Marcello
Three days later…
We leave the morning after the wedding to give the newlyweds time by themselves.
I offer to take Scarlet's friends and Gigi back to NYC with us, which results in an impromptu twelve-hour-long party on my jet as Scarlet's friends shamelessly flirt with my guards.
I don't begrudge any of them their amusement, but I don't like that Violet and I never get a chance to return to the bedroom.
After several hours, the first party goers start to fall into an exhausted sleep, while Stacy mixes drinks for the holdouts.
Violet ends up with Gigi on a couch, talking and laughing, and I enjoy watching her too much to try to lure her away into the bedroom.
I notice Vito, Toni's second in command, staring at Gigi the same way I'm staring at Violet.
I wonder if Toni knows that the man has a thing for his sister.
An inner voice tells me to stay out of it, but another insists I mention it to Toni the next time I see him.
Not much later, Violet is fast asleep, leaning on Gigi, who is just as out. I grab two blankets and arrange them over the two and find myself an empty seat, wondering when I last fell asleep on a seat.
Seeing Gigi makes my heart ache for my sister.
I haven't heard from Sophia since that last call, and no amount of searching has yielded any results.
Raffael knows how to hide his tracks well, but sooner or later, everyone makes mistakes, and when that happens, I'll be waiting for him and feed him to the sharks.
I try to cling to Sophia's words that she's safe and taken care of, but until I see her, it's a hard sell.
Once again, Violet sleeps through the refueling process in Dubai, and I only watch the city come into view haphazardly, closing my eyes and drifting off into an uncomfortable sleep.
The first I've had in a long time without Violet in my arms, but I don't have the heart to disturb her or Gigi.
I'm glad she's making friends with the other sisters and wives; having them bond with each other is as important as us men forming alliances.
Once Edoardo is gone, I will work with our new Capo dei Capi to ensure we go back to the old ways, where the families mingle, where our sons and daughters grow up together like cousins, liking and loving each other, so that when the time comes for them to take over their father's businesses, they will already have their own alliances based on their childhood friends.
We are about to land when I reluctantly wake Violet and the other women. I figure they'll need their turns in the bathrooms and all the shit that women do in the morning. Several SUVs will be waiting for us to take them wherever they need to go.
"All set, boss?" Marco looks as alert as ever. The other guards didn't drink much, being on duty and under my watchful eye, but Marco never touched anything harder than water. He is turning into a good man.
"Yeah, contact the men on the ground and make sure all is clear for us to get off this damn plane. I'm tired of being in here."
"Yes, boss." He pulls out his phone and advances to the front to call Luciano, who will be waiting for me, ready to brief me on whatever happened during my absence.
Since he never called me during my vacation, I assume nothing earth-shattering took place besides Enzo lighting his phone on fire, demanding to see his family.
"Oh, my whole body hurts." Violet comes to my side, snuggles in, and kisses me. She looks somewhat refreshed, but dark circles under her eyes bear witness to a little bit too much drink and not enough sleep. No matter what, this woman still looks fucking perfect to me.
"That's your just punishment," I tell her, kissing the top of her head.
"Punishment? For what?" She looks at me, confused.
"For making me sleep by myself," I fill her in.
She slaps my arm. "You could have come and gotten me anytime."
The plane comes to a stop on the tarmac, sparing me from having to come up with an answer, and we gather at the entrance.
"Tomorrow we'll do some more shopping," I promise, looking proudly at the aquamarines surrounded by diamonds that I bought for her in Malé, which adorn her ears. I want this woman dressed head to toe in things I provide for her. I want the world to see her and know she's mine!
The guards disembark first, joining the ones already on the ground.
I see Luciano, his head moving left and right to make sure no danger approaches from any side.
Next to him, dressed in black, her red hair in a smart bun, I recognize Violet’s friend, Pippa.
Luciano asked me if I minded if he added her to our security detail.
I've never hired a woman before, but if he trusts her, that might not be a bad idea for Violet.
