Chapter 31
From the building, I see Abi and Dane bringing Celine’s mother outside. Hunter rushes to help them.
“My love,” my father calls after Cassandra, squirming in my hold. Fucking monster. I slam the gun into his nose. Blood spurts out immediately, and he holds it, whimpering.
Cassandra’s eyes pin on him, blazing with pure hatred. Despite her frail appearance, she storms over to him and slaps him.
“Go fuck yourself.”
Like mother, like daughter.
I push him forward. “Move.”
“Kaden?”
“Hello, Father.”
Our eyes lock, and I find something in there I’ve never seen before.
Fear. Good. He should be afraid because by hurting Celine he woke the beast inside of me that won’t hold back from breaking every fucking bone in his body and rejoice in it.
“Hunter, can you cover him for a minute?”
He nods, and I run to the woman being held up by Abi and Mia. Shame swallows me whole. I should have known. I should have done something.
As if Cassandra senses my turmoil, she says, “Look at me.”
I expect the worst, like she will never allow her daughter to be with me.
If I could drain my tainted blood, I would.
“I’m sorry.”
“Go find my daughter.”
“That’s the plan.”
“Good.” She is rushed into the car, where Sebastian fusses to make her comfortable.
Before they leave, he rolls down the window.
“You got this?”
“I’ll always have her.”
His brows furrow. “I still have my doubts.”
“To be honest, sir, I don’t give a fuck. I’m hers and she’s mine. See you later. I have to get my girl.”
“Do not let Felix escape,” I tell Hunter as I rush past him.
A battle rages behind Hunter’s eyes, torn over whether to come with me. My feelings started from loathing this guy to considering him a friend.
“I’m going in.”
My father wriggles to escape, but Hunter’s grip tightens, assuring me. “He won’t go anywhere.”
“Good.”
Dane comes around the corner. “All done.”
“No one leaves the perimeter.”
People dressed in white coats and some guards rush from the building. My heart screams to get to her, my body demands to be reunited with my woman, and my mind is focused on getting my wife back.
I walk inside to absolute silence. I listen for any sounds but they are drowned out by the heaviness coating the walls. I try to wrap my head around it. The taste of betrayal lingers on my tongue after years of trusting Blake. And now, I must trust him with the most important person in my life.
“Kaden, turn right,” Bailey instructs me in my ear.
Focused, I stalk down the corridors, gun held out. When some doors slide open, I come face-to-face with Caleb. He’s strapped to a chair I remember all too well, whimpering. At least Celine’s not here.
I can only imagine the horrors she went through at the hands of this sadistic asshole. It’s like we’re in a movie, except this is our life in this family. Soon it will all be over.
I bare my teeth and a shiver runs through him.
The scent of piss, sweat, and blood pumps my senses with satisfaction.
“I held up for three days. She did it for one.”
“You don’t understand, please. Oh…”
I turn my back. Mercy is the last thing he’d get from me.
With him having no way to escape, he wails and says, “Don’t leave me here, you bastard. You’ll pay for this.”
“That’s rich, coming from someone in your position.”
Having had enough of dealing with him and knowing he has no way of escaping, I leave.
“Where is she?” I ask Bailey through the coms.
“Calm down. Blake is with her, but you need to hurry—they’re out of bullets.”
“Lead me to them.”
I run through the building, encountering bodies scattered along the corridors.
Hushed words hit my ear. I find them quickly and halt at the scene. Blake is shielding her with his body, blocking the view of the guard, whose gun is trained on him.
The bullet goes straight through the guard’s skull when I fire the gun, brain matter and blood scatter through the air.
As I approach Celine, my chest caves in.
Ripping my mask off, I drop to my knees in front of her.
“Not helping the way you’re looking at me,” she says groggily.
I push through the onslaught of emotions barreling through me. I could revive them and kill them all over again for inflicting pain on her. “You’re the most beautiful woman in the world.”
A soft smile tugs at the corners of her mouth. There is a cacophony of feelings bursting inside of me. Her hair is drenched in sweat and blood. Her face is a shade lighter; almost resembling a ghost. And there is a wet spot between her thighs. She jumps into my arms and winces.
“Where are you hurt?” I ask, cupping her face to check her.
“I’m fine.”
“She got shot,” Blake says.
I snap my gaze from him back to her, and I see blood coating the black fabric around her forearm.
“I must look awful.”
“Really, baby? You survived the worst day of your life and you’re concerned about your looks.”
“Hey…”
She punches me lightly in the arm and her face scrunches in pain.
“You’re always beautiful to me.”
Blake grumbles. “Come on, guys. We have other priorities right now.”
But she looks at me with eyes shining in adoration. My heart returns to regular beats until I see the huge pupils swallowing her eyes.
