by Ann, Bry
He’s the best. My hero.
I don’t want him to leave me. But I know he will.
The first chance he gets.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Seven
As soon as the word “okay” leaves her mouth, she shoots back with a panicked grimace. That’s the only way I know to describe the look on her face.
“Frank! He-he was shot. For me!” Her hands fly out and grab my t-shirt with a death grip. “Tell me you found him. Please, please tell me you found him!”
“Shhh, yes we did.” … Because of Nia. But Isla’s not ready to hear that yet.
“He’s at the hospital with Danny.”
“Oh my God, Danny!”
She shoots to seated, fisting her hands from the pain.
“Is he okay? Oh, Danny.” Her eyes water. “He must be a wreck. He only looks strong. He’s more emotional than I am.”
“If you count anger…” I cock an eyebrow, curious if Isla’s seen Danny’s darker side. Isla hides her face a bit. So, yes.
“Yeah, Danny’s more emotional than me, but his first instinct is to get pissy.”
Pissy. Sure. He threatened to stab me with my sword, and I don’t think he was kidding, either.
“We should call him, hun. I know your head hurts, but—”
“No, call him! Right now.”
Shaking, she starts reaching around like she’s gonna grab my phone from me.
“Isla.” I grab her wrists in one of my hands. She freezes and stares at the hold. “Calm down, honey. Calm down. You’re safe. You have a lot of adrenaline coursing through ya. I’ll call Danny and put it on speaker.”
She nods and slumps against the seat, clearly trying to hold herself together. I let her have a moment as I click Danny’s number.
Without it even fully ringing once, Danny’s voice sounds over the speaker.
“Do you have her? Is she safe? Is she okay?”
I glance at Isla. Her eyes are closed but one side of her mouth tips up a bit at the sound of his voice.
“I have her. She’s safe. As far as I know, she’s okay. How’s Frank?”
“He’s okay. Superficial wound. I want to talk to Isla right now.”
“Hey, Danny boy.” Isla smiles into the phone, but her voice sounds faded and worn down.
“Oh thank God. Fuck. Isla Grace,” he whimpers. “I was so scared.”
“Love you, too,” Isla whispers, still keeping her eyes closed.
“You sound tired. I’ll let you be. I don’t want to! But I will.”
“Thanks,” she breathes.
“Isla, I love you. You know that, right?”
That gets a full smile out of her.
“You’re the best.”
“‘Kay, give me back to that big dude you’ve attached yourself to.”
I smirk. Does he know he’s on speaker?
Isla giggles. “Seven.”
“Yeah, I was unsure about him at first, but good call.”
“Danny!” Isla gasps, eyes popping open and staring at me with red cheeks. “You’re on speaker,” she hisses.
He chuckles. “Ha ha, whoops. I’ll see you at the hospital.”
Just like that, Isla goes rigid.
“I’m not going to the hospital.”
Her voice is cold, haunting even.
Danny sucks in a breath. “Isla?”
“I’ll talk to her. See you in a bit.”
Click. I end the call and shove my phone in my pocket before turning my attention back to Isla.
“I’m not going! I’m not going! I’m not, Seven. You can’t make—”
I place my finger over her lips. “Okay.”
She blinks. “Okay?”
I move my hand. “Yes. You said no, so no hospital.”
“It can’t be that easy,” she murmurs. Tears are stuck to her long eyelashes. I keep my focus there instead of her clinging white t-shirt and sopping wet hair.
I eye her warily. “Are you sure you don’t want to go?”
She shakes her head with closed eyes, tucking back into me. “Please don’t make me.”
Well, geez, there’s no way I’m gonna make her.
“Okay, angel. Just close your eyes.”
* * *
“Where’s Nia?” I ask the kids’ nanny. I can’t hide the concern from my voice. No point in even trying.
Boss is with Rose and Carly and the other kids, assuring them of Isla’s safety and trying to lessen the impact of seeing Frank get shot.
