Tony pulls up outside my house. Finally. It seems to have taken forever to get here! “Tony, wait here, I might need you. Be on the alert.”
“Sure, Boss.”
I'm through the front door without even realizing I didn't need to use my key or thumbprint. What the fuck? The door was neither closed nor locked. Marnie knows to make sure the door is always closed and locked. Nobody can get in this house but me and my woman. Fingerprint, eyeball, and fucking face recognition.
The only way anyone could have gotten in is if Marnie knew the person and opened the door for them.
Someone who got through the iron gates. Which means they had to have known how, or Marnie let them in. No one knows the key-code, other than a handful of people. I only hope the damn thing isn't faulty. If it turns out that's what's wrong with the gate, heads will literally roll!
Maybe you should have made sure there was someone operating the gate while you were out, then no one would have been able to get in!
I step back outside and motion for Tony to come with me. If there is someone in my house, it's always best to have someone watching your back.
“Check down here. I'll look upstairs. Oh, and Tony?”
“Yeah?”
“You see anyone other than Marine; you shoot them on sight.”
He smirks. “Boss.”
I watch Tony pull his gun from his holster and walk through the shadows towards the living room. I pull my own gun and creep up the stairs like a ghost in the night. I was trained for this. It's so easy to move undetected, even a man my size when you know how. Just look at Ghost, that giant of a man can get in and out of any place without being heard. He's an asshole in my opinion, but he loves Avery, and he comes in handy when I need him.
I slip into each room quietly on my way toward the end of the hallway where mine and Marnie's bedroom is situated. Each room is empty, not a sign of struggle to be seen. I doubt very much anybody kidnapping another person would take the time to clean up after themselves, and I doubt very much Paul Simpson would be smart enough to think of that.
I slowly open the door to our bedroom, gun still aimed high. If there is anybody in here a bullet to the fucking chest will be the least of their worries.
“Marnie, are you in here?” I call as soon as I've cleared the bathroom. There's no one here, and if there were anyone downstairs, I would have heard by now.
I hear a groan from my side of the bed, but there's no one on the bed. I walk around, and I see her. “Marnie, fuck!” She's lying on her side, her arms splayed in strange positions, blood all over her face. Fuck it all!
I quickly tuck my gun into its holster while getting to my knees and reaching for her. “Baby,” I wrap my arm around the back of her neck and lift her gently while calling for Tony. She's lethargic, her eyes rolling to the back of her head as I try to get her to open them for me. “Marnie, please open your eyes.”
“What the fuck happened?”
I look at Tony for only a second. “I need to get her to the hospital. I want the motherfucker who did this found, now!” I lift Marnie into my arms, and she doesn't even make a sound. Goddammit, if anything happens to her! “Dead or alive, I don't care. I want their body one way or the other! Make the fuckin' call on the way.”
I want him or her dead. I don't care how, but I want it now. Whichever man or woman brings the cunt to me will be paid more money than he or she is ever likely to see in this lifetime! Millions for all I give a shit. This woman, this baby, is my life. Nothing is going to take them away from me while I draw breath!
I never thought I could love again. Hell, I didn't even want to love Marnie, I told her as much when I first dragged her away from Paul Simpson. I had no intentions of letting her that far into my heart. Of course, I knew I'd love her in some way, she's going to be my wife, the mother of my child, but falling in love? Hell, no!
I was wrong. I had no fucking clue Marnie had the power to bury herself so deep into my heart and mind the way she has. She's even got me looking forward to coming home each night because I know she'll be there waiting for me. No one, not even my ex-wife, could do that. I was a damn workaholic. I still am, but I know when to go home these days.
As I cradle Marnie in my arms while Tony races through midtown traffic towards the hospital, I know that I can't lose her. I fucking love her. I love her, and I can't live without her. I have no clue when that happened, but it has, and I have to hold onto it with all that I am. I'm a monster, but even monsters deserve love. Don't they?
“Hang on, baby girl. Hang on.” I kiss her head and pray, yes, pray to fuckin' God that this isn't as serious as it looks.
* * *
Cracked skull. Concussion. Fractured wrist. Multiple bruising on her upper arms, face, and neck. Five stitches above her eye and it will scar. She won't be happy if she can't cover that up for Tony's wedding next week. There are no signs of rape or sexual assault. The baby is perfect, and the heartbeat is strong. There is no permanent damage, but Marnie will need to rest over the next few weeks.
That's what the doctors told me not ten minutes ago.
I'm thankful that Marnie wasn't raped. I'm grateful that our baby is okay, but I'm so fucking pissed that she's not okay, and that Marnie was attacked in our own home! The place I believed to be impregnable, the safest place she could be. After everything she's been through already, now this?
