Rex and Lucky never took their eyes from us. “It’s gonna be fine, Hope,” Lucky said.
Munfry dusted himself off in the front doorway before bending down and picking up one of the guns. He leveled it at Bono’s brothers. I closed my eyes. Dolmilo released his grip on me for a fraction of a second and a shot rang out. My ears screamed a constant eeeEEEEeeeEEEE. I wanted to cover them and bury my head in my hands from the shock.
I opened my eyes to see Munfry, staring at us wide-eyed, while clutching his stomach. He fell to the floor. His usefulness to Dolmilo was over.
Dolmilo whipped his arm around my waist and whirled me to face Rex and Lucky. He flicked the knife up. I cried out as the sharp blade sliced my chin. Unable to stop the movement of my hand, it flew to the gash and came away bloody. I could do nothing but stare at the blood dripping from my fingers.
“Get in the fucking kitchen and close the door, now,” Dolmilo yelled, above the ringing in my ears. “If I see even one person near the house, I’ll slice her from ear to ear. You got that?” he screamed.
“We understand,” Caleb’s voice sounded through the comms as the kitchen door clicked shut, sealing Rex and Lucky away from view.
I was too busy moving robotically down the stairs at Dolmilo’s bidding and staring at the blood on my hands, wondering how much blood Dolmilo had on his. I knew about Kate. The Marshals told me that she’d got involved with the wrong people and a hit had been put on her head. Dolmilo went to prison because I saw him, but the person who hired him was never brought to justice. Nor the full reason for her murder brought to life. He’d also shot Munfry not moments before, but how many more people were there. As a hitman for the mafia there had to be too many to even comprehend. He had no compassion. He didn’t care about anyone or anything. And now, as small an amount as it was, he’d spilled my blood. Not once — I glanced to the blood on my fingers from under my chin — but twice — my gaze shifted to the nick on my arm.
As I stepped through the open front door and Dolmilo guided me toward Munfry’s car, waiting outside, I realized for the first time that I no longer felt fear. Instead, an anger that had been building inside me for ten years grew like a fire in my belly and erupted to the surface.
I screamed and grabbed at the wrist holding the knife to my throat while driving my shoulder up and the blade down. I slid down and rotated toward him, keeping the motion going until he had no choice but to release the knife. In the split second he did so, I threw it to the ground and kicked the gun out of his other hand. I followed through with a punch to the nose.
Instead of going down, the bastard laughed and wiped away the blood dripping onto his upper lip. His fist slammed into my face and I fell to the ground, my vision a haze that matched the ringing in my ears. Everything swirled in a maelstrom of chaos.
Chapter Eighteen
Bono
Hearing Dolmilo threaten Hope through the comms had set my blood boiling. It didn’t matter that SWAT teams were in place around the building, that we’d worked so carefully with Weathers to see him brought down. I wanted to rip his head off.
Cane had come up with the plan when Hope had called the trap for Dolmilo ‘vigilante justice’. He said the note in her voice told him she would never look at me the same way if I killed him myself.
We’d been so careful with everything, even though I’d never liked the idea, and Weathers was all too willing to help. Rex had sent the recording of Hope’s phone call to Peter Munfry to him within seconds of making it. He’d been waiting in the office of the Head of Special Agents. As soon as they had the recording, they found that Munrfy had immediately processed a request for personal leave, but never processed a single document relating to Hope. From there it was easy enough to get a warrant and a team in place around the house to see if Dolmilo showed up, adding weight to the case against Munfry. Of course, Munfry turning up as well had thrown all sets of questions up in the air. Only the capture of three men stalking the house had kept SWAT on our side.
But all that meant nothing with Hope at Dolmilo’s mercy. Everyone else had pulled back at his command, but there was no fucking way, I would let him leave with her. Not a person amongst us believed he would keep her alive the second he thought he was safe to kill her.
I crawled through the clawing mud toward the house, trying to still the worry making the blood thump in my ears. The rain stopped, and I watched Rex and Lucky drag Munfry outside. Lucky had him pinned to the wall.
When the shot rang out after they went back inside with their hands raised, I’d almost given up my steady crawl and charged, risking everything to reach Hope and them. But when Munfry fell, a well of relief filled my chest, and I continued my hidden approach. I’d reached Munfry’s car by the time Dolmilo threatened to cut Hope from ear to ear.
Time slowed and my heart almost stopped when Dolmilo came out of the house with Hope in his arms, a knife to her throat, and a gun in her stomach. Blood dripping from her hand.
I willed a SWAT marksman to take him out, instead, Hope made her move, and so did I.
