who is going to help you if you refuse to go to a hospital?”
“You are a little black kitten. My good luck charm,” I chuckle.
***
We arrive at the mansion, and I realize I zoned out for a while. The blood loss isn’t helping at all. I need to get the bullet out so I can fully stop the bleeding.
Anthea pulls the door open and helps pull me out of the car. I walk with heavy steps toward the front door, leaning on her shoulder. “Inexplicable imperative,” I say at the front door.
The latch clicks open.
“That’s an odd safe word,” she mutters as she hoists me inside to the best of her ability.
“HG Wells. One of my favorite authors?”
“What does it mean?” she asks, moving me toward the stairs.
“Go to the downstairs bathroom, there’s a med kit in the cabinet,” I tell her.
She changes direction.
“It means you have to adapt to whatever life throws at you. Adapt or perish, that’s what he said.”
“Clever man,” she sighs with effort as she helps me sit on the edge of the bath.
“In there,” I point to the cabinet. “Red bag.”
My head is aching and still dizzy. My eyes feel heavy. I shrug my jacket off and let it fall into the bathtub behind me. Then I loosen my shirt buttons. Movement hurts. Unclipping my gun from my belt holster, I set it on the basin counter.
She lets out a groan of horror as she kneels in front of me with the med bag next to her.
“There’s so much blood,” she whispers.
“It’s ok. You’re going to take the bullet out and stop the bleeding.”
“I’m going to what?” she blurts out.
“You’ll be fine. It’s easier than it sounds.”
Athena doesn’t look like she believes me. She’s biting down hard on her lower lip as she fumbles with shaking hands through the medical kit to find the items I’m listing.
“Step by step, ok. We’ll go slowly. Just make sure you keep breathing, and it’ll be ok,” I tell her.
“I’m not the one who got shot,” she says, embarrassed.
“I know, I know, but you are in shock after what you saw today. I can see that. I just need you to hang in there a little longer, ok?”
She nods, letting out a slow breath.
Despite her shaking hands, she does an amazing job, following my instructions to the detail. Luckily, the bullet isn’t deep, and it missed anything vital. But it hurts like hell, and the more she twists the long tongs inside me, the more I fight the urge to pass out.
“Talk to me, please,” she begs, clearly struggling too.
“What...do you want me to… tell you,” I murmur through clenched teeth.
She pulls her hand back; the long needle nose tongs pull from my body, and locked in the tip is a bullet head. Distorted and mushed.
As soon as it’s out, the pain halves, and my muscles relax at least partially.
“Fuck, that really hurt,” I groan.
She drops the bullet onto the basin countertop and places the tongs next to it. “What now?” she asks.
“Now you have to disinfect it and bandage it.”
“I will, but only if you tell me what the hell happened,” she says suddenly.
I can see she’s fighting to keep it together. Fighting to stay in the moment and not let the panic take over.
I pull my mouth tight, my jaw clenched, and my stomach knotted. But I owe her the truth. She deserves to know who I really am, or I’ll be just like her father to her. A man hiding his true identity.
“The warehouse is one of the many illegal businesses I run. I have a legitimate cover to hide the illegal activity, but where I really make my money is on the illegal side.”
She picks up the disinfectant and works while I talk.
“My family is one of the most influential and powerful families in the underworld of this city. We are all a part of the mafia. I grew up in the mafia, as did my father and his father.”
I notice her eyes drifting toward the gun. Can I blame her? What I’m telling her must be terrifying. Especially after what she saw today.
Reaching for the gun, I offer it to her.
“This is the safety. There’s a round in the chamber. If you flick the safety off, it’ll be live and will fire a bullet when you pull the trigger.”
She hesitates before taking it, but the gesture seems to calm her a little.
She sets the gun gently down on the ground next to her as though it’s made of glass. Then she returns to the bandages. “And my father?” she asks quietly, handing me three painkillers. I swallow them without water.
“Your father knew about it all. He knew the place he was working was run by the mafia. He knew the work he was doing was illegal. He knows the places he hangs out and gambles, and the people he takes loans from are all part of the mafia.”
“Does he take loans from or gamble with you?”
“No. I don’t gamble. Those are the lower-level families that run the small casinos in those areas.”
“But he knew…” she whispers, sticking down the last bandage and leaning back to look up at me with soft, gentle eyes. Her expression is touched by betrayal and heartbreak.
Kneeling in front of me like this, she looks so fragile.
“Yes,” I say, unable to take my eyes off her.
“And you… You’re a criminal. A very powerful one?”
“Yes,” I say quietly.
My head spins again, and I groan.
“I need to lie down, Athena. Will you help me to the guest bed?”
She nods, standing up and pushing the medical bag aside with her foot to clear a space for me to stand too. “Can you walk?” she asks nervously as I sway and hold onto the basin.
“Just let me lean on you. I’ll be ok once I’m lying down.”
“Are you sure I can’t take you to the hospital?”
“No, the bullet is out, the bleeding has stopped. It’s not a deep wound; the blood loss has exhausted me. And the adrenaline,” I explain, but my words are coming out in a tired mumble.
She manages to get me to the side of the bed, and I fall onto it. Rolling onto my side, I’m so fucking grateful that most of the pain is gone. Now it’s just rest I need.
“Keep the gun with you,” I mumble.
“Why?” she asks.
“In case…” I want to say, in case the security system fails. But it never has. It never will. And this is the first time I’ve ever worried about such a thing. I realize that the worry isn’t even for me. It’s for her. I want her safe. I want to stay awake to keep her safe, but I can’t.
“In case what?”
I hear her saying something, but I’m already drifting into sleep. I can’t fight it anymore.
I feel her hand on my forehead, and she whispers something else. Then darkness swallows me whole.