Taking His Victory: (The Men of River City book 4)

by Nola Marie

  Anger that she would put herself in danger like that fills me. Anger that she thinks I’m more important than her fuels me. I’m fucking pissed because now I understand the I’m sorry and the I love you. How can she do that to me?

  How can she think that I can even fucking survive without her? I just spent the last year trying to show her that we belong together. Winning her heart. Taking her as mine. And she thinks she’s going to check out on me now?

  I look at her. I lean over placing a kiss to her lips. “Don’t you fucking leave me,” I demand. “Don’t you dare fucking think about it.”

  “Zane, the ambulance is here,” Jax tells me.

  I look up and see him through a haze. I feel wetness on my cheeks. I didn’t even know I was crying until now. I wipe them furiously as the paramedics come to her.

  “She’ll be okay,” Bastian tells me. “She is too fucking tough not to be.”

  I nod as I follow them with her climbing into the ambulance.

  Matteo is behind us. “They work for me,” he explains. “Don’t worry about what to say. They’ll take care of it.”

  I nod again as the doors to the ambulance close.

  The ride is shorter than I expected. They quickly have her wheeled into the back, leaving me standing there feeling numb. Rory is the next one taken to the back.

  I hate fucking hospitals. I have spent too much goddamn time in hospitals. This is literally the fourth year in a row that I find myself in the hospital feeling absolutely fucking helpless.

  But this? This is excruciating. This is absolute agony, and if she doesn't fucking make it, I don't know how I will go on.

  A hand on my shoulder brings me from my thoughts. My fears that she won’t come back from those doors alive. “Come sit, Zee,” Bastian tells me.

  I drag my hands down my face. “I can’t sit. Not right now.”

  “She will be okay, Zane,” he tells me, and I can hear the true sincerity of his voice. He believes what he’s saying.

  “Where the fuck is my sister?” I hear Dane’s voice call out from the lobby of the hospital.

  “I don’t fucking need this right now,” I grumble.

  “I’ll handle it,” Bastian tells me.

  “This is all your fucking fault,” I hear him yell again.

  “Dane, you need to calm down,” I hear Maddox say.

  “None of this is Zane’s fault or anyone’s for that matter,” Jax booms. “They targeted Cara and then they targeted Tori.”

  “Why the hell would they do that? They don’t even know them.”

  I step into the lobby. Cara is wrapped in Maddox’s arms crying. Jax looks like a ticking time bomb.

  “That’s what sick fuckers like them do,” Jax is now in Dane’s face. Most people would be backing down from the six-four, two hundred forty-pound man right now, but Dane is not wavering.

  “Dane, back the fuck off man,” Maddox tells him.

  “No. That asshole broke her heart before and now he’s nearly gotten her killed.”

  “He didn’t break her fucking heart,” Jax seethes. He’s barely got a hold on his temper. “She didn’t tell us about my wife’s fucking rapist confronting and trying to rape her again. How would you have fucking reacted?”

  “She told you.”

  "Yeah. After I fucking confronted her."

  “That’s enough,” I yell out to all of them. Each one of them turn their heads toward me. “The fighting ends right now.” I glare at Dane.

  “You stay the hell away from my sister,” he hisses.

  “Why don’t you try and make me.”

  “Just stop,” Cara cries out. “They’re right. This is all my fault. If I hadn’t gotten involved with Stephano none of this would’ve happen.”

  “It’s not your fault, Cara. It’s just how they operate,” Bastian tells her.

  “Doesn’t change the fact you treated my sister like shit and then fucked some other woman while you were in the same hotel,” Dane goes on, determined to list every wrong he thinks I’ve done to Tori.

  “You mean while she was fucking Maddox?” Jax throws back at him.

  Dane looks like he’s just been slapped. Maddox freezes. Jax looks instantly remorseful when he realizes this wasn’t something her brother knew about.

  Within seconds, Dane is on Maddox. Unlike the times Jax has went at him, Maddox doesn’t stand there and take it. He felt like he deserved it when Jax went after him. I guess this time, even if they do regret what happened, the mistake wasn’t one sided.

