Chapter Twenty-Seven
Tyson
The smell of antiseptic floods my senses, burning its way through my airways.
It’s the first thing I notice.
I guess that means I’m alive.
Then come the brights lights and beeping of machines as the haze in my mind starts to clear.
What motherfucker gave me painkillers?
And what the fuck happened? The last thing I can remember is Malory crouching in front of me, shielding me with her own damn body before her fucking pathetic excuse of a father shoved her away from me.
Rage. Undiluted, pure rage courses through my veins, making my heart beat harder.
My Malory.
Fuck. I have to get my girl back, make sure she’s safe.
If John has what’s mine, I won’t hesitate to kill him this time despite the dumb promise not to harm him.
He became a dead man the second he laid his hands on her.
She’s mine to keep, to care for, to love .
And I’ll get her back no matter the cost.
That’s when I feel it. Something soft brushing against the back of my hand.
Opening my eyes, I have to blink several times as my vision adjusts to the surroundings.
The room is white and sterile. Likely at one of the Camorra’s hospitals.
I’ve never been here before but they couldn’t exactly bring me to the ER without raising unnecessary questions.
All my senses zero in on one single thing. The silky curls draped over my forearm, making my chest flood with a wave of utter relief.
She’s here. By my side.
Sitting in a plastic chair at the edge of my bed with her head bowed, holding my hand like it’s her lifeline, tracing her delicate fingertips over my skin in a soothing motion.
She's fucking comforting me when it should be the other way around.
With an effort that takes everything out of me, I manage to squeeze her hand back, making Malory’s head shoot up in an instant.
“Ty…” She sobs, tears running down her petite face. “Y-you’re awake.”
Her hands around mine tremble and I hate myself for not being able to smother her in my embrace.
“You’re here.” I raps as she brings a cup of water to my dry lips. Being as drugged as I am, my body doesn’t feel like my own, and yet I couldn’t care less about myself right now.
“I’d never leave you.” She brings my hand to her plush lips, softly kissing my split knuckles.
“Come here.”
“I don’t want to hurt you.” My girl warily eyes the tubes and bandages holding me together.
“Fucking come here, little one.” I growl, needing to feel her wrapped in my arms more than I need to take the next breath.
Tentatively, Malory crawls onto the bed. Pressing her tiny body to my side, she lays her head into the crook of my neck. Exactly where it belongs.
I bury my face in her soft hair, breathing her in.
Mine. All mine.
Safe and secure by my side.
“I was so scared, Ty. I thought I’d never see you again.” She whimpers against my skin and all I want to do is kick myself for putting her through this.
It was my own carelessness that got us into this fucking mess.
“Nothing will tear you away from me, baby.” I whisper against the crown of her head. “Never again.”
If I though being without her for a few hours while grocery shopping was painful, it was nothing compared to the agony I felt at actually losing her.
I can’t bear going through this again. I won’t.
Obviously, I made sure to have Rafe on standby for backup, but it was a sheer stroke of fate that kept me alive long enough for them to get to me.
“Remember when I told you that you’re only allowed to cry when impaled on my cock.”
“I love you.” She breathes, and I feel a small smile tug at the corners of her lips.
“I love you too. More than anything, more than life.” My voice is hoarse with emotion. “You’re the only thing that matters, little one.”
Raising her head, Malory places a feather light kiss to the corner of my mouth. Right before I capture her lips with mine, tangling our tongues until she’s moaning softly.
Fucking perfect.
Breaking apart, we’re both breathless, our foreheads connected.
“Did that bastard hurt you?” My eyes rove over every inch of her body as the memory of her tumbling to the ground makes me yearn to skin John’s hand that touched her.
“No. It’s not me who I’m worried about though.”
“How bad is it?” I groan, starting to feel an uncomfortable tightness in my chest.
“You have a few fractured ribs, dislocated shoulder and a mild concussion. The bullet in your thigh had to be dug out, but if it went through, you would have bled out before we got to you.” Her voice cracks with a heartbreaking sob and I press another kiss to the top of her head.
“You’ll make a full recovery soon enough. You’re the strongest person I know.” Malory’s eyes shine with so much adoration I don’t deserve.
Shattering moment, Rafe bursts through the door with a nurse in tow, going straight to checking all my vitals.
“Everything looks good. We’ll be able to discharge you in a couple of days.” She signs something off on her clipboard all the while I keep a tight hold on a squirming Malory, refusing to let her move even an inch from my side. “Get some rest.”
“No painkillers.” I bark at the woman, daring her to put me to sleep when I’m finally conscious for my girl.
“As you wish.” She shuffles out of the room as fast as humanly possible, keeping her head down.
The staff here is familiar with who we are, and they get more than fairly compensated for it.
“What are you wearing, baby girl?” I glare at the grey hoodie that could fit three of her and clearly isn’t mine.
“Rafe brought me a change of clothes yesterday.” She nods towards our brother standing in the corner, observing us with a bemused grin.
“She refused to leave your side so I had to intervene. The nurses freaked at seeing her pretty dress drenched in your blood.”
“That’s my girl.” I growl, palming her hip. “How long have I been out?”
“About two days. This has probably been the best night’s sleep you’ve gotten in quite a while.” The asshole smirks.
And now that I have my senses back, I’m pissed.
He never should have brought her anywhere near that fucking warehouse.
“Why the fuck would you put her in the middle of a crossfire?” I snarl, leveling him with a death stare that would make lesser men crumble to their knees.
“We had it handled baby bro, turns out Mal here is quite the badass.” The fucker has the audacity to wink in her direction with pride.
And I’m again reminded why I kept putting off introducing these two.
