I haven't even found the courage to tell Draven the truth about them yet. I didn't know how he'd take it, and all of this was so new, and we had so much to get through.
You can't think about anything else but getting out of this right now, Marnie!
I hoped that my bodyguard would have noticed something was wrong, that he'd hear me yelling for Peter to get out and come and save me.
Funny the things you think about when you're scared.
I don't make it. Peter grabs hold of my hair, pulling me back. My hands shoot to his, trying to make him let go. He's screaming at me, telling me he's going to kick my unborn baby out of me, and how Paul will take me back, all I have to do is say sorry.
Peter needs me to go back to Paul because my mother and brothers are about to lose the farm. I won't go back! I can't go back, not now. I scream it at him... Then everything goes... black.
* * *
I've been sat beside my bed, my back against it, my legs flat in front of me, for the past hour, crying without making a sound. Tears streaming down my face. I'm a little in shock at what happened here, shocked that my brother did what he did, shocked that he obviously ran when I thought he would have carried me out of here. I don't remember what happened as such; everything is so fuzzy in my brain. I'm shocked that Tom still hasn't been in to check on me though, it's his job after all.
I guess he's not out there, or if he is, he thinks I'm fine and is just checking the parameter of the house and grounds to make sure everything is as it should be. What if Peter hurt Tom on the way inside, and Tom is out there in as much pain as I am not able to call for help? Nothing else makes sense as to how in the world Peter manage to get to me.
An hour I've been here in a world of my own, not able to do anything because I have no strength at all.
What the hell actually happened here?
I remember the knock at the door. I remember opening it to Peter. I remember him trying to force me to go back to Paul. Oh God, Peter wanted to kill my child and make go back to my white husband.
I refused.
He got angry.
I remember.
Then it went dark for a couple of seconds, my vision blurred, my head hurt. I heard voices in the background from where I was lying on the floor.
I'm not sure when my brother left, and I'm not sure just when my senses came back to me, or even if they have fully, but I'm shaking horribly. I'm feeling a little cold right now, even though it's so very hot outside. I think all of my bones are banging together.
Yeah, I think I'm in shock.
My cell is ringing, and I'm aware, I think, that Draven will be home soon. I hope it's soon because I'm scared of what's happening to my head, it hurts so badly. I lift my shaking hand to my forehead and press down, wincing at the sting from the open wound just above my eye. I must have hit my head hard.
I look at the blood on my fingertips. I can't focus enough to see anything other than shadows, colored shadows. I swallow and press my hands into the thick carpet beneath them, trying to push myself up. But what's the point when I can't even feel my arms?
Maybe if I just rest my head back against the bed and close my eyes for a second, I'll be okay.
Yeah, that's what I'll do.
Chapter Fourteen
Draven
I press the call button for the fifty-seventh time. Yes, literally. Again it rings off.
Where the fuck is she?
I tap my phone against my lips in frustration. This isn't like Marnie; she always answers my calls. Always! She knows the rules: Answer my calls by the third ring. If you can't answer on the third ring, text as soon as possible so that I know you're okay!
I may sound like a paranoid asshole right now, but I have every reason to be. It doesn't matter how much time has passed since the elders too Marnie, there's still the chance others could try and do the same thing. Then there's Paul Simpson and the fact he's still out there, thinking he's smart to send threats through the grapevine about what he'll do to Marnie once he catches her. Whether they're true or not remains to be seen, either way, I'll kill him.
Simpson should never have had the opportunity to escape. I should have ended the little cunt right then and there in that alleyway. I should have locked Marnie in the car, and shot Paul Simpson between the eyes! The idiots who work for me gave him the chance to outsmart them, allowing him to get away. Hence why I made a fucking example out them.
No one makes those kinds of mistakes and lives to tell the tale!
Paul may think he's playing clever, hiding from me, but no one can hide from me for long. Once I catch him, which I will, I'll kill him in the worst way, but not before I've ended ever member of his fucked up racist family in front of his fucking face. All the stress Marnie has been under because of him has made her ill!
Something must be wrong. Why else wouldn't Marnie answer the phone after so many times of trying? She swore to me that she'd never worry me like this. Marnie knows how important it is to me to know she's safe.
Wait, maybe I'm worrying over nothing. It's possible that she's shopping still with her sister. I did give her the credit card to use for anything she needed, and she does like to shop for the baby, and that I don't mind in the slightest. I thought she'd be home by now, but maybe they got carried away. She could even be over at Brooke’s, and she's just forgotten the time. It's possible her phone in her bag, and she hasn't heard it ring.
Yeah, that'll be what's happened.
Regardless, I'll call Brooke and tell her to let Marnie know I'll pick her up. It's getting late, and I want her home where she's safe. I have too many enemies out there right now, cunts who would snatch my woman and use her up before killing her just to see the look on my face when they sent me the recording of it.
I know Tom will be with her, waiting outside Brooke's, at least, but I want to collect her myself. It took me a while to persuade Marnie to let Tom driver her around. Usually, she'd have both driver and bodyguard, but it's not easy when she's finding it hard to trust anyone.
“Is Marnie with you?” I snap before Brooke can even say hello.
Pretty shitty of me to snap at a pregnant woman, but I'm, for the first time in my life, really fucking worried about the woman I love. I'm afraid that I won't be able to protect her when the time comes. I'm scared that I'm about to lose her and the baby, and there's Jack shit I can do about it right now, but it'll never stop me trying.
However, my fuckin' stomach is falling out of my ass on this one. I have the most uneasy feeling, and I can't for the life of me shake it.
I went through all of this with Maria when my father kidnapped her. He killed one of her bodyguards, shot and injured the other. I could have a hundred men trailing Marnie, but that doesn't mean something can't happen to her if they blink. It only takes a second.
“No, she left me a couple hours ago. We went shopping for things for the baby, and I dropped her home right after.” Brooke is happy, giggling as she talks excitedly at a mile a minute.
“You haven't seen Marnie since you dropped her home?”
“No. Draven, is everything okay?”
“Yeah. Fine. Marnie just isn't answering my calls.”
Brooke rattles off the usual, ‘You shouldn't stalk her the way you do. You don't give her any breathing space.’ Bullshit!
I give her the usual, ‘Yeah, yeah,’ before hanging up. I'm not interested in the fucking lecture!
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.
Vidal!: Snakes Henchmen MC Page 14