  Jax and Bastian grab the two of them pulling them away from each other. They continue to yell and argue but I don’t hear any of it. My head isn’t out here with them. My heart is somewhere behind the double doors leading back to where doctors and nurses are working on the woman I love.

  I don’t even know how long they argue. I don’t know how long I stand there. When the doctor comes out, I stop breathing.

  “Rory McCabe and Tori Reese families?” he asks. I‘m already standing there but he waits until the others are gathered around me. “The bullet just missed Tori’s liver,” he tells us looking directly at me. “We removed the bullet and repaired the vessels that were damaged. She needed a blood transfusion as well. She had some internal bleeding that wasn’t related to the bullet wound.”

  “She was part of a fighting match tonight,” I hear Jax explain.

  “Well, that would explain it and the damage to her ribs. We were worried she might have a punctured lung but fortunately she does not.”

  “Will she be okay?” I hear myself finally ask because he isn’t telling me the one thing that’s most important.

  “The next twenty-four hours are the most critical, but I like her chances,” he answers. I inhale finally. My lungs burn as they try to replenish that which wouldn’t come. “When can I see her?”

  “You’re not going anywhere near her,” Dane growls out.

  I’ve had enough. I’ve had enough of his attitude. I’ve had enough of his self-righteous arrogance. I’ve had enough of him thinking that he has anything to do with any of this.

  I turn around, moving so that we are nose-to-nose. “If you think for one goddamned second you’re stopping me, then you are a fucking dumbass. Brother or not, I will put you down right here in this fucking hospital if you don’t back the fuck off. Now sit down and shut the fuck up.”

  His nostrils flare. His jaw clenches tightly. His eyes glare daggers. He swings, catching me in the jaw. Unlike last time I let him hit me, he's not drunk, and the punch is solid.

  But not solid enough to knock me out. Just enough to piss me off.

  Without thinking, I ram myself into his chest, knocking him to the ground. My fist flies once, twice before I feel someone dragging me off of him. I have no idea who it is and don't really give a fuck.

  I turn my hip, throwing them off of me and move back to Dane. He gets another solid hit to my kidney and a jab to my face.

  I feel blood pool in my mouth. I feel ice form in my veins. I feel like the world goes red.

  I attack him again. Throwing punch after punch until he's back on the ground. I feel hands pulling at me trying desperately to get me off of him, but I don't stop swinging.

  "No one will keep me away from her," I yell through my rage. "No one will fucking take her from me."

  In a last-ditch effort, I feel two very large arms wrap around my neck and arm, preventing me from swinging or breathing. "Calm the fuck down," Jax tells me. "I know how fucking hard this is, but he's just worried about his sister like you would be for Zoey. He's her brother. You've got to breathe."

  I see Dane on the floor. Blood dripping from his cheek. His eye is already closed shut. His nose is twice its normal size.

  And I feel guilty. Tori would not want me doing this to her brother. I really fucking hope she understands when she finds out.

  I inhale a deep breath and exhale slowly. I do it several more times until my vision clears. Maddox and Bastian help Dane to his feet.


  He looks to me like with shock and surprise. And even a little respect maybe.

  I turn back to the doctor, whose eyes keep darting back and forth between us nervously and repeat my question. “You can go back now,” he tells me. “She’s not awake yet, but you can sit with her until she does wake up.”

  “What about my brother?” Jax asks.

  I suddenly remember Tori wasn’t the only one hurt tonight. Rory was too. And he still come out swinging. If not for him, the rooftop shooter might have tried to get off another round.

  “He needed a blood transfusion as well, but he will be okay. He needs rest though.”

  “He’ll get it,” Bastian declares. If I weren’t so concerned about Tori, I would be considering how fun it’s going to be to watch that happen.

  “I’ll take you back now,” the doctor tells me.

  “What about us?” Dane demands. “You know? Her actual family.”

  “We’ll let you up when we have her in a room.”

  “Are you fucking kidding me? What the fuck kind of hospital is this?” he yells.