I, on the other hand, have to talk to a child who is no longer a child. Who has seen too much and knows this situation goes deeper than bad guys vs. good guys and good guys always winning in the end. I think she even knows that we are not the good guys.
The nanny sighs. “I tried to get her out.”
As much as I wanted to go straight to Isla’s place and wait while the doctor checked her out, I’m so glad I came now. Nia needs me. I’m her father.
Father.
I still have trouble grasping that concept. I need to put her above myself, and even above Isla right now. She needs me. This child needs me to be 100%.
So that’s what I’ll be.
“Where is she?” I ask softly.
“Follow me.”
She leads me into a side room/closet with a fairly large red and yellow table for the kids to color on. Every corner of the room is filled with toys and random crap, but that’s not where my eyes are. Even before the nanny points, I see Nia huddled under the table with a vacant look in her eyes.
The nanny squeezes my shoulder and I think I murmur a “thanks”, then she’s gone and Nia and I are alone.
I take a deep breath. Nia and I are still a new family. I don’t fully know her issues or how to help her, but I’ll figure it out. I will.
I duck down at the end of the table, which looks excessively tiny next to my large frame, and let the silence hang for a moment.
Slowly, Nia looks up at me with still-haunted eyes. The question is in her eyes: Is Isla okay? But I need more from her than silence right now.
“What are you doing under the table?”
Her little lips scowl at me a little.
She reaches for my hand, but I whip it away.
“Just one word,” I tell her. “Just give me one. If I don’t understand, I’ll give you my hand back.”
Her eyes jump frantically all around me before she looks down, bites her lip, and murmurs, “Isla,” in a croaky voice.
I take her hand and pull her towards me. She stumbles a little at first, but allows me to pull her close eventually. When she’s criss-cross in front of me, I duck my head down and meet her eyes.
“She’s okay, Nia. She’s okay.”
Nia’s tiny shoulders fall with relief, but she doesn’t seem as unburdened as I want her to be.
“You know how Isla’s a doctor?”
Little nod.
“Well, another doctor is checking her out like she checked you out. To make sure no one gave her any cuts or anything. Ya know?”
Bigger nod. Still small, but there’s… more there.
I take her hands in mine and look at her.
“I’m so proud of you, Nia. You faced your super big fears and saved Isla all by yourself.”
She takes my hand and traces.
N.
O.
U.
She’s saying I did.
“Nope.” I shake my head. “Yeah, I’m bigger and went and got her, but…” I debate telling her things that could scare her, but ultimately decide that the more I can tell her, the better I think she’ll handle this. “But Nia, if you hadn’t used your voice, if you hadn’t faced your biggest fear like that, those bad men would have done really bad things to Miss Isla and I may not have found her. What good are my big muscles if I don’t know where to use them?”
She smiles a little. Placing a hand on her heart, she croaks, “Me?”
I smile big and pick her up, pushing us both up with her in my arms.
I tilt her back a bit so I can look at her precious face.
“All you, sweetie. You saved her.”
“Hero?”
Her voice gets a little stronger the more she uses it. I have a feeling it’ll be single words for a while, but it’s words. It’s words!
I poke her nose. “No… a princess.”
* * *
“How’d it go with Nia?” Boss asks, glancing over at me.
“Better than I expected. I can tell she wanted to come, but I explained that Isla may be shy.” Boss nods, but there’s empathy for Isla rolling off of him, saddening the act.
“How about things with Rose?”
“Just great,” he snaps sarcastically. “She thinks I’m a monster. So, that’s always great. Lacey’s gonna just… cry herself to sleep in my arms for the next two years, but other than that, fucking stellar.”
I wince. “Do you know who exposed her to your, uh, not-so-fatherly acts?”
“Not yet, but oh, I will. They’ll be so fucking sorry,” he growls.
Yeah, I bet.
“She’ll grow out of it. She’s young. The more you show her that you’re good, the more she’ll learn not to trust rumors. I’m not minimizing how hard this is,” I add. “I’m just saying it doesn’t have to last forever.”