I have a feeling Simpson did this. Well, he won't get away with it, I'll make him pay in ways he never knew were possible.
I've already put a call into one of my most reliable contacts. I made sure he got word out to all those who work for the Vidal Family, i.e., me, and those who work around us, that the man who brings Paul Simpson to me alive, will be rewarded handsomely. Two million dollars! Pocket change to me. I'd give them every fucking penny I have to get to that cunt and give him exactly what he deserves. It all means nothing to me anymore, not without Marnie.
I had no clue one night with a beautiful woman would end up with me falling in love. When Marnie came to me and told me that she was pregnant with my child, when I came around to the idea, all I wanted was to be a father to that child. I may have planned to marry Marnie against her will, I may have forced her to live with me, and I may have done many things I shouldn't, but not once did I imagine I'd be the one falling in love. It wasn't in my plans! Falling in love is dangerous for a man like me for so many reasons.
Then there's the fact people automatically expect my wife to be treated like shit. A prisoner in her own home, battered whenever she disobeyed me. It's a sick fucking world when that's what people think of me. I'm a Mafia Don so I must be abusing my wife. It makes me sick to my stomach, but it's not like I didn't expect the whispers. I am many things, but I'm not that man. I love Marine more than I ever thought possible, and if I have to kill every damn person who so much as looks at her wrong so that I can keep her safe, I will.
Marnie is sleeping right now. The doctor gave her something to help her relax. She was in and out of consciousness for a few minutes after we arrive at the hospital, but she wasn't really there, so anything to keep her comfortable is okay with me.
The doctor told me that it's normal when a person has a crack to the head for them to sleep for a while. As Marnie doesn't have a serious head injury, he's happy for her to sleep a few hours.
It kills me to see Marnie like this, so small in such a huge bed, and so helpless. It's odd how small she looks lying there. Marnie isn't short, she's tall, well, five-eight, beautiful long, toned legs. Yet, lying there, she looks about 4ft tall. It's breaking my heart.
Of course, I've got half the Snakes Henchmen MC and their old ladies, including my sister and Marnie's here, plus their husbands, all wanting to know how she is. I wouldn't allow them all to be here by rights, but the fact they all care about my Marnie is the only reason I haven't told them all to fuck off.
Right now, Brooke is giving me what for. She blames me for this, hell, I blame myself, but I won't show this mouthy little bitch that. She's damn lucky she's Marnie's sister, or I'd pop a cap in her fucking skull for daring to talk to me like this! Woman or no woman, no one disrespects me like this!
I can't really blame Brooke for being upset right now though, Marnie means everything to her. They're all each other has. Well, not technically, they have Hawk and me, but you get what I mean. She's feisty for a pregnant woman – a lot like Marnie.
Maria is clinging to my arm, her way of showing me that she doesn't blame me. Avery is looking at me sympathetically. My brother hasn't said anything. He just gave me that look he gives me, the silent one that
asks if I'm doing okay. Hammer isn't the kind of man who shows much affection, but he's not dead in the heart either. He may not have wanted to be my brother in the beginning, but once he came around, we became close. Well, as close as we could for siblings who hardly knew each other. Although, he like me, has no problem in showing his love for Maria, even if he was beyond a bastard to her in the beginning.
“... I'm taking her home with me. You obviously can't take care of her like you promised!” Blah blah blah. That's all I hear right now. “I trusted you, Draven. I trusted you because you're my friend and you swore you'd never let anything happened to Marnie. Do you have any real clue how long she's wanted to be a mother?” I roll my eyes. It's like being yelled at by my own mother! “Since she was a little girl. It's all she's ever wanted. Then to be told you'll never have one because your husband can't have kids? It killed her. Then she met you, and you...” She grinds her teeth together.
I'm trying not to laugh her, but she's a fiery little thing. She's got spunk. I like it. I've always liked it; it's why I hired her to work at the restaurant.
“When Marnie told me she was pregnant, I was gobsmacked. She didn't even hesitate to tell me that you were the father. I almost fell off my damn chair in shock! Then she told me straight that she wanted her baby to know you. That's why I ask Maria to help me set up a meeting with you. Then Marnie comes home upset because you were vile to her! Yet, she understood why and got on with her life. Because that's who Marnie is. Then weeks later, she tells me she's moving in with you, getting married to you as soon as she can, all for the baby! I told her not to do it, you know?”
I think she forgets I literally know everything. I have eyes and ears everywhere. Although, it was Marnie who told me what Brooke said. She keeps nothing from me.