A woman would be able to go with her into the bathroom and other places where Violet would object to the presence of another man.
I'll have to test her skills myself, because I'm not letting just anyone guard Violet; that person needs to be the best. I'll also need to make sure that their friendship wouldn't distract her from her duties.
Having that on my mind and being at an airport, I don't give much thought to the sound of an approaching helicopter as our party walks down the gangway to the tarmac.
Luciano's tense expression when he looks up is the first indication that something is amiss.
The thought that the chopper is way too low, even for an airport, flits across my mind, but that gets drowned out by a hail of bullets flying toward us.
As one of the guards on the ground opens fire at the helicopter, the guards on the gangway usher the women back into the plane. A bullet grazes my shoulder, but I don't even feel it. I pull Violet against me, trying to shield her while simultaneously dragging her back up.
Violet's head jerks back, and blood sprays over me. Her blood.
"Violet!" A raw, pained cry escapes me, so loud, it even drowns out the hail of bullets and the thud-thud-thud of the helicopter's rotors. She falls heavily against me, too heavy. Dead weight, and my heart feels like it's shattering.
Not her. NOT HER!
I keep my body angled to protect hers, we're fucking sitting ducks on the airstairs, and move us back up toward the plane's entrance. I bend over her too still body, rage rushing through me, and with a defiant scream, I pull my gun and aim.
The chopper is veering now, ready to lift and make a retreat.
Not a fucking chance.
I raise my gun and steady my arm. The first shot misses, the second wings the side by the open door through which one of the shooters leans forward.
I hit him, and he falls forward. Gravity does the rest and pulls him to the ground, where his body shatters in a silent splash, too insignificant above all the other noise to make a sound.
I change tactics and aim for the cockpit.
Three, four, five shots—the windshield shatters, the chopper veers, pilotless.
The tail rotor hits the ground and explodes in a burst of fire and smoke.
My men swarm forward from all sides of the airstrip, chasing down the surviving shooters.
Luciano's voice roars over the comms, barking orders as prisoners are taken.
From my peripheral vision, I see red hair as Pippa throws a burning man to the ground, extinguishing the flames with her body, while simultaneously hitting him in the head with the butt of her gun.
This woman really does have a good head on her shoulders.
But all this is happening like in another life.
Like a movie on a screen. The moment the chopper goes down, all my attention is back on Violet.
She's all I can see. Her body, so lifeless in my arms, blood drenching her hair, running down her face.
She looks so fucking pale, as if she's already dead, but I feel a faint pulse.
"You goddamn stubborn girl," I whisper, pressing my forehead to hers. "You don't do that. You don't take bullets for me."
My voice cracks, but no one hears it over the sound of burning wreckage. "You don't get to leave me. Not like this. Not ever."
But she doesn't answer.
I will kill every last motherfucker who thought it was a good idea attacking us like this.
"Violet," Pippa rushes up the air steps, but I push her away, rising with Violet in my arms.
"Get the car ready," I yell.
"Get those prisoners interrogated. I want to know who is behind this," I snarl, climbing into the SUV, keeping Violet pressed against my chest.
"You got it, boss," Luciano replies darkly. For a second, his eyes take in Violet, and I see the fire of retaliation burn in his. But that is nothing compared to what is raging through my body.
On the way to the hospital, Violet's body seizes twice in my arms. Unshed tears of pain and fear of losing her burn in my eyes.
My chest feels heavy and constricted. So does my throat, as if someone is choking me.
No worse. I can't lose her, I just can't. I know I won't be able to live if that happens.
I might keep on breathing, but I would be nothing without her.
A zombie. It would be better if I died with her.
But I can't. I still need to find Sophia and get rid of Edoardo.
I need to find whoever is behind this and kill them, too.
But the pain of taking another breath without her will be the end of me.
Pain! With sudden clarity, I realize why this pain is so blinding, so all-consuming, so crushing. It's more than just the fear of losing her; it's not just fury against whoever did this.