As I charged toward them, my mind played over every fucking moment of loss. Falling to the ground, a lifetime ago, when the cops knocked on my door and told me Hope was dead, standing over he grave and seeing the coffin lowered into the ground. My heart broke all over again. Then I saw Tony, all too trusting, approaching a child, crying in the street. I didn’t get the chance to utter a word of warning before an explosion ripped through the world in a blaze of color and wiped them from the Earth. Too many times, I had seen people I cared about suffer and die, and all that had started with what Dolmilo had done.
I reached them a second too late to stop the blow that landed on Hope’s face and had her battling to stay conscious on the ground, but not too late to stop Dolmilo from picking up the knife he’d used to hurt her.
The expression on his face changed from one of pride in her suffering to one of fear when he registered my presence. He dodged my first blow, but I wasn’t going to wait around for him to gather his wits and retaliate. I landed a punch to his stomach and then a kick to his groin.
From the corner of my eye, I saw Hope roll on her front and crawl a few steps forward. That’s it, I thought. Get as far from him as possible.
My moment’s distraction gave Dolmilo the chance to recover. He came at me, landing a right hook to my gut that damn near knocked the wind from me. But I wasn’t going down easy. I stepped into his next blow, dodged to the side, and grabbed his overextended arm, pulling him further forward. Stepping into him, I turned my back to land a reverse punch to his face. Then, I used his weight against him with a hip throw, which had him on the ground scrambling to get up.
He rose with the knife in his hands. He fainted left but sprinted right and toward Hope. A guttural roar ripped through me when he grabbed her arm and pulled her to her feet, swinging the knife in a forward motion towards her stomach.
A gunshot boomed through the air. Hope and Dolmilo both fell to the ground. I rushed toward them as my brothers and the SWAT team surrounded us.
“Hope,” I said, brushing her hair from her face with my muddy hand.
She spluttered and pulled her hand away from her side. It was covered in blood. “We need an ambulance,” I shouted while applying pressure to her wound.
She smiled and reached up to touch my face. “I slayed my demons,” she said and made a strange choking sound, I thought might be laughter.
I glanced at Dolmilo. The back of his head had been blasted away by the gun that still rested in Hope’s other hand. “Yeah, you did. That’s my girl. My Hope.”
“My Bono,” she said and smiled.
Cane landed on the ground beside me, and I told him to raise her legs to help with the shock. I glanced at my hands, beneath the pressure I could see the bleeding was slowing, but not quickly enough.
“Stay with me, Hope. You’re going to be fine.” I said the words knowing she had to be, I couldn’t lose her again. She blinked up at me, and her eyes
glazed over and rolled into her head. “Stay with me Hope.”
Epilogue
(Sixteen Hours Later)
Hope
Everything hurt when I awoke. I lay still, keeping my eyes shut tight, and listened to the bleep of machinery. I found it comforting, knowing that the sound represented my heart beating and that it was going strong.
I shifted my focus to the senseless chatter of faraway voices and sensed the presence of a person in the room. They moved closer and a hand entwined with my own. I knew it had to be Bono when he lifted my hand to his mouth and gave it a gentle kiss.
“Good morning,” I said, and opened my eyes.
Bono’s caring, dark eyes met mine and he smiled. “Good afternoon,” he said and shifted closer. “How are you feeling today?”
“Everything still hurts, but I don’t feel as weak as I did when they brought me in.”
“Time and rest will do what the medicine and doctors kickstarted.” His face dropped and he shut his eyes for a moment, the strain on his face evident.
“Did you manage any sleep?” I asked.
“Not much,” he confessed.
“Hey,” I said, shaking and squeezing his hand. “Why so glum? I’m fine just like you promised I’d be.”
“No thanks to me.”
I shook my head and brushed my hand against the fluff of his beard. “All thanks to you.” He huffed out a breath and I knew it would be a while before he accepted that he wasn’t to blame for my predicament. “When did the doctor say I could leave?” I asked.
“She wants to keep you in one more night.”
I rolled my eyes back into my head. “Ugh, can’t they discharge me already, I’m not that bad?”
“Hope, as well as a nasty gash in the side, you have two broken ribs. Why don’t you do as the doctor says and rest up.”
“Fine, but only if you sneak me in some food. I’m starving.”
Bono laughed. “That I can do.” A knock sounded on the door, and Bono turned to the noise. “There are a few people who want to check in and see that you’re okay,” he said while motioning them inside.
“Hey, Charlie,” I said as she ran up to my bed.
“Now you look like you’ve been in a car accident,” she said, and Amber told her not to be rude while Caleb came up behind her and rested his hand protectively on both their shoulders.
“It’s fine,” I assured her. “This time, I feel like I’ve been in a car accident.”
Cane entered, followed by a brunette carrying a baby. Charlie ran straight over to them and dragged the woman and baby forward. “This is Aunt Thea,” she said, taking it upon herself to introduce us. “And this is Uncle Cane and Aunt Thea’s baby. My cousin,” she added proudly.
