“We all do, Dad, but if you think for one-second I'm not going in there, you're all insane!”
“We don't have time for this!” Hammer yells. “That girl in there is my sister!” He's finally come around to having Maria in his life, and he's become just as protective of her as I am of Nova and Willow. “Enough of this bullshit. The three of us are going in there.
“You two,” He points to Draven and then me. “Go in the room, and I'll wait outside. You'll have five minutes before I bust the fuckin' door down. I don't care what you do to that son of a bitch, but I'm getting my sister out of there as quickly and safely as I can.”
“Whatever. Just get her out of there.” Both Hammer and I nod. I don't care what I have to do I'll get her out of there. I want her home where she's safe with me. I swear I'll never leave her alone again.
Guns cocked in place, the three of us enter the house, following the stairs, each step creaking with the weight of three huge men.
“Don't be shy, son!” My gut churns at the sound of that cunts laughter coming from behind the door in front of us.
Draven takes the handle but turns to Hammer and me before opening it. I'm on fuckin' pins and needles here! I want to get in there, get my wife and get out. “Keep your eyes peeled, little brother. We may not have seen anyone around this place, but it doesn't mean he's alone.”
“Five minutes. If you're not out by then, I'm comin' in.”
“Can we just get in there?” I hiss between angry teeth. We're wasting precious time!
I see her the second Draven opens the door, my Maria. That old fuck has a gun to her head, his hand around her throat, using her as a shield. He's sweating and has a crazy look in his eyes. He's fuckin' lost it.
I can feel my anger rising. Maria's face is bruised on both sides of her. He must have done something to the left side of her body because she's bearing all her weight on her right foot.
She looks from Draven to me. She hadn't noticed me before. Her eyes widen in relief, her lower lip quivers, she reaches for me. I want nothing more than to go to her, to pull her away from Joseph and hold her so fuckin' close, but that evil old cunt would blow her brains out before I could reach her. I won't risk it. However, if Draven can keep him talking, then I have a chance to move closer, to catch him off guard and bring Maria to safety.
“I told you to come alone!” The old man is sweating even more. He seems jumpy. Has he finally realized he's going to get nowhere with this? Ain't no way he's ever going to be the head of the Vidal Crime Family. Hell, he isn't even going to get out of this room alive!
“You knew I wouldn't do that, old man.”
“I bet you've got that other no good son of mine out there somewhere, don't you?” His eyes dart all over the place. Paranoid motherfucker.
“Why did you do it? Why did you kill my mother? Why did you kill Sam's mother? And why on this earth did you think taking my sister and hurting her was ever going to end with anything but your death?”
“That's easy. His mother was lying bitch who stole my son from me. By the time I found out he was actually mine, it was too late for him, those filthy bikers molded him to be one of them.” He shots a look at me, I see it through the corner of my eye, but mine are firmly on my wife.
I'm mentally telling her that I'll get her out of this, that everything will be all right. She gives me a weak smile. For now, that will have to do.
“Your mother was a stupid nosy bitch who didn't know how to keep herself out of my business! Whining about me killing her precious sister and that biker prick she ran off with,” He starts chuckling. “You knew, did you? That those two bitches were twin sisters?”
“Yeah, old man, I knew. Pretty fucking sick to force both of them to marry you. I know how much my mother loved Hillary. I know what she did to save her from you.”
“Well,” He shifts on his feet, pulling Maria closer to him, she flinches, and I'm seconds away from charging him. “Helen had to go. Not only for helping Hillary cover up that Sam was mine, but not keeping her damn mouth shut! I couldn't have her running to my brother with what she knew, and she did know I killed Hillary. Helen always was too smart for her own good. Vinny would have believed her, bastard always believed her over me! As for Maria...” He looks at her then looks back to Draven.
Something is wrong. Something is very wrong with my wife. She's struggling to stay on her shoeless feet. Her hand is clasping her stomach. She's in pain. I need to get her out of here!
“She's just a pawn. Always has been. There's nothing in the world you love more than your sister. I could have torn the world down around you, and it wouldn't've meant a damn thing, but this little lady,” He yanks her closer, her eyes close painfully.
She opens them and looks at me, eyes locking. She slides hers toward the floor, wanting mine to follow. They do, right to her legs. Blood is slowly sliding down her legs.
