by Eden Rose
The whole car ride up to here was in silence and I wondered why I couldn't just leave her alone. She has been put through enough when she was married to me and now she is getting more shit thrown at her. Like I said, she should have stayed gone.
I know you must think I am a cold bastard and most of the time I would have to agree with you. I never wanted to get married or have babies; I am not meant to be a family man. The wedding was because I knocked up Savannah and I needed to do the right thing. We were teenagers and the condom fell off! What was I supposed to do?
Yeah, I cheated on her every chance I got but that is only because she wouldn't have sex with me. I tried to keep my ass home but all we did is fight and she would accuse me of doing shady shit.
While Savannah was staying with me I thought that we could have a second chance at it. Didn't work. Now she is hung up on this loser who put a tracking device on her like she is some dog or something.
The look of anguish on his face as he tries to get her out of this is priceless. They won't give her a pass because she is the reason for Millstone being dead. Savannah had to open her big flapping jaws and challenge him so when she was taken, I knew it was for real.
I watched in slow motion as my ex-wife slumped against Horizon and slide off of his chest. The moment was monumental. These guys have been waiting for this chance to pay retribution and now it is paid.
Why do I feel as if my arm has been pinched? Suddenly I feel as if I have been hit in the arm with a two by four.
There is screaming all around me and I know why they are screaming. Vincent is about to kill Horizon but I can't even think about what that means right now.
My elbow is throbbing and when I look down, I see red. Holy shit. The bullet must have gone through Savannah and now I am hit too.
I had a moment of clarity while I heard the sirens go off. If Vincent doesn't finish Horizon off himself, I will do it. This was not part of the plan! People need to stick to the plan! He veered off the paved path and now I got shot.
Accidents happen. Look at how I knocked up Savannah. Talk about an accident. Bullets can stray after meeting their target. Wind and the elements change their course.
With all of that being said, Horizon should have calculated and adjusted his aim before firing. Experienced hit man, my ass.
Chapter Ten* Vincent
"You fucking shot her?" I screamed at the man who is holding Savannah up as she slumped against his chest. Her hair had long ago fell out of its style and now it is just hiding her face.
I seen red as I pushed through the people on my deck to get to her. By the time I was there, I was reaching for my gun. Unfortunately, I left it in my room because it wasn't appropriate to pack during a wedding.
Fuck weddings. This woman is my life and I know that sounds insane. My life only works and runs with her in it. I should have brought a gun.
After jumping down the stairs, the man that was holding her threw her at me. It took all of my strength to not set her down and go after him. Savannah needed me with her and it felt like my body was split in two. One half of me wanted to stay with my girl but the other part of me wanted to shoot that bastard.
"Go!" I ordered as Leo took his gun out and ran down the stairs to go get the guy. "What the hell are you still doing here?" I accused at Joel and Stilarno. One of their own just shot my reason for considering going towards legitimacy and they are going to stand there and watch me.
"Vincent, honey. What happened?" Ronnie's mother, Ana, came over to see what happened.
"I just called the police. She needs to go to a hospital!" Ronnie's father, Rick, said as he picked Savannah up so I could sit down and hold her.
"Wake up, please! Come on!" I screamed as I looked down at her face. Her cheek bones looked like they were still bruised. I wanted so badly to kill that guy. How dare he shoot my woman? Fuck! I heard the ambulance pull up in front of the house and Ronnie's dad helped me carry her. Looking down at her, you would think she were sleeping. Savannah had a small smile on her lips and she looked like an angel.
Hell, she is an angel.
"We got it from here!" The ambulance driver said as they strapped her into a gurney.
"Like hell you are taking her!" I pushed my way through the drivers and sat in the back waiting for them to load her into the truck.
"Are you her...?" The driver started to ask.
I knew that if I didn't say that we were married, I wouldn't be able to go too. "I am her husband. Now are you going to quit talking so we could go?" I snapped. My breathing came back to normal as they pushed her into the truck and began trying to stable her.
I didn't allow myself to feel any guilt for putting a tracking device in her necklace that I gave her. I convinced myself as I rigged it that I was doing the right thing. She needed to be protected. I wasn't going to tell her that they didn't drop the hit. She would surely leave me. Leave me? My heart fell through my chest as I think about the pain of what what it felt like when I lost her the first time.
While the drivers whipped through traffic, I held her hand. I wanted her to wake up. More than want. I needed her to wake up.
There were doctors that flooded out the gates as we drove into the emergency drive. I held her hand the whole time and tried to not scream at them as four of the doctors asked what happened at different times.
"She was shot in the shoulder at our friends' wedding. Quit asking me questions and get her admitted!" Well, the no yelling part didn't last too long. They wouldn't let me go into the room as they tried to access her.
I sat on the chair outside of her room and waited. Waited for me to find out what will happen. Waited to find out if she were going to wake up... or...
