Screams echoed jolting me awake. I’d passed out. Shots fired. The glass on the window shattered from an explosion just after Tommy covered my entire body once more with his own. More screams rang.
“Over here!” Dominic screamed.
The room spun circles around me, my body remained protected by Dominic and Tommy’s. Tommy wasn’t moving. Panic entered my gut. Suit-clad legs quickly came into focus pulling his body from mine. I tried to talk to say his name, but I couldn’t say a word.
Faces swirled into focus. Dark hair, accents, no accents, cursing, screaming, smashing; there were so many sounds that I wasn’t able to decipher each one.
My hair swept away from my face with a soft stroke; soft and sweet. I was given the one second I needed to close my eyes. Momma stroked my hair when I was a little girl every night as she tucked me into my bed. I relished in that memory as the sounds faded and the only face I saw was my mother.
Chapter 5
Jax
A meeting was the last thing I wanted after seeing Bella’s naked body this morning. God, I wanted to taste her flesh, touch her.
I wanted her to be my princess.
My mind fell from its focus. Mickie stood hovered over my desk while he sucked at his toothpick. “Renaldo.” His head nodded in the direction of the door gesturing that he’d finally arrived.
I clasped my hands together and motioned for Mickie to allow him inside of my office.
“Boss,” Renaldo said respectfully.
“They’ve threatened our territories again. The fucking Russians. I received a call from Toscano this morning with word reaching the rank that the soldiers were dealing with their bullshit. As long as it was being dealt with.” I eyed him.
“A meeting?” His hand slid through the few hairs on top of his brown head.
My gaze dropped with the buzz of my cell phone, my burner. “Yeah?”
“Boss, we’ve got shots fired. Need backup.” The sounds were muffled.
“Bella?”
“Boss, now!” Tommy hissed into the phone. He needed help. I knew I shouldn’t have let her go to that fucking lunch.
Mickie watched me as he stood from his sitting position. Renaldo sat silent, unaffected.
I jumped from my seat. “Russians?”
“I think, but the shots came from outside and I didn’t get a look. She