Chapter 33
Harmony
Istare at the gun pointed at my sister’s head.
My knees grow weaker but I refuse to let them buckle.
I glance at Serenity. Her bright green eyes aren’t scared.
No, she’s pissed. She shakes her head once with her firm “mom glare,” but for the first time, I ignore it.
It’s my turn to protect her. Bending over, I place the pipe on the ground beside me as commanded.
“Hands up,” he snarls at me through yellow teeth.
I comply. The last thing I want to do is piss off the man pointing a gun at my sister’s head.
“As long as you do as I say, this red head won’t end up with a bullet in her head. Now come here.” I hesitate for a moment, but when he presses the gun to my sister’s head, I lurch toward them. “Use this rope to tie her up,” he says to Serenity.
My sister moves to do as he says but stops when Victor steps forward suddenly. He has a big gun pointed at the man and Victor asks, “Who is in charge here?”
“I am,” a man says from behind us.
I crane my neck to get a peek at him and I vaguely recognize him.
His eyes are devoid of any emotion. Gray peppers his dark brown hair.
He has a fitted navy-blue suit with a matching tie.
He struts over, a little more swagger in his gait than necessary for someone so old.
Wait a minute. That’s the board member who glared at me at the wedding ceremony.
Shock enters Victor’s blue eyes, but he doesn’t lower his gun. “Mr. Smith? You’re the one behind this?”
Mr. Smith shrugs. “Sorry, old friend. I need you out of the way so I can become CEO. It wouldn’t have come to this if that bodyguard didn’t keep showing up. It would’ve been settled at the hotel.”
A chill shoots through me at his implication.
Victor shakes his head. “What guard?”
“The one your almost-bride is sleeping with,” Mr. Smith said, pointing at me.
Elias never mentioned seeing him before. Unless it was unknowingly.
“If you married her on that stupid reality TV show, your image would’ve been cleaned up. What’s better than a fairy tale ending for our reformed CEO? But now, you went so crazy when she left you that you came here and killed her. Then you took your own life because you couldn’t live without her.”
“You won’t get away with killing us,” I say, hoping to buy time so we can come up with some semblance of a plan. “The police will get here before you can escape.”
Mr. Smith’s laugh echoes throughout the entire warehouse, bouncing off the walls, and he ignores my words. A gun sounds nearby, and metal hits metal, mixing in with this lunatic’s words. I can only hope our allies are still alive and fighting.
His gaze is firmly on Victor as he says, “There’s no story since your bride refused to aid me.
And if the media can’t find anything wrong with Mr. Perfect, I have to come up with my own tale for them to tell so I can take over, saving this company from your corruption and bringing it to new heights. ”
“If your goal is me, why don’t you let the women go? They have nothing to do with this.”
Something behind Mr. Smith catches my eye.
Elias is back, and if we weren’t all in danger, I’d scream at him to go get medical help.
Instead, I can only watch as he and Sully make their way over as quietly as possible.
John is to our left, fighting a man hand to hand, and he takes a punch to the jaw.
Abigail is nowhere in sight. Hopefully, she made it to the car like Elias originally planned for us.
“No, you have to kill Harmony, so they stay,” Mr. Smith sneers.
If Victor sees Elias and Sully moving our way, he doesn’t show it. “There should be another solution that doesn’t involve me killing an innocent woman.”
A smile twists Mr. Smith’s face. “I’m sorry, but neither you nor Harmony will be getting out alive. And now that this bitch is here and interfering,” he points at Serenity, “she needs to die, too. I can’t have any witnesses.”
Elias signals to Serenity and me, and in unison, we all move together, closing in on Mr. Smith.
Sully gets the other man and turns him around before slapping a pair of handcuffs on him.
The rest of Mr. Smith’s men—only a few remained, including Patrick—rush over to us, but the sound of sirens wailing in the distance make them hesitate.
Elias positions himself in front of me, his shoulders hunched and his breathing ragged.
I place my hand on his back, if only to feel him, to prove to myself that he’s still here.
“Get them,” Sully says to Victor’s remaining guards, and they all move at once.
Most of the remaining criminals disperse, leaving their leader with Sully. But Patrick stays, and he raises his gun. He nods at something Mr. Smith must be trying to communicate to him silently. Then he turns his weapon on Victor.
The sirens get closer. Maybe they’ll get here before …
A click and then a piercing crack explodes.
I cover my ears at the sudden sound, and everything that happens next is like in slow motion.
Victor falls backward, and a loud thud sounds as his head whacks against the concrete floor.
I lunge forward. No thoughts enter my brain as I reach for his still body.
Blood flows out of his gunshot wound, soaking my hands, and covering the surrounding floor at too fast of a rate for him to survive.
Police officers run inside, and one of them screams, “Police! Raise your hands!”
“Over here,” I shout. “We need an ambulance.”
Mr. Smith’s men don’t stop. The officers chase after them. Abigail runs in behind them. Her eyes are red and puffy, tears streaking down her face.
“Thank God they got here in time—” She cuts herself off as she drops to her knees beside me.
A sob escapes me. Elias is wounded and Victor … His already white skin is getting paler by the second. The puddle of blood is growing, pooling around us. He’s not going to last much longer if we don’t do something. I start tugging on my shirt, trying to rip off a piece, but my hands tremble.
“Here,” Sully says, moving to my side. “I’ll wrap him up. I’ve done it hundreds of times.”
