But the third hits its mark.
The blown-out tire sends the car into a tailspin. We do a few one-eighties on the highway before finally careening off the road, down a small hill and into a ditch. The airbags deploy as soon as we crash, filling the car up with a white smoke that smells like ammonia and makes it hard to breathe.
Fumbling for the knife strapped to my ankle, I’m able to unsheathe it, bring it up and pop the airbags.
Victoria has a nasty gash on her forehead, so she’s a little groggy when I shake her awake. “Are you all right?” I ask her.
She gives me a lazy nod in response, her eyes not really focused. Her brain is probably still trying to process what just happened.
Reaching past her, I open the glove compartment, pull out my Glock and grab an extra clip. “Stay here. Stay in the car. No matter what you hear. Stay here.”
“Damon!” she calls weakly when I climb out, but I don’t stop or turn around.
I’m going to be putting my life on the line to save Victoria. If someone asked me what love is, I would tell them that it’s this. Right here. Sacrificing everything for the person who stole your heart.
I might not make it after everything is all said and done, but I’ll make damn sure that they’re all dead first. I’m going to be the last one standing at the end of this fight, come hell or high water.
Using the rear of the car as a shield, I wait for the first fucker to pop his head up over the hill. And when he does, I shoot him right between the eyes.
The big ginger rolls down the hill in a dead heap.
One down, I tell myself. The rest won’t be so damn easy, though.
The next two men barely peek over the hill before they begin firing. Bullets ricochet off the car, pinging and sailing through the air. I move deeper into the ditch, using the ground as cover as well.
When they’ve emptied their clips, that’s when I make my move. Scrambling away from the car, I flank to the right until I have the advantage. The fuckers are so concentrated on the car, thinking that we’re both inside the vehicle, that they don’t even see me coming until it’s too late.
I jam my knife into the throat of one of the men, pushing it in all the way to the hilt before turning and using his back as a human shield. A few bullets pierce the man’s back in front of me before I can get my gun in position to shoot the other guy in the chest two times and once in the face.
The guy I shoot goes down right away, but the man with the knife stuck in his throat begins to wrestle me in a panic. Twisting the blade into his soft tissue, I yank it free and kick him with my shoe. He stumbles backwards, blood spurting out of his severed carotid like a damn fountain.
I expect more men to come out of the car, especially Brody, but none do. Cautiously approaching the vehicle with all four doors open, I realize there’s no one left inside.
I’m starting to wonder if it’s all over…but that’s when I hear Victoria scream.
CHAPTER 35
VICTORIA
SCRAMBLING OUT OF my seatbelt, I track Damon’s movements as he moves away from the ditch and up towards the highway. He has a look of determination on his face, like he’s so confident this is his fight to win…but I’m scared.
I’m scared for his life. For my life. For what’s going to happen to him, to us.
Coughing from the smoke and dust particles in the air, I wince in pain. My chest feels sore and bruised from the seatbelt pressing up against me during the crash. But that’s the least of my worries at this moment. I need to make sure Damon is all right.
As I open the door, a few gunshots ring out, and then there is silence. Tears fill my eyes, my vision blurring as I wonder who made it out alive. I search the car for a weapon, but I come up empty. I know Damon took his gun, so he’s my only protection from the Farrell gang…if he’s even still alive.
No, I tell myself, shaking my head. I can’t think like that. Not yet. Damon is still alive.
Getting out of the car, I have to climb out of the ditch. When I emerge from the dirt heap, I see a pair of shoes. When I look up, I see the devil himself standing there – Brody Farrell.
“Hello, Victoria. I’ve missed you,” he says with an evil sneer.
I scream as he snatches my hair with his hand and hauls me up to face him. “It seems your knight in shinin’ armor has killed all my men. So, it’s lucky that I have you for collateral.”
He turns me around and hauls my back up against his chest before pressing his gun to my temple.