“It’s lovely to finally meet you,” Thea said, and I nodded likewise while trying not to be jealous that the most stunning woman I had ever seen gave birth only a few days ago. She looked like she’d just stepped from the covers of a magazine while I ‘looked like I’d been in a car accident.’
Rex and Lucky entered, carrying a huge teddy bear and what must be a dozen balloons between them.
“Have you decided on a name for the baby yet?” Lucky asked. “Or do we keep calling her the baby?”
“We’ve decided on Toni, if that’s okay with you?” Cane said while looking at Bono.
Bono smiled. “Toni’s perfect.”
“It’s not for you, Charlie-baby,” Amber said when she noted the little girl’s eyes hadn’t left the teddy. “It’s for Aunt Hope, to help her feel better.”
I glanced at Bono. Aunt Hope. I liked the sound of that.
“That’s okay,” Charlie said and inched closer to me, smiling. “Daddy’s getting me a puppy named Buttons.”
I laughed. “Buttons is a fine name for a puppy.”
The visit didn’t last much longer. I grew tired and everyone gave me their best wishes and left. Including Craig Weathers, who also popped in to make sure I was doing okay.
Only Bono remained. He grabbed his chair and pulled it right next to the bed and grasped both my hands and stared at them, never looking me in the eye. I knew he was beating himself up all over again.
I cupped his chin in my hands and turned his face toward me. “You’ve always been my hero. Did you know that? I hated my life and never thought I’d make it to twenty, let alone thirty-four. Hell, I never wanted to until I met you. Do you remember the first time we laid eyes on each other?”
“You winked at me,” he said, and a cheeky grin played at his lips.
“Did you ever wonder why I winked at you?”
“Because you were always stronger than I was.”
I shook my head and laughed. “Rubbish. I winked because you looked like you either wanted to kill me or kiss me. I winked as I thought it would be the quickest way to piss you off and find out which one it was.” I brushed my hand over his lips. “When that same silly grin took over your face, I knew which one it was and that I’d found a reason to call a place home.”
Bono leaned down and gently pressed his lips to my own. “And where will you call home now that you can be Hope Fisher?” he asked when he pulled back.
I shrugged. “I said goodbye to Hope Fisher a long time ago. But, if you’ll have me, Hope Travers wouldn’t be averse to settling in Colorado.”
Bono shook his head. “Is that your idea of a proposal?” he asked and kissed me again.
“No. It’s a reminder that you gave one to me.”
Bono slipped the engagement ring from my right hand and onto my finger on my left. “I’ve never forgotten.”
I smiled and bit my bottom lip. “Do you know what you have forgotten?” I said. Bono shook his head. “To get me food. I’m still starving.” Bono laughed. “Pizza would be great,” I added, and he kissed me again before pulling away.
“Fine,” he said. “But no pineapple.”
“Aww, but I’m injured and trapped in a hospital bed. Shouldn’t your hero complex want to give in to my every whim.”
Bono rolled his eyes. “Fine, just this once, you can have pineapple,” he said before looking at me intently. And when you’re healed, then I’ll give in to your every whim.”
I pulled him back down for a final kiss before sending him to get me food. “Actually,” I called as he was stepping through the door. “I’ll think I’ll give in to yours.”
You can read Jameson’s story in a new limited addition criminal mayhem collection ‘Crimes of the Wicked’ along with many more great stories, available for pre-order now: http://getbook.at/CrimesoftheWicked
Thank you for reading Forever Midnight. O hope you enjoyed the stories.
I have to admit, they were not what I originally planned when I released the first in January 2020, before we knew how Covid-19 would influence our lives.
I found it strange trying to write the second two stories for release in March and May and sitting down to focus proved difficult.
As well as trying to write, I am working from home for my college job, all while trying to ensure my daughter gets a little education and doesn’t spend twenty hours of every day playing computer games or watching YouTube. Getting her out of bed before mid-day is also proving a challenge.
This last two books were shorter than intended, and the storylines shifted as I was writing. Normally, I’d have a link to the next book for you to pre-order, but instead, I have decided to include Jameson’s story in an anthology along with some others from some great authors.
Jameson’s story, available in the Crimes of the Wicked collection, will be the last following Forever Midnight, but also a cross-over story to a new mafia series I’m planning set in the UK. I won’t be setting the first in this series for pre-order, as I want to make sure it’s as good as I can get it without the time constraints pre-order require. But details will follow soon and will be available on my Facebook page first.
As always, stay safe and stay well. I wish a long, happy and healthy future for you and your families.
<
br /> Victoria
Please check out my Facebook Page to keep up to date with all new releases, or to shoot me a message: https://www.facebook.com/authorvictoriagale/
I am always looking for people who are happy to review my books. If you are interested, send me a message through Facebook and I’ll get back to you.
Forever Midnight MC Collection: Books 1-3 Page 36