"Is she all right?" Joel came running down the hallway towards me. I wanted to kill him right now. His arm had a bandage on it and he looked as if he were trying to keep it leveled.
"You must have a death wish."
"Savannah's my wife. I will wait for her to wake up," he sat next to me and pulled out his phone. He appeared so relaxed and nonchalant.
"You know if the cops come and see you this close to her, you will be arrested right?"
He nodded and typed out a message. "Do you really love her or is this one of your sick games? Tracking devices? Whisking her away to Chicago? Come on, I know that woman better than anyone. She won't fall for your shit. Its time for you to drop the act."
As we sat there close together, I wanted to kill him. Joel had this look on his face as he avoided my stare. In order to stop myself from killing him, I stood up and peered through the glass.
I could see her blonde hair as it is sprawled out on the pillow. Heat burned through me as I watched them. I want this woman. I want to possess and claim her. Joel needed to leave. He can't be this close to her. I wanted to propose to her so badly in Chicago.
Annabeth told me that she won't say yes with the canary ring. I convinced her to help me find an argyle diamond in Chicago, I needed to find the most amazing ring for her. With everything that has happened since then, it never seemed to be the right time.
I took a deep breath and turned from the window. There was no way I could see them cutting off her dress to get to her bullet hole. Nothing in my life seemed to matter when I turned and seen them monitoring her heart. Her dress was off and they pulled a hospital blanket over her.
Joel coughed and his phone rang. There was no way in hell that he was going to leave just like that! I watched as Joel stood up with his phone, I ripped it out of his hand and threw it hard against the wall.
The sound of the cell phone hitting the wall and then breaking, rang through the halls. "Why can't you just leave us alone? I love that woman more than anything. Why do you have to keep interfering with our plans?" Joel opened his mouth to speak but I wasn't done with him and I had a lot to talk about. "Whenever something bad happens, you seem to show up! Get over her. Savannah is meant to be my wife! Go fuck yourself!" As I pushed Joel into the wall, I heard a familiar voice.
/> "Now, this is the brother I remembered after all of these years!" I spun and seen Lea Sophia walking down the hall towards me. Her hair got so long and she looked happy and healthy. Its been a few years since I last saw her. She walked up to me and gave me a hug.
"What are you doing here?" I asked her as I held onto the hug for longer than what would be considered appropriate. I missed my sister so much.
"Leo called me," she replied as she pulled out of my hug.
My body tensed. "Why would Leo call you?" I brushed my hand through my hair. I didn't have a right to be angry at them. This wasn't their fault.
"The right question would be why you haven't told me that you were serious with a woman," she playfully slapped my arm. "You could have called us. Mom has been going out of her mind." I knew she wanted everyone to get along, but right now is not the time for us to hold hands and sing.
"Mom doesn't want anything to do with me." Lea Sophia walked towards the glass window and I could tell she is ignoring me.
I hadn't even noticed that Joel left until I heard another familiar voice.
"Is that her?" I turned and looked down to find my very petite mother standing behind my sister. She cleared her throat and walked up to me. "Oh, baby. Its been too long," her accent was so thick that it was still hard to understand. My mother looked beautiful. Her brown hair was in a french twist and she still hasn't aged. She and Lea looked so much a like. Both are petite and so very skinny. I loved that my mother, sister and I had such similar features. The difference between us is that I am tall.
"Mom," I leaned down and hugged her for a long time.
When we separated, "Is this her?" Mom asked as she pressed her hands against the glass.
"Yes."
"She is beautiful. What is her name?"
"Savannah."
"Sammy said you proposed to her. Why haven't you called your mother?"
"They are all here?" I whispered as the doctor came out.
He looked tired and old as he reviewed what is on the clipboard. "Well, the bullet was a .22. We were lucky to find it, however it did cause some internal damage. We will need to keep her here for a few days. There is a possibility of surgery."
I looked from the doctor and then to my family. As I nodded, I leaned against the glass and got to look at her. My mother and sister came up behind me and rubbed my back.
"Did you tell that doctor that you were married?" Lea Sophia asked. I reached into my pocket and pulled out the engagement ring that I have been holding in my pant pocket.
I showed the ring to each of them and then slipped it back into my pocket. "Yes, I did." They looked disgusted at me. My family was very traditional and didn't believe in lying. "I only said it because I want it to be true."
We sat on the chairs outside of her room for the whole night. I was waken up by hearing a loud screeching on the floor. A sea of white coats and nurses rushed by.
"Wait, where are you taking her?" I demanded as I seen them push Savannah into the elevator. How can they think they can push her past me and not tell me where she is going? Yeah, right. I go where she goes.
"She went into shock and then had a seizure. We need to give her x rays now!" The doctor walked past me and I hated him.