Seconds later, Damon appears at the top of the hill before his eyes lock onto mine. I can’t help the jubilation running through me at seeing him. “Damon!” I cry out, which earns me a smack to the side of my head with the butt of his gun.
Anger flashes over Damon’s face as he makes his way towards us. When he’s standing several feet away, he yells, “Let her go!”
Brody scoffs at his request. “You killed my men. She is my insurance policy that I make it out of this alive.”
“You won’t make it out of this alive either way. I just won’t take my time killing you and letting you suffer if you let her go now.”
“Hmm, decisions, decisions,” Brody mocks. “I’m taking this little lass with me. We’re gonna get in my car and drive away. And if ya try to stop me, I’ll paint the grass with her pretty brains.”
My entire body trembles as Brody begins forcing me towards the highway. Damon stands back, watching us, and for a moment I think he’s going to let Brody take me. But then I see the determined look in his eyes as he mouths to me, Remember your training.
Remember my training? Sure, Damon and I have run through this scenario plenty of times. But that was with a fake gun and with a man I knew for certain wasn’t going to harm me. This is a completely different scenario. This is real.
But I know if I have any chance of saving myself, I need to fight back.
Dropping my body weight, I wrestle out of Brody’s hold, catching him off-guard. A shot rings out as I turn quickly and bring the heel of my hand up to his face straight into his nose. The blow is effective and has him crying out in pain.
Everything happens so fast after that. Damon moves between us, wrestles Brody for the gun. I hear a bone snap as the gun from Brody’s hand falls to the ground with a soft thud. And then another shot rings out before Brody’s lifeless body slumps against Damon.
I stare into Brody’s dead eyes as Damon finally releases him to fall to the ground in a heap.
Panting, Damon puts his gun away and turns to me, checking me all over. “I’m fine,” I reassure him. Noticing the sweat beading on his brow and the disoriented look in his green eyes, I realize that Damon isn’t fine, however. “Are you hurt?” I ask him as he stumbles before righting himself again.
Peeling back his black leather jacket, a red stain is blossoming on the bottom right of his white tee. “Fucker shot me,” he grits out before collapsing to his knees.
“We have to get you out of here,” I tell him before helping him stand once more. With most of his weight on me, I help him up the small hill to where the SUV is still parked on the berm of the highway.
Damon climbs into the passenger’s seat as I shut the rear doors before climbing into the driver’s seat. The keys are still in the ignition, so I crank the engine. “Keep pressure on it,” I tell him as I put the vehicle in drive and speed down the highway.
Minutes later, Damon slips into an unconscious state, slumping down in the passenger seat as I drive to the nearest hospital using the GPS system installed in the SUV.
“Damon? Damon!” I call out, crying. When he doesn’t answer me, my heart drops.
The tires on the SUV screech as I pull erratically in front of the emergency room and slam it into park. Scrambling out of the vehicle, I run inside the hospital and scream for help. It doesn’t take long before two nurses are helping me get Damon onto a gurney.
And as I watch them wheel the love of my life back to the OR, all I can think of is that I can’t lose him.
I refuse to lose him.
Not again.
Not now.
Not ever.
CHAPTER 36
DAMON
I WAKE UP with an incredible thirst.
“Water,” I croak out, and my voice sounds foreign to me, dry and rough.
A few seconds later, a straw is at my lips, and I’m sucking down half a glass of cold ice water. Fuck, that feels good on my sore throat.
My eyes blink open, and I see an angel at my bedside holding the cup. “Welcome back,” Victoria says with the sweetest of smiles and tears in her eyes.
I reach up, and my palm caresses her soft cheek. Fuck, I’m glad I made it back to her. “No more cryin’,” I tell her, wiping away a stray tear with my thumb.
I glance around the hospital room and see Baz standing watch in the corner with a look on his face that I can’t decipher. “Glad you are okay, my friend,” he tells me. He looks adoringly to Victoria before saying, “She never left your side.”
