Chapter 16
Mason
I run to her side as she collapses to the floor.
That motherfucker is too close to home, too close to Viv.
He touched her. I am going to fucking kill him. Whilst she was talking, I started to see red. I wanted to walk out that door and go and find where the prick is.
I’m proud of her for getting away, but the moment she is better and able to move, I will start training her in combat. She needs to learn proper self-defense. I’m just happy that she had the knife with her.
She didn’t realise that she had been stabbed in the side, and the pure adrenaline and fear coursing through her body had to be what got her home before they could catch up. How could I let this happen? I hate knowing that this was my fault, that if I weren’t such an asshole to her earlier, she never would have needed to go outside.
Now we know that Rico is watching her every move. He knows that she is our weak spot.
She needs to get to the in-house medics. They never ask questions and are paid to fix injuries, not ask how they happen.
I scoop her up in my arms. “Flynn,” I call out to the man who is closest to me.
“Yes boss?” I have to take charge in this situation.
“Take the dog back to Genevieve’s room, there is a crate in the right corner as you walk in.” I point down the hall. “Give her some food and water and then come and clean up the blood here.”
“Right away, boss.” He quickly goes about what he has been tasked with. Sal isn’t around at the moment so everyone just does what I say. When Sal is around, it always irks me when they question my authority, looking to him for confirmation of my orders.
I begin walking down the hallway towards the basement stairs. The medics are down near the gym.
Her lips are turning a slight shade of blue. She is losing oxygen, her breath becoming laboured. “Come on Princess, stay with me,” I murmur as I make the last few steps to the medic’s room. “Please, please, princess, you cannot go out this way!”
I kick the door open and I rush her over to the nearest bed. “Doc! Where are you?” I call out.
“Mr. Hawthorne?” A new doctor steps around the corner, one I have never seen before. How he knows me, I am not sure. “Are you alright, Sir?”
“I’m fine.” I look down at Viv again, her breathing shallow. “But she’s not.”
“Who is she?” he asks. The doctors are only instructed to look after Murwood members, so I can understand his hesitation.
“She” — I take her hand in mine. She is getting colder. Is her body going into shock? — “She is Genevieve De Luca.”
His eyes widen at the sight of the blood around her collarbone and her hip. He runs back around the corner to where his supplies are kept. Good choice Doc , I think as I look down at her lifeless body again.
“I’m so sorry, Princess.” I put my lips by her ear. “I am so fucking sorry. I don’t care what you do to me when you wake up, just please, wake up.”
The doctor rushes back, needles and gauze in hand. “What do you want me to do, Doc?” I ask. I have to help.
“We need to see just how bad that cut on her side is first, then, when damage has been assessed, we stitch her up, put a fluid drip in her arm, and see how bad everything else is.” He begins opening the packets of the instruments he needs, one being a pair of scissors to cut her top. “The stab wound to the hip is the only thing that is of life-threatening concern.”
I move her hand and arm out of the way so the doc can cut away what he needs. The ring we bought earlier today is still on her finger. That means she can’t hate me too much.
“Mr. Hawthorne?” I hear the doc’s voice, and I look up at him, his gaze full of concern. “Are you ok, boy?”
“I’m fine.” I am, in fact, not fine. The room is spinning, and the sounds around me are becoming faint.
“Go outside, get some air. Clear your head.” He looks back down at the wound on Viv’s side. “I will be fine here. She will be ok, I promise.”
“Ok,” I nod and make my way back up the stairs, heading for the main foyer door.
As I reach the door, I start to push it open. “Viper!” Sal’s voice echoes through the room.
Pausing, I turn to face him. “Yes, Sir?”
“What in the seven hells is going on?” he asks, looking at all the men standing around with worried looks on their faces. “Why is everyone standing around here in the middle of the night?”
“I need some fresh air, Sir. Would you like to join me out here for a moment?” I motion to the open door. “I will explain everything.”
He follows me out to the front steps, annoyance and confusion flashing over his features. I’m exhausted and need to rest, but I can’t sleep until I know she’s ok. I lean against one of the large, concrete pillars. I glance up at Sal, who is leaning against an opposite pillar, arms folded across his chest, waiting for me to speak.
“So, we were woken by the sound of Genevieve’s dog barking outside these doors.” I gesture to the open foyer doors.