  “God just shut the fuck up,” Maddox yells at him. "Yes, you're her brother but you're not the only fucking person that cares about her. In case you didn't notice, they were out there dodging literal bullets trying to save your sisters."

  I hear Maddox continue his lecture as I follow the doctor down the sterile corridor until we reach a room with machines beeping. Tori looks so fragile lying there with tubes and wires coming out everywhere. It takes a lot for me not to completely lose it. I’ve seen this too much in my life too.

  Sitting in the chair next to her bed, I take her hand in mine. Her hand is cold and clammy. Her skin is pale but her breathing and her heart is steady. I focus on that.

  I close my eyes for a minute because I am fucking exhausted both physically and mentally.

  The next thing I know, a hand is raking through my hair. I sit up from where I fell asleep at her bedside to see those beautiful dark eyes staring at me.

  “Hi,” she says hoarsely.

  “Hi,” I respond before I’m grabbing her hand kissing it. “If you ever do something stupid like that again, I’m going to kill you.”

  She laughs at me and then I laugh at myself as I realize the ridiculousness of my words. “You saved me,” she rasps.

  “You saved me first,” I respond. “I hate what you did, but that you were willing to do it, Baby, I don’t even know what to say.”

  “Zoey needs you. Jax needs you. I need you. I couldn’t let anything happen to you. Not when all of this was my fault.”

  I don’t know how she’s talking so much right now. After everything she’s been through, I’m shocked she’s even awake. “It wasn’t your fault, Darlin’. It wasn’t anyone’s fault but Rossi and DeLuca.” This entire situation has been shit. Everyone has been trying to take the blame, but the truth is the blame lies solely on DeLuca and Rossi.

  She raises her brows at me. “What happ -,” she tries to ask before she starts coughing. I reach over for a glass of water helping her sip some.

  “DeLuca’s dead. Rossi got away, but he won’t be back.” I don’t know how true that is but even if he does come back, he won’t slip in like he did this time.

  “Cara?”

  “She’s fine. She out in the waiting room with Maddox and Dane.”

  “How did they find out?”

  “It doesn’t matter. All that matters is that you’re okay. Now get some rest.”

  She nods with a smile. Within minutes, she is out again. I continue to hold her hand and send up a silent thanks that I didn’t lose her tonight.

  Then I start planning the fastest way to get her moved from New York to River City.

  Tori

  I step into the penthouse wincing with each step. It fucking hurts to breath much less move. Leaning against Maddox, I let him guide me to the sofa.

  Zane and Jax walk in behind us carrying all the boxes that Maddox packed and brought here for me. Dane is the last in still looking extremely pissed. Just like he has since the hospital.

  He looks like hell. Zane doesn't look much better. I have a feeling they must've gotten into it. Judging by the damage, I'd say Dane found out that the pretty football player can do more than catch a ball.

  But I don't think that's why he's angry. Honestly, I have no idea what happened to make him so angry, but I don’t feel like digging into that right now.

  I spent five days in the hospital before I had enough. Zane, my brother and sister, and the doctors all argued with me. I needed to stay longer according to them, but I was done. Done being confined with machines and tubes and whatever else surrounding me. I was sick of nurses coming in and out of my room. There was absolutely no talking me out of it.

  When he realized I wasn’t giving in, Zane had the private plane ready to go in a couple of hours. Maddox took a personal plane as well which has left me wondering who the fuck is Maddox Masters really because I had no clue he could access something like that so easily.

  I sit on the sofa while Maddox goes to help Zane and Jax. Dane takes a seat across from me. His eyes are hard and angry. “Why didn’t you tell me what was going on Tori?” he asks gruffly.

  “Because I didn’t want you leaving the tour to come and rescue Cara. You couldn’t have done anything about it.”

  “It’s my job to watch out for my sisters. It’s my job to keep you safe.”