"I am going too!" I yelled at the doctor and pushed myself into the elevator. "Mom, Lea, can you come with me?" I asked them as they stood up and walked in too. They held my right and left hand as we traveled up in the elevator. I looked at Savannah. Her face was beautiful and pale. I looked at her and could see that her makeup was rubbed off and mascara was smudged around her eyes. "What do you think is going to happen?" I asked the doctor as they pushed her back out.
"I need a CAT scan and an x ray machine now!" The doctor yelled as he pushed her down the hallway. I went running after them. "You can't go in there. You have to wait for us to call you."
"The hell I do. Let me through." The doctor turned and looked at me. "This is my wife," I growled at him.
"Vincent! Don't yell at him!" My mother came up. "Where are her parents?" She asked as I walked down the hall back to them defeated.
"They died. Her only family is on her honeymoon." I started to cry as I realized how lonely I was and how lonely she must be. My family is still alive, but hers weren't. If I had anything to do with it, my family will become hers and then she will never be alone.
I looked at my phone to see the time. We have been here all night. It is now two in the afternoon. What is taking her so long to wake up? The longer that I have to wait the more anxiety I feel. If it is taking this long to have her wake up, couldn't that result in worse damage? If something were to happen to her that could cause in her any damaged, I am going to brutally kill every single one of that fucktards.
The doctor came out and looked around the hall. "Are you her husband?"
I nodded and then braced myself for whatever is about to be said. This is ridiculous. I want to take her home and tell all of the people to go to hell. I am tired of being patient and waiting for them to tell me if I can take my girl home. I can protect her and keep her safe in the safety and protection of my home.
It was right then and there that I decided to update my security system. Of course this is something that should have been done a long time ago due to what I do for a living. I am going to install a privacy fence with camera on it and have the driveway and the surrounding area only accessible by code. Security cameras are going to be filtered throughout my yard and a heavy duty fence will be constructed around the pool since that is Savannah's favorite area.
He looked down at the file in his hands and then looked at all of us. The doctor wasn't wearing his coat anymore and I could see his coffee stain on his shirt. "You can go in now. Savannah is stable and on the mend. I do recommend that when she goes home to let her rest."
I walked over to the side of her gurney that wasn't touching the IV's. She looked so incredibly beautiful. I would have given up anything to have her wake up. Savannah had a little smile on her lips and I traced my finger on them. I wanted to bring my finger to my lips to kiss it, but everyone was staring at me. I was also so close to climbing into the bed with her.
These people need to leave. Or maybe they can stay while I take care of some business... That is the part that is tricky. My life is not my own and no matter what, I have to drop everything and handle family matters. Business can wait until my girl wakes up, this is my decision and I will handle the repercussions of my actions. Those bastards are just going to live in fear of when I am going to strike and the retaliation is going to be great. This will also provide me with time to come up with a genius plan.
"She won't wake up for a while. We gave her morphine to help stop the pain. There is a good possibility that she will be out the whole day," the doctor said as he came over to start the scan. The images pulled up and I seen the hole where the bullet went through. I had to stop myself from punching the screen.
"Vincent?" My mother asked as she walked into the door. "Someone named Anne is here."
I knew it was only a matter of time before she came and I am surprised that it took this long. Anne came running in. "What happened?" She demanded as she climbed over the doctor and looked at the scans.
"I will be back shortly. I will let you guys converse," the doctor picked up the scans and then walked out of the room. Chicken. He is scared of Anne.
Lea Sophia, Isadora, and my mother walked through the door. I heard Rossi's loud voice as he walked through the door. Anne pushed his arms off of her as she looked at me demanding answers.
"Mom, are you sure you want to hear this?" She nodded and looked like she was about to cry as she leaned against the wall. "They didn't drop the contract." I said quietly and scanned over Savannah's body to see if I can will her to move.
The angry Italian woman that I call my mother has hit her limit of civility. "Baby, why did you bring this poor girl into this? One of you will get killed. Look at your dad! He thought he was invincible and then he got shot. I told yo
u I didn't want this to be your life," my mother scolded switching from English and Italian. She approached me and stuck her finger out at me. "Why, why can't you boys live a normal life?"
"Hey, hey! Vincent didn't do this on purpose! He tried protecting her. Mrs. Moretti, he loves her," Rossi said.
"That's it! I am tired of all this shit. Savannah will come home with me and then I am sending her to live with my parents in Charlotte," Anne said as placed her hands on her hips. Man, Ronnie has his hands full. She is a pistol.
What Anne is suggesting wouldn't be so horrible but I have a feeling that this isn't an invitation. There is no possibility that I will allow Savannah to go anywhere without me.
"Where is Stilarno?" Ronnie asked as he fought Anne to bring her into an embrace. "Stop, honey! I know you are upset but quit! Everything will be all right." I didn't realize she stopped fighting and fell into the hug until sobs rang out. "Shush, baby, I got you."