“What did they give you?”
“I gave her an adrenaline shot, making her heart beat faster, but then she got shot, and…”
I read between the lines. She’s bleeding out. She needs to get to a hospital, now.
“Hey, I’m fine.”
This stubborn, brave woman of mine.
She tries to stand up, and it breaks me more than it will ever bruise her ego, but I scoop her into my arms. She rests her head on my chest.
“You saved me.”
“That’s what we do. But let’s go on dates from now on. Be boring for a while.”
“I’d love that.”
Her head lolls to the side, and I panic, my pulse thundering in my neck.
“She went through a lot,” Blake says.
“I will never forgive you for this.”
“I hope one day you will understand my motives.”
“When I use the woman you love behind your back, then you can fucking tell me this,” I say. “Bring your father up.”
I carry her out of the building and Hunter rushes to us. A few seconds later, Blake pushes his father out.
Celine whispers in my neck, “I had such a wonderful dream.”
I will always be possessive, but fuck she looks at me right now like I fill her dreams in the best way. I am it for her too.
“Where are the paramedics?” I ask through gritted teeth.
“Two more minutes,” says Mia.
“You can put me down.” I hold Celine even tighter. “It’s okay, baby.”
I place her down with utter care, and she looks around. “Where is my mother?”
“She left with your father.”
Sadness pulls at the corners of her lips.
“To me you’re my sun. I will always gravitate to you, needing your warmth and light to live,” I say.
A tear slides down her cheek, and I dab it away with the pad of my thumb.
“But I am still mad as hell at you.”
“I know. You can take it out on my body later.”
But her playfulness assures me she’s in better condition than I was afterward.
As if she can read where my mind is headed, she says, “I wanted to understand. Now I do.”
“You could have picked my brain a hundred times instead of going through what I always wanted to protect you from.”
“They didn’t win then. They won’t win now.” A shudder rocks her as she speaks. I know the nightmares will come too.
Five black Mercedes GLS SUVs, the Family’s official mode of transportation, circle us, and everyone in our group has their guns out.
We did everything right. While pulling Celine to my side, I rummage through my head, looking for any mistakes. I watch Thomas exit the car to open the back passenger door for Grandmother. Seeing Celine, he grabs a first-aid kit from the car and rushes to her.
“What is she doing here?”
“I guess Grandmother had to make herself presentable first,” Celine groans. “I don’t know if she’s on our side or not.”
“The letter?”
“Yes.”
Grandmother steps out and looks around. Her eyes brew with disdain, but her body takes careful steps. She’s weaker than usual.
It’s just uncanny how she holds herself. She demands respect and oozes authority. The longer she takes us in, the more strained I become. Thank god Thomas is helping Celine right now, or I’d lose my damn mind.
Her lips are pursed, and rage blares in her eyes. “I raised traitors.”
I thought it was impossible for her to let emotions get the best of her. She walks to Felix and Caleb with confident steps, and adds, “And now order is restored.”
“What?” we all ask.
“For every year that you stabbed me in the back, for every year I considered you family, for every year you held my daughter, you will suffer twice.”
She walks to her granddaughter, and guilt is etched on her face.
“Took you long enough.”
“I don’t have your energy anymore, Celine.”
“Ignore me bleeding out here, Granny.”
“You’ll survive. Now, where is my daughter?” she asks, looking around.
“With my father.”
Incredulity colors her face. “Cassandra’s coming home with me.”
“Mom will decide that.”
Grandmother turns to her men and says, “Take the traitors with you.”
An explosion ripples through the building igniting a wave of dirt and debris. I have to give it to Dane. He knows how to blow things up. Grandmother looks straight into the fire and says, “That was quite unnecessary.”
Flames engulf the building, licking at the cement. We watch enraptured, as if we need to quiet the demons inside of us––from the place they were birthed.
“I expect to see you all on Friday at dinner.”
She retreats to her car while we look at her openmouthed.
“She’s unbelievable,” Celine says.
Grandmother is the least of my worries now as I count the seconds before Celine is properly taken care of.
The paramedics arrive, and they put Celine on the gurney while I hold her hand. They rush her inside the ambulance.
Teeth chattering, she shivers. Her pain guts me. I take her hand and one of them says, “Let us do our job.”
“Kaden.” Her voice calms me down, strengthening my belief she will be fine.
We speed toward the hospital while I hold her hand. My heart plummets to the pit of my stomach when she is wheeled away to the OR.
I lift my eyes, and everyone is running down the hallway toward me: my friends, family, and her parents.
“Any news?” her mother asks.
“They can’t give him that information,” her father says.
“I told them I’m her husband.”
He looks at me in shock. “What?”
It’s not a lie. A piece of paper wouldn’t make a difference when our hearts signed the deed for life with our vows.