“But that dog should have been in its crate,” he says, eyes narrowing in my direction.
“That was my thought too.” I shrug. “It wasn’t until Genevieve came in, covered in blood, that we knew something wasn’t right.”
“Blood!” The sudden volume of his voice makes me jump slightly. “Whose blood!”
“A mix of her blood and Rico’s.” I watch him carefully.
His nostrils flare and his eyes narrow again. “Why was she out here alone?”
“We all thought she was in her room and that she was asleep.” I am also not going to mention my earlier blackout. I drop my head and keep my voice low. “She must have snuck out while everyone was sleeping.”
“Where is she now? How bad is the damage?” he asks, anger lacing his tone.
“She is with the doc, he is stitching up the stab wound to her side.” I look at him again. “She has a light cut from her collarbone to her breast and another stab wound to the back of her arm that I noticed.”
“What about the others?” he asks. “Any sign of them?”
“Honestly, Sir, I haven’t even looked.” I let out a sigh, hoping he doesn’t suspect anything out of the ordinary. “My main priority was to get Genevieve down to the medics and make sure she is ok after she passed out.”
“Smart choice.” He walks over to me and places a hand on my shoulder. “Thank you for looking out for her.”
“She is as important to me as she is to you,” I say as he removes his hand from my shoulder. “Respectfully, Sir.”
“You are a good kid, Mason Hawthorne.” He starts to walk back in towards the house. “Don’t forget it. Your father would have been proud.”
With that last comment, he walks back inside, leaving me out here to think about all the choices I have made that have led me to this moment.
* * *
I am starting to get impatient, waiting for the doc to finish with Viv.
He doesn’t need me hovering around him whilst he is trying to work. This is probably retaliation for what I did to Rico’s brother. Shit , I mean the little piece of shit deserves everything he got that night, and I never thought they would get to Viv before we could get everything sorted. How fucking wrong am I.
Pacing the basement hallway, I want to do something. Why did I have to hurt her? Why did I let her out of my sight?
The blackouts are causing more issues than they were now that I have someone I have to watch out for. I have to stop them from happening.
This is all my fault. I am the one who put her here. I pushed her away, scared of what she’d think of me when she saw the man I am.
I’m not the stupid teenager I used to be.
* * *
I don’t know how long I have been down here, but the sound of the medic’s room door opening echoes through the quiet room. I open my eyes just in time to see Sal walk in.
He heads towards the door that leads to Viv’s room. I watch him, his head turns – slowly – his eyes locking onto mine, cold and unblinking. His body shifts to follow his gaze. His shoulders rotate, changing direction and walking over to me instead. His jaw is tight, his lips pursed like he is trying to hold something in. As he moves closer towards me, there is a cold, focused intensity that strips away any sense of calm he may have shown moments ago.
“How could you let this happen, boy!” he yells in my face as he gets closer, clearly forgetting how he addressed me earlier outside.
I just stand there watching him. I am not feeding into this.
My silence only makes him angrier. He steps back and, as quick as I can blink, he raises his right hand over his left shoulder, swinging back and hitting me across the face.
I step back slightly from the impact but still don’t say a word. Sal’s face is red and he is shaking slightly.
He turns away from me and walks back over to the door to the medic’s room, where Viv is lying on the hospital gurney just on the other side.
Why is he coming to see her when he is in one of these moods?
He steps into the room, closing the door behind him. A way of saying he does not want to be disturbed.
I watch him through the single square window. His back is to the door. Even from here, I can tell that the way he stands over her is overpowering.
His fingertips run down her left cheek in a soft touch. It is a touching moment between a caring father and his injured daughter. There is slight bruising on her cheek from where, I assume, she had been struck. Rico is going to pay for doing that to her.
I hope they realise that it is going to be me who is gunning for them now, and nothing is going to stop me from ending them.
I am about to turn around and let them have their moment when I watch Sal place his hands on Viv’s shoulders, shaking her until her eyes open.
Fear laces her features. It takes a moment for me to realise what is going on.
His right hand lifts up to his left shoulder before coming back down, making contact with her face, striking the same place where the bruising is. My hands ball into fists, nails digging into my palms. My jaw clenches so tightly, my teeth ache.