Shit! She's bleeding. Something's wrong with the baby, that's the pain she's feeling. She's losing our little girl thanks to this cunt!
What the fuck do I do?
He and Draven can argue this shit out until the next century for all I care; I need to get Maria out of here now, there is no more time to waste!
“Enough!” I yell so loudly both men jump a little. “You ain't getting the family business, and you're not getting out of this room alive. However, you can do the right thing by your daughter for once in your life and let her go.”
“Who the fuck are you to even speak to me, you filthy fuckin' biker cunt!” He's getting more agitated. If either of us spooks him in any way, he'll shoot Maria right through the temple. As much as I want to rush this, I can't risk him hurting her more than he already has.
“Can't you see what you're doing to her?!” Draven yells. I grind my teeth. Draven takes a step toward his father, who pulls Maria back against him. My beautiful wife who can no longer open her eyes.
Joseph pushes the barrel of the gun harder into Maria's temple. She doesn't even flinch. She's losing blood fast, and I'm going to lose her, I just know it. She's so damn pale!
“Give me what's mine, and I'll let her go. You know you never deserved what you took from me.”
“And Maria, Sam, and I deserved what you took from us? You killed our mother's! The only father Sam ever knew, and...” The look on his face as it turns deathly white. He sees what I see, my Maria fading before our eyes. He turns his eyes to me. He's thinking the same thing I am.
I turn to make my move, but neither of us saw that motherfucker grab her by the throat and squeeze! “You're killin' her!” I scream.
That's when the door behind us flies open with so much force it hits the wall with a deafening crack. Of course, all eyes turn in that direction. There's a loud bang, and a thud hits the ground. I turn toward my wife, rushing to her on instinct. She's sprawled on the floor, Joseph next to her. One shot is all it took.
Five-seconds flat is how long it was from the moment Hammer kicked that door off its hinges and shot the man who created him right between the eyes. The eyes that are wide open and looking at me. I can feel the hate inside of me for that cunt. I wanted to be the one to kill him. However, I can't think like that; Maria needs me.
I take her face in my hands. Fuck, he really messed her up. “Maria, can you hear me?”
“Is she okay?” Draven asks while crouching down beside me, Hammer on the other side, both men placing a hand on their little sister.
“Does she look okay? She's fuckin' bleeding. You know what that means, don't you?”
“That we need to get her out of here now.”
“It's okay, baby,” I lift her into my arms. For a pregnant woman, she still doesn't weigh much, or maybe I can't tell the difference be
cause of all the fuckin' adrenaline pumping through my body right now. “I'm getting you outta here.”
I step outside, and everyone is talking to me all at once. I don't and won't answer them. My only concern is my wife. Nothing else will ever come before her. Nothing.
I lay her down in the back of Draven's car, her head in my lap. I didn't even see him follow me out of that filthy old house, let alone see him get in the car. However, he's here. I'll let him get us to the hospital just as long as he gets us there fast.
I stroke the hair back from Maria's face and kiss her forehead. “I love you,” I tell her. I feel a deep sickness inside of me, something I have never felt in my life. I don't want to lose her. I really fuckin' don't.
I'm not a praying man, but I do just that now. If there is a higher power out there, then I'll pray with my whole fuckin' soul that he doesn't take Maria from me, and if there's any room left that he keeps my little girl from leaving us.
Over an hour I've been pacing this damn waiting room floor. No one has given me any information on how Maria is. I'm going out of my fuckin' mind!
The doctors took Maria from me before we were even through the front doors. Some jumped up little motherfucker got all up in my face demanding to know what happened to her. What the fuck was I supposed to tell him? I couldn't tell him that her father abducted her and that he'd hurt her. The police would be all over us.
I couldn't have answered him even if I did know what to say. I think I was in shock. I still am.
I was just about to smack that motherfuckin' doctors face in when Draven came over. I guess to both calm me down and fill the doctor in on what happened. Stupid old fuck, I thought he was going to have a heart attack where he stood. I can be a scary bastard when pushed.
I stood by while Draven explained to the doctor how a gang attacked Maria, how she called for help, and how we found her. Then the cops came. They didn't even acknowledge me. They spoke only to Draven, and that was in a private room. They came out, shook hands with Vidal and left.