“Thanks,” he mumbles. “You’re better with kids than any man I know, so that does help. A bit, at least.”
I nod. “Don’t know what to tell you about Lacey. Women… aren’t my thing.”
Boss smirks. “Isla’s your thing.”
“She’s a job.”
Boss scoffs.
“And a friend,” I add.
“Yeah, with benefits,” he mutters.
I scowl. “I have not fucked her.”
“Not yet.”
I open my mouth to fight him, but the words don’t come out.
* * *
Danny’s pacing like mad outside of Isla’s bedroom door. Boss is yanking on the ends of his hair. And I’m silent, leaning against the wall, still as a mouse, with my mind holding me captive.
She was wet. Why was she wet? Why is the doctor taking so long? What’s wrong with her head? What about her cut?
I hate being helpless. I’m ex-military turned mafia. I’m a man who only knows action. Moves. Planning. Cunning.
But everything about Isla Grace renders me completely helpless. Moveless. Planless. Speechless.
Crickkkk.
The doctor comes out, looking tired. Danny pops up, as do Boss and I.
“Is she okay?” we all blurt out in one version or another.
“She’s okay. Shaken up. Medicated. But she’ll live.”
I frown. Boss nods.
He heads over to me and squeezes my shoulder.
“It’s not my place to be here,” he whispers. “I just wanted to make sure she was okay.”
With another shoulder squeeze, he heads back out the door.
She’ll live? I don’t like that wording. At all.
“Can I go see her?” Danny interrupts my thoughts.
“Yes, people can go in, but don’t overwhelm her. She’s tired and highly medicated. She’s gonna be loopy.”
Danny frowns. I see him physically have to bite on his tongue not to snap, “why?” Danny hates that Isla isn’t going to the hospital. It’s that protective older brother in him, but he’s respecting her choice, which in turn makes me respect him more.
“You should go,” I tell him, trying to keep the pain and longing out of my voice. “She’ll want to see you.”
He looks at me a little warily, but nods. “Agreed.”
He pauses.
“Thank you, Seven. For saving my best friend.”
With a small nod and a mumbled “yeah”, he anxiously enters Isla’s bedroom.
… And it’s my turn to pace. As I do, I take in Isla’s updated apartment. Boss did a really good job. He not only fixed every last thing, but he updated all of it as well.
“Seven?”
I glance over my shoulder to see Danny standing there. His hands are trembling slightly, but he looks welcoming enough.
“She wants you.”
My eyebrows raise.
He shuts the door behind him and smiles a little.
“She scolded me for not bringing her hero in.”
I scoff. “I’m not her—”
“You saved her life,” Danny whispers, eyes welling up with tears. “You don’t even know what you saved her from yet. Go in there. I’m gonna make some tea for all of us. I think chamomile is in order.”
With that, he walks off. I’m nervous. Why am I nervous? My heart is thundering in my chest as I push her door open.
I don’t look up right away, but her voice catches my attention.
“Hey! You stayed.”
I look up. Welp, she’s definitely high out of her mind on meds. I can see her being a total lightweight, so I’m not really surprised.
“I stayed.” I nod.
She pats the bed overly enthusiastically.
“Sit! I know my bed’s, eghh”—she sticks her tongue out—"boring, but I’m too busy to make it pretty. Sooooo busy. Too busy really.”
She flops back on the bed into her pillows with a sigh.
“I have no life. I hate that.”
“Holy shit, what did he give you, Isla?” I chuckle a little.
She rolls her head to look at me, beaming. I plant a seat on the edge of her bed.
“I love when you laugh. It’s like, it’s like this gift you bestow upon a select, chosen few.” She smiles bigger. “I’m on the list!”
“Yes, angel,” I laugh. “You’re on the list.”
“Whooo-hoo!”
She pumps her fist in the air. Sooo… I think she’s having a reaction to the medication.