My eyes meet Victoria’s once more. “My queen,” I whisper to her.
“My king,” she whispers back before turning her face and placing a kiss on the palm of my hand.
When a doctor in light blue scrubs and a white lab coat comes in moments later, he tells me about the damage I endured. “The bullet struck your appendix, which we had to remove surgically. We still have some more tests to run, but I expect a full and speedy recovery for you.”
“When the hell can I get outta here?” I ask him, grimacing as I sit up.
“A few days,” he offers.
I grumble, not wanting to spend any more time here, but then I catch Victoria’s worried look, and I simply agree with the doc to make her feel better. When the worry lines in her forehead cease to exist and the smile returns to her beautiful face, I know I’ve made the right choice.
Once the doctor and Baz clear out of the room, leaving Victoria and I alone, I pull her into my bed, much to her protest. “I don’t want to hurt you,” she says in a panic.
“You’re not gonna hurt me. I need you close to me. I need to touch you.”
She eventually relaxes and curls up into the bed next to me on my good side and rests her head on my chest. “I was so worried,” she starts, but I hush her.
“I’m okay. We’re okay,” I assure her. “You’re not gonna get rid of me that easily,” I say with a smirk.
“Is it always going to be like this?” she asks in the quiet room. “Are we always going to be fighting to stay on top?”
“Maybe. Probably,” I tell her honestly. “But the most important thing is, with my queen by my side, no one will ever be able to overrule me. You keep me strong, Victoria. Your love keeps me going. And I’ll move heaven and earth to protect you and keep you safe.”
Sitting up to stare into my eyes, she whispers, “I love you, Damon.”
“I love you. So much it fucking hurts,” I confess.
Victoria nestles closer to me, and I hold her until she falls asleep.
With her in my arms, I feel like I can conquer the fucking world.
And I will.
For her.
EPILOGUE
DAMON
One year later...
“WE’RE GOING TO be late for our own wedding!” Victoria gasps as my lips trail up her creamy thighs.
Nipping her silky skin with my teeth, she gasps out loud again. “Fuck them. They can wait,” I growl from underneath her dress.
When I walked into her changing room and saw her for the first time, my heart literally skipped a beat. She looked like the most beautiful being I’ve ever laid eyes upon. And then, when my wife-to-be hiked up her dress to show me the sexy garters and lacy panties on underneath, teasing me, but never expecting me to do anything about it, I had to show her who’s boss.
As my tongue reaches her lacy panties, I lick her seam through the material, causing her to groan loudly.
“Shh,” I chide her. “We have guests outside.”
“Damon, please,” she begs, but I don’t think she even knows what she’s pleading for at this point. Maybe for me to stop, which she knows I won’t…or maybe for me to keep going.
Moving her panties aside, my tongue finds her swollen clit, aching for my mouth.
“Please…don’t stop,” she pleads, and it’s music to my ears.
“That’s my girl,” I whisper against her pussy lips before diving back in and devouring her. I suck her sweet, little bud into my mouth, which earns me the sweetest moan I’ve ever heard in my life. I lick, suck and bite at her like a starving man, because that’s exactly what I feel like. I’m starving for her – mind, body and soul. And I’ll never be able to get enough of her.
The orgasm hits her hard and fast, and her liquid honey coats my mouth as I continue to lick her, driving her insane.
“Damon!” she cries out, no doubt too sensitive for my ministrations now.
A knock on the door has me stopping my torturous ways. I pull my head out from between my fiancée’s legs.
“Damon, are you in there?”
It’s Sara.
“Be out in a minute!” we both call out to her before looking at each other and grinning.
“You know it’s bad luck to see the bride before the wedding, right?” Sara asks on a sigh.
I look up at Victoria and grin. “But what about fucking the bride before the wedding?” I whisper.
Victoria playfully slaps my shoulder, and I stand, helping to fix her beautiful dress before we leave the room.