  I want to grab his hand but it fucking hurts to move. I soften my tone and my face instead. “Dane, you’ve done that. You sacrifice everything for Cara. Me too. Now it’s your job to do what’s best for you.” He’s shaking his head in disagreement, so I keep going. “You are twenty-nine years old and sometimes it’s like you’re eighty-nine. No one would ever guess looking at you, but I know how much you’ve given up for Cara. Even for me. Go live your own life. Make your band successful. Find a girl. Do what makes you happy.”

  He drops his head into his hands. My brother comes off as an arrogant ass sometime when it comes to me and Cara. Sometimes I think he’s trying to make up for lost time. Sometimes I think he blames himself that we were all separated for so long. “I don’t know how to turn it off, Tori. How am I supposed to just stop worrying about the two of you? Especially when shit like this happen while I’m gone.”

  “It would’ve happened regardless. If I had told you, you would've dropped everything trying to hand it. You could’ve gotten yourself killed. Those guys weren’t just random thugs.”

  I watch as he takes several breaths. Then he looks at me with those dark eyes accusing. Suddenly I feel the urge to shrink back. “Were you going to tell me you slept with Maddox?”

  “Fuck,” I mutter.

  “Yeah, apparently everyone knew but me.”

  “It just happened, Dane. It was one time. We were both drunk and hurting.”

  “You were hurting because of the asshole you’re moving in with.”

  “I was hurting because I fucked up. Because I hurt him. I do not need protection from Zane. If it weren’t for him and his family, Cara and I would probably be in a lot of trouble right now.”

  “You don’t think getting shot is a lot of trouble?” he fumes. “They’re involved in some shady shit Tori.”

  “I know what they’re involved in, Dane. And if it weren’t for that, things would’ve turned out differently. I love Zane. I didn’t want it and fought it as hard as I could, but I do love him.”

  “And he loves you so much that he has you leaving everything you’ve ever known,” he scoffs.

  “I’m leaving because there is nothing in New York holding me anymore. It was people keeping me there not the place. And besides, the alternative is him leaving everything he’s ever known.”

  “Fuck, Tori,” I sigh. “I just found you and now I am losing you.”

  “What the fuck Dane?” I laugh then wince because it hurts. Fucking hell, it hurts. “I’m not leaving the planet. We will still see each other and talk every day. Besides, you
need to focus on becoming the huge rock star you always wanted to be.”

  He shakes his head again but he’s finally smiling. And that’s the face I love so much. My brother is so much more than people realize. “So, after everything I taught you, you’re going to work in Sebastian Delrie’s shop?”

  Now I’m grinning too. “How fucking cool is that?”

  “Pretty fucking cool,” he says still grinning. “A little weird knowing everything I know about him now, but cool.”

  Zane comes over placing a kiss to my cheek while Maddox and Jax take a seat around me. “Anyone want a drink?” Zane asks.

  “You know what I want,” Jax tells him. “Just one though. I need to get back to Zoey.”

  “Whatever he’s having,” Maddox says.

  Zane and Jax give Maddox a strange look. I wonder what’s up with it, but I don’t ask. Not now anyway.

  “Same here,” Dane tells him.

  Zane returns a few minutes later with four drinks for the guys and a bottle of water for me, making me pout. “None for you as long as you’re on pain meds,” he says without hesitation.

  “Actually, I’m pretty tired. Think I’m just going to bed,” I tell them.

  Zane helps me to my feet then up the stairs. “I’m not going anywhere else today, Baby. If you need anything, just ask.”

  I nod with a smile as I lay on the bed. Within minutes I’m fast asleep.

  “Tori! Let’s go,” Zane yells.

  I chuckle a little as I slip on my shoes and grab my coat. I walk into the living room to see Zane pacing like a caged lion. “Ready,” I announce.

  “Come on,” he says grabbing me by the wrist to drag me out the door. I gasp a little when a sharp pain shoots through me. It’s been a couple of weeks since everything happened, but it still hurts like a bitch. “Fuck, Baby, I’m sorry.”

  “It’s okay,” I assure him. “Let’s just get there before you pass out.”

  Twenty minutes later we walk into the lobby. Rory, Bastian, Layla, and Verity are all sitting there laughing and joking. Jax and Rory’s parents are in a corner talking amongst themselves.