“How’s your head?”
“Right now, everything’s great.” She sighs dreamily.
“Yeah, I bet.”
She sighs again, but she’s crashing.
“I never wanna shower again. How do I get over that, Seven?”
My neck whips around so quickly that I think I may have pulled a muscle.
“Wh-what?” I whisper.
Her eyes fill with tears where a second ago there was so much joy. I want that joy back, but I know firsthand that not expressing her emotions is the worst thing she can do right now.
“I’m being a baby. It could have been so much worse.”
She waves a hand somewhere. It’s aimless and crooked, but it’s meant to belittle her feelings and I’m not about that.
“What could have been?”
She pauses, fiddling with the Kindle she now has wedged between her fingers.
“The shower.”
Just like that, my gut lurches.
“Shower?” I force my voice to remain steady for her. If I get pissed, she’ll feel more shame and that’s the last thing I want.
“He made them wash me.” She gags. “Their hands were…” She retches again, not quite vomiting, but enough to where I go over and hold her hair back. “I won’t throw up, I don’t think.”
She slumps back.
“So gross. I don’t like people seeing me naked. They saw me naked, Seven.”
Her watery hazel eyes look to me for answers. She’s so beautiful. Her eyes are my favorite part of her because of the open book they are. Her eyes are a direct window to her heart and soul. She wears all her emotions right there.
Her hair is still silky, but tangled in a loose braid. She has on a white cotton dress with a little ribbon at the top. Her innocence combined with her words are killing me.
“I know, sweetheart. I know.”
“Can you hold my hand?”
“Of course.”
I grip her cold, little hand in mine. She practically cradles it.
“You’re always warm. It’s nice.”
“Alright,” I chuckle nervously. “I’m gonna take my hand away if you’re gonna be weird. High or not.”
She gigg
les a little. “Okay.”
“Do you want to finish talking about it?” I ask gently.
Her hold on my hand tightens. “They washed me. They weren’t supposed to be gross, but their hands were all over me.” She gags again. “One fingered me,” she rushes out. “But the other punched him in the head. So… can I just smell forever? I don’t think I can shower again without thinking of those disgusting men!”
“It’ll get easier,” I whisper. “I promise. ‘Til then, maybe baths?”
“That’d be better than smelling, huh?”
“A bit, yeah.”
She stares at me for a long moment. I can tell she wants to tell me something, but she ultimately decides against it. She shakes her head and scowls.
“Your stepdad is gross, no offense. So disgusting. He tricked me! He used my pain to get me to take off his jacket. It was just his jacket. You have to believe me!” she cries, practically screaming, she’s begging me so hard.
“I believe you. Hey, I believe you.”
She doesn’t hear me.
“Please, please, please…” She rips her hand from mine and grabs my worn t-shirt. “Believe me,” she sobs. “Believe me.”
“Hey,” I whisper, peeking over my shoulder to see Danny in the open doorway with tears streaming down his cheeks. He sets the teacups down right there on the floor and rushes over.
“Bug, listen to Seven. He believes you.”
Danny doesn’t know what we’re talking about, but he’s calm and soothing as he gets her to look at me, all the while rubbing gentle circles on her back.
“Come on, G. Stop talking and look at Seven.”
Her pleas die off a little as she glances up at me with big, sad eyes. I force the pain in my own eyes not to show.
I cup her face.
“I believe you. You did good. I’m proud of you.”
“I was nervous you’d think I-I tried to seduce the man who hurt me and your,” she mumbles a little, glancing up at me, “stepdad.”
Her cheeks turn red and Danny chuckles. I try not to smirk. I know Isla likes me. She really hasn’t tried to hide it. It’s something I’ll have to deal with at a later time, but for now, she’s high and hurting and she can’t suppress her feelings on a good day. I don’t expect her to now. But one day, I’ll have to explain to her that I’m bad and she’s good and we can’t be together like that. I work for the mafia, for God's sake. She’s a pediatrician.