Sara eyes us suspiciously before a big grin breaks out on her face. Fuck, it’s good to see her smiling and happy again. “You two need to get out there before people start wondering if you both got cold feet.”
“Cold feet? Never,” I say before raising Victoria’s hand to my mouth and placing a kiss on her knuckles. “She’s stuck with me after today,” I tell her.
“Doesn’t sound so bad,” Victoria purrs before I release her and walk outside to go take my place at the floral arch they rectified in our backyard yesterday.
The priest is waiting as well as Baz, my best man. He cocks his brow and gives me a signal to wipe my mouth. I swipe my hand over my mouth, effectively wiping away Victoria’s juices from my face and chin, before giving him a wink.
Baz simply shakes his head. “Now I know why you were running late, my friend,” he says with a telling grin.
I stare out at rows and rows of people who have gathered here for our wedding. In attendance are some of the most dangerous and powerful mobsters in the city. And they’ve all come here out of respect for me.
The string quartet plays a beautiful song as my sister, Victoria’s maid-of-honor, walks down the aisle. Sara is wearing a sleeveless, violet dress, wearing her numerous scars proudly for all to see.
She’s a tough one, my sister. And I couldn’t be prouder of her for showing off her battle scars like the warrior that she is. She survived so much over the years, and she came out stronger than I could have ever imagined. Stronger than I ever could have been.
She’s a wife. A mother. But most importantly, she’s my sister and my best friend.
Tears are in my eyes as I watch her take her place on the other side of the preacher. You look beautiful, I mouth to her.
Thank you, she mouths back.
Little Arlo, our ring bearer, walks down the aisle next. He looks so cute in his tiny tux with matching violet bowtie. Halfway to us, however, he stops and throws the pillow dramatically, crying and throwing himself down on the white runner, much to his mother’s chagrin.
If I’ve learned anything about being around my little nephew over the past several months, it’s that the kid is stubborn, just like his mommy…and his uncle, I suppose.
The crowd laughs and smiles as Roman unceremoniously scoops his son up in his arms and brings him to the front row where he has a seat, winking at Sara in the process.
Sara smiles and stares at them both in awe, like she still can’t believe she’s not dreaming.
> Hell, I know that feeling. I feel it every time I look at Victoria.
The string quartet begin to play a new song, and the crowd gets to their feet, awaiting my bride. And what a beautiful bride she is.
Victoria walks down the aisle slowly, way too slowly for my taste. I want her up here by my side as soon as possible, but I force myself to pause. Pause and take in this moment of my lovely wife to be walking towards me with a megawatt smile lighting up her pretty face.
Victoria has been teaching me all about pausing and taking the time to savor moments. Because one day, we’ll be old and gray, and only our memories of our happy times together will keep us warm at night and bring us renewed joy.
The priest does his spiel, and I barely pay attention, because I’m so far in dreamland as I stare at Victoria. Her makeup is subtle, and her hair is curled to perfection. She looks like a vision in her ivory dress. Fuck, I can’t wait to strip her out of it later tonight on our way to our honeymoon.
When her brows crease in worry, I realize I missed what the priest just asked me. “What?” I ask, earning some chuckles from the throng of people watching us.
The priest clears his throat. “I asked if you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife?”
“Fuck, yeah, I do,” I blurt out, which earns me a grimace from Victoria and a head shake from my sister. “I mean…yes, I do.”
Victoria smiles at me, biting her lower lip to keep a giggle from escaping.
Turning to Victoria, the priest asks, “And do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, forever and always?”
“I do,” Victoria answers with a smile.
“By the power vested in me,” the priest starts saying, but I tune him out as I grab my wife, dip her and plant a big kiss on her lips.
Victoria laughs as I stand her upright once more. “What am I gonna do with you?” she whispers before kissing my cheek sweetly.
Victorious: A Dark Mafia Romance (Deviant Series Book 2) Page 11