Give me a few days of rest and I’ll beat him bloody since talking with fists has been the only language this man understood ever since I can remember.
His uncontrolled aggression has served him well when he was young, but it’s bound to be his downfall one day.
“The fucking Bratva.” I curse.
We’ve severely underestimated their arrogance. That won’t repeat itself.
They’ve signed their death warrants the second they came after what’s mine.
“From what I gathered, John made a deal with them in exchange for protection and as it turns out, Malory’s hand was what sealed that union. Once he had her back, she would have been sold off to the old Pakhan, married off to his eldest son.” My girl shudders in my arms, Rafe’s bloodthirsty expression reflecting my own.
None of them are walking away from this alive.
“She’s a Corso now.” Rafe nods, his eyes softening with affection as he looks down at his sister wrapped tightly around me. “She’s one of us, they can’t touch her.”
“War is imminent.” He states resolutely. “We used to have a mutually respectful relationship with the Russians, but this cannot go unanswered. Dante will be pleased to have an excuse to bring them to their knees.”
“What about John?” I feel Malory tense at the mention of her father’s fate, but the chances of fulfilling my promise to her are non-existent at the moment.
I’ll stop at nothing to eliminate any threat to my girl even if it means begging for her forgiveness afterwards.
“If we decide to let him live, the Bratva will finish him off for us after the fiasco he orchestrated. I doubt they knew that the girl they bargained for turned out to be a Corso. Or else they wouldn’t have been so reckless to chance Dante’s wrath.” Rafe shrugs. “I'm not wasting my time on that piece of shit anymore.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to get your hands dirty? You have all the more reason to hate the man than I ever did.” I probe in case Rafe changed his mind at last.
“No. He means nothing to me. In the end, if the bastard didn’t do what he did, we wouldn’t be all be here now. For better or worse.” He grins deviously and I have to admit that he does have a valid point.
Without going through John’s abandonment and my father’s abuse, none of us would be at the top of the food chain now. And my girl wouldn’t be in my arms.
“He’s all yours, Tyson.”
I look down at Malory gnawing nervously at her bottom lip, breathing in her sweet scent.
With her vice grip on my heart, she’s all that matters.
My needs and wants have long ceased to mean anything, diminished by the love I feel for her.
“It’s your call, little one.”
Her eyebrows shoot up in shock as she shakes her head. “B-but your vengeance. All those years of work.”
“They gave me you, that’s all I need.” I gently cup her rosy cheek, her tiny face fitting perfectly in my palm as I run my thumb over the delicate skin still wet from her tears. “I love you, baby girl.”
“And I love you.” Malory leans into my touch, closing her eyes for a brief moment. “He’s going to die either way.” Sadness and surprisingly relief clash in her big, watery eyes.
I nod slowly, searching her gaze as she releases a deep, shaky breath.
“Then he’s yours. I won’t take your revenge from you.” Before I can protest, my girl presses her lips to mine, effectively silencing me with her deliciously tender mouth.
“Let him go.” I finally turn to Raffaele who’s been watching us with a quirked eyebrow, a hint of astonishment lacing his stare. “He won’t die by my hand.”
I’ll make sure the Pakhan does the job thoroughly without my direct involvement. But if there’s a way to keep my promise to her, I’ll do it.
Vengeance isn’t enough anymore. Maybe it never was.
Yet it led me to gaining the meaning of life nestled at my side. I can never go back to how things were before her, but I can live without ending John myself.
Malory is my all, embracing my darkness while I nurture hers. My dark obsession.
And I fucking love her.
“Now that I think of it, how fucked-up is it that my little sister will also be my sister-in-law.” Rafe breaks the tension with his usual self.
He knows I’ll make her mine in every sense possible, binding her to me so closely nothing will be able to tear our souls apart.
“We haven’t exactly had that talk. Yet.” I add as Malory’s cheeks flush bright red.
Whether by blood or by marriage, she is one of us.
“You’re a Corso now. You’re all mine.” I run my thumb over her burning cheekbone.
She’ll wear my ring and bear my name. A name that holds infinite power.
Despite it being passed down to us by my scum of a father, we’ve made it ours. My brothers more so than me but either way, we own it.
We own the West Coast.
People tremble at hearing the Corso name, bowing to our ruthless reputation.
And it’s only the beginning.
That’s the name that’ll make her untouchable. Solely mine.
“Damn right you’re one of us, baby sis.” Our brother turns to her with a gentleness in his expression that I’ve never seen on him before.
“Honestly, I’m surprised he hasn’t knocked you out and dragged you before an altar already.”
“Yeah, he kind of tends to do that.” My girl laughs softly, a low rumble rising from my chest in response.
Of course I’d lug her unconscious body in front of an officiant without a second thought, but I have a feeling that this time around, she might come of her own free will.
“I’ve got to go. And don’t worry, there’s more security stationed here than in the fucking pentagon.” Rafe walks up to us, squeezing my uninjured shoulder. “I’ve got to say brother, when you’re around her, you almost look human.”
I scowl at him before he gets any ideas about being at the receiving end of my newfound emotional capacity.
“Or maybe it’s just the painkillers. My bad.” The idiot salutes over his shoulder as he saunters out of the room. Leaving me with a giggling Malory tucked against my chest, right where she belongs.
“Is it just me or does the whole room smell like horseshit even after he left.” I bury my face in Malory’s silky waves.
“Yeah, I notice that too.” She burrows further into me with a content sigh.
“No idea what compelled him to buy a ranch in the first place. The man has always been elusive about his extracurricular activities.” I immediately regret the shrug as sharp pain shoots up my shoulder.
Yet I manage to stifle my groan.
This is the last time Malory will have to worry about me, the last time I’ve left her side.
Never again.