Serenity kneels down beside him, and they speak in low voices as they get to work on Victor. I push to my feet to go to Elias. He may still be standing, but his condition is still unknown.
“An ambulance is on the way,” a voice I don’t recognize says from behind us. “No more than five minutes.”
Five minutes. That’s a lifetime away. I wrap Elias’s arm around my shoulder again, and he squeezes me. He’s offering his support even though he also needs to get to the hospital.
I look up at Elias to say something. One moment, he’s standing in front of me, and the next, he suddenly collapses. I try to catch him, but he’s too heavy and pulls me down with him.
***
Paramedics took Victor and Elias away in ambulances.
After the remaining, non-wounded, gave statements, we arrive at Baloff Hospital—the same hospital I went to after the nightclub incident, and we rush inside the ER.
A few people cast looks our way. I can only imagine how I look considering Serenity’s and Abigail’s hair is messed up and their makeup smudged.
But how I look is the least of my worries.
On the way over, I called Vicki and Kami. They were in their cars before we even hung up.
The ambulance should have already arrived, so we hurry to the front desk.
“C-can we see Elias Sanchez, please?” I ask, trying and failing to keep my voice steady.
The lady finishes typing something into her computer before she looks up at us. “He’s currently in surgery. Someone will let you know as soon as you can see him.”
I nod and stumble over to a chair and sink down.
Neither Abigail nor Serenity speak as they take their seats beside me.
Elias started to look extremely pale toward the end, but I didn’t realize it was bad enough for surgery.
He was moving around, talking, and standing.
And then he just wasn’t. He should’ve left with Abigail when I went to help Serenity.
What a stupid, stupid man.
Why would he value saving my life over his own? Now, he’s the one fighting for his life. I can’t lose him for good either.
The automatic doors open, and a cold gust of wind rushes Vicki and Kami inside. They both wear oversized pajamas. Vicki’s hair sticks up in different directions, while Kami’s is pulled back into a messy bun.
“Where is he?” Vicki asks, hurrying over to me.
“Surgery.”
“Surgery?” Her voice screeches so loud everyone in the waiting room turns to look at us again. “Is he okay?”
She keeps rambling off questions I have zero answers to. “I don’t know.” I bury my face in my hands, and tears streak down my cheeks. “I’m so sorry. All of this h-happened because of m-me. If only I hadn’t gone on Everlasting Love, his life never would’ve been in danger.”
“None of this is your fault,” Serenity says, pulling me into a hug. I bury my face into her neck, and my whole body shakes as I continue to sob.
“H-he was already retired, and I-I pulled him back in.” My words came out in a jumbled, incoherent mess. “It’s all my fault.”
A gentle hand covers mine, and I look up. Kami’s dark eyes shine with tears, but she gives me a small, reassuring smile. “Trust me; this isn’t on you. He’d do it a thousand times over if it meant he could protect you.”
Vicki opens her mouth to speak again, probably to ask more questions, but Kami quickly says, “Let’s wait until a doctor comes out before we start asking questions.”
The five of us sit there in tense silence for what feels like days before we’re told his family could visit. Vicki and Kami stand and follow the nurse. Before they disappear, Kami gives me a sad smile.
“Will they let me see him?” I ask Serenity. She has to know something. This is where she works.
“Give him some time with his family. He might not be ready to see you yet.”
I snuggle into her, and she wraps her arms around me. “Why did you lie and say that it’s not my fault to Vicki?”
“Because it isn’t. This isn’t even Victor’s fault no matter how much I want to place the blame on him. No one told Mr. Smith to do what he did. He needs psychiatric help.”
Abigail rests her head on my shoulder so that we’re all nestled together. “And some of the blame is on me.”
“No.” I don’t even wait for her to explain. “It’s not your fault Patrick tricked you.”
Kami pokes her head around the corner and says, “Hey, Elias is asking for you.”
I sit up, and Abigail and Serenity startle. It has only been a few minutes since Kami and Vicki left, but I don’t question Kami. I bolt to the hallway, and Kami rushes after me, but I pause and turn back to my sister and best friend. “Do you want to come?”
Serenity waves me off. “You go by yourself. You’re the one he wants to see.”
I nod and allow Kami to lead me, tears welling in my eyes. The fact that he’s asking for me … That has to be a good sign. He’s alive. He protected me like he promised, like I knew he would.
We head down a bright, fluorescent lit hallway until we reach the third door on the right. Kami pushes aside the curtain and ushers me in.
I walk inside Elias’s room, but his eyes are closed. His aunt sits on his hospital bed, holding onto his hand without the IV.
Elias’s eyes flicker open, and he gives me a weak smile. “You’re here.”
I step forward, hesitantly looking between his family. “I’ve been waiting to see you.”
“Come sit with me,” he croaks out.
His aunt moves and grabs onto my hand. Her lips wobble as she gives me a smile.
When she releases me, she moves to a chair and sinks into it.
My throat clogs as I sit on the side of Elias’s hospital bed.
I take him in. A fresh, clean bandage is wrapped around his shoulder.
Color infuses his cheeks again, slowly returning to his regular light brown tone.
“How are you feeling?”
“Not the best.” He takes a ragged breath. “How are you?”
I huff out a laugh and reach for his hand, twining our fingers together. “You want to make sure I’m okay when you’re the one who was shot?”
“I sound like a hero.”
“You are.” I squeeze his hand. “You’re my hero.”