“What the fuck is wrong with you, you stupid fucking girl!” he yells.
I move, grabbing the door handle, trying to pull the door open. It is locked.
“Fuck.” I need to get into that room.
“What did you think you were achieving by going out alone?” He is right in her face now. “It would have been better if you were killed.”
She starts shaking her head, her eyes wide with fear. She’s mouthing the words ‘no, please’.
“I should just send you to Rico now, let him do whatever the fuck he wants with you.” Spit flies from his mouth as he screams at her. “Don’t you know I am trying to protect you from him! You don’t know anything about Rico. He is dangerous and ruthless, a man worthy of ruling an organisation like Blackmere. But you” — he points his finger in her face — “you are my only daughter, and you are weak! Just like your mother. You deserve every last part of what has happened to you, maybe now you will realise just how strong you need to be!”
I am shaking the door harder now, trying to get in. His head spins around and he glares at me, pure rage covering his features. Shaking his head, he turns back to Viv. “You’ve even got that little bastard out there trying to protect you. He should just walk away from you and leave you to the wolves.”
There is no way in hell I am going to keep allowing him to abuse her. I promised to keep her safe, just like I had promised her mother, and it was a promise I was going to keep.
I look at her through the window again and her eyes meet mine. Her eyes are wide in sadness, her face scrunched in pain. A tear rolls down her cheek. It fuels my rage and I have to protect her now. “Fuck this,” I growl before standing back and kicking the door in, watching it splinter as it falls to the ground.
Sal’s hand raises again, ready to strike her once more. My voice is low and dark. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”
He drops his hand and turns to face me. His eyes widen when he sees my Glock pointing right at him. “What do you think you’re doing, boy?”
“I’m stopping you from doing something you will regret.” I remain calm, my gun still trained on his face.
“Leave. That little gun of yours is not going to do much,” he warns, taking a step towards me. “So you would be wise to leave now.”
“No, Sir, I don’t think so,” I say, taking a step towards him. “I made a promise many years ago, and that is a promise that I aim to keep now and forever.”
“You are a damn fool, I wish that assignment I sent you on all those months ago had gotten you killed! You are pathetic now.” He raises his hand towards me. “Look at you! Coming to the rescue of a weak woman who doesn’t deserve to breathe the air of this house.”
I could pull this trigger right now and it will all be over with, but, as I glance at Viv lying in the bed behind her father, her eyes plead with me not to do it. That moment is hers. But there is no way he is going to strike me.
As his hand comes towards my face, I release the grip of my gun with one hand and catch his wrist. “Come now, old man.” I pull him closer to me, taking joy in the fact that he stumbles slightly at the sudden movement. The monster buzzes within. “You know who will win this one. And if you tell anyone what happened here, I will tell them all exactly what you did.”
“They wont do shit to me.” He spits at me. “They will listen to me and you’ll be fucking out of here in no time, preferably in a body bag.”
“You wont say shit,” I growl. “Now fuck off back to your office before I have to drag you there myself.”
I yank his wrist towards the now-empty doorway. He stumbles his way there before catching himself on the wall. He turns towards me, glaring. “Be fucking thankful you are good at what you do Viper.” The words are like venom on his lips. “Because if you weren’t, you’d already be fucking dead.”
He turns and storms out of the room. Releasing a breath, I close my eyes for a moment before turning and walking over to Viv. She watches me with a mix of anger and curiosity.
I know she is angry at me for what I did earlier, but I’m not going to make that mistake again. Now I am hers full-time. I will train her to be able to take down Sal once and for all. After seeing the way that he treats her when no one is around, even while she is in pain, I know that Murwood will be better off without him leading.
She tries to say something, but I just shake my head and place a finger against my lips. “Shhh, it’s ok,” I say as her eyes look back at the doorway. “He won’t come back down here, not as long as I am here.”
I place my hand gently on the bruises on her cheek and she flinches at the touch. The fear is still prominent in her eyes. Those beautiful, emerald green eyes. Leaning forward, I place my lips gently against her cheek. “I’ll be just over here in the other bed if you need me.”
Her eyes tear up and she nods. I can feel her eyes on me as I walk over to the other bed. It has been a long night, but I am not leaving her side. Not as long as Sal is still breathing and we are still under his roof.