“She’s in surgery right now.”
The two hours she spends in surgery, I pace around like a nervous wreck.
When the doctor informs us she is out of recovery and has been brought to her room, I drop down onto a chair, finally able to breathe.
“We did it,” Abi says, placing a hand on my knee, and I nod.
“We’ll be there for her. She won’t be alone,” she assures me.
It takes everything in me to let Celine’s parents go to her first, but I know what it will mean to her, to see her mother, her parents reunited.
“We have the upper hand now.” I infuse all the confidence I have.
Bailey arrives next. Without her, the plan wouldn’t have come to fruition.
“Ah, look who’s here, the princess in the ivory tower,” Hunter snickers.
“Hunter,” Mia says in a low voice.
“What? It’s the fucking truth.”
“You don’t know shit,” I say, and Bailey pins me with a stare.
“Whatever.”
I glance at my watch. How long does it take for them to catch up? I miss Celine. I want to look into her eyes and know she’s fine.
When the door finally opens, her father says, “Celine wants to see you.”
I jump from the chair and run straight into the room.
“Someone is eager to see me.”
The IV drips into her vein. She’s hooked to a monitor, and hearing her steady heartbeat puts me at ease.
“I think this is making me high.” She pulls at the IV and giggles. “No pain, no thoughts.”
“Don’t get used to it.”
“I won’t. I have you, even though you’re not even half as efficient as they are.”
I chuckle. “I’ll remind you of your words when you beg me to let you come.”
Her eyes dilate and she pats the spot next to her, but my feet are rooted to the spot.
“Baby, come here. I am not in pain. I feel like I could fly.”
I open my mouth, but she adds, “And there is enough time to talk about all this, but not now. Now, I just want to feel you.”
I take my jacket off and lean in to kiss her.
“You know I am treading a thin line with your father anyway.”
“Imagine sneaking around?”
“Forget that. We’re living together. That ship sailed years ago.”
Her melodic laugh fills my chest with bliss.
“Baby, let the others in as well. You can show me your sneaking skills afterward.”
There’s no need for that. The Family owns the hospital as well.
When I step out of the room, I jerk my chin and our friends all rush inside.
Alone with her parents, my gaze gravitates toward her mother.
“I’m sorry. If I knew…”
She pats the spot next to her, and she turns to her husband. “Give us a moment.”
If looks could hurt, I’d have at least three broken ribs and a bloody nose.
“Sebastian will like me eventually,” I mumble.
“Something tells me nothing would hold you back.”
“Not when it comes to Celine.”
“You’re not Felix. I watched you in your childhood and Blake has kept me up to date. I know my daughter is safe with you. Your father wasn’t always like this.” A shudder goes through her. “Power changes people. And Felix has always been power hungry. He wanted that more than anything.”
“Never was interested in it.”
She eyes her husband, a mix of longing and sadness.
“Only when everything is laid out in the open will there be a chance of healing, of moving on.”
“I should be giving you advice.”
“I’m wise beyond my years.”
“And cocky.”
Cassandra turns serious and I stiffen the moment she adds, “I want time with my daughter, alone, just the three of us.”
I grip the edge of the chair and she continues, “That is not a question.”
“It’s a request.” I swallow and add, “Whatever she wants. But if Celine wants me there, I am coming.”
“Of course she will, but, Kaden, I missed years with her. I won’t get those back.” She pours the guilt on thick, and I agree with a stiff nod. I lost two years with her as well. Damn it.
When Sebastian returns, he offers Cassandra a cup of tea, his eyes pinning on me. “Do you love my daughter?”
“Sir, I have loved her my entire life.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
“I do, and I will. Don’t ask me how I know, because I don’t. But I feel her inside of me, in every heartbeat, in every thought, in my dreams, in my plans, in every fiber of my being. When I think of home, love, and happiness, she’s the image of them. And if that’s not enough, I would die for her. But I’ll try to avoid it, because I want to build a life with her first, and offer her everything my heart feels for her and the life she deserves.”
Looking at them, I pour it all out, feeling my cheeks redden. Both have glassy eyes, giving me the courage to continue. “I’m Felix’s son. That will never change. But I am not him. I never will be like him either. And this is my vow to you two. You can ask Celine how serious I am with vows.”
Celine is my compass, and I will never lose myself along the way. The needle will always point to what’s important––her, my home, my family.
“Okay, fine, son.”
Sebastian calling me son unleashes something in me. I hug him and he pats my back.
“Got it. You’re not him, and we’re family.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“No marriage or babies before graduation,” he says.
We’ll have a big wedding when the time comes. But for me, our wedding date will always be the one where it was just the two of us. And babies? I can’t promise him anything.
I shrug, and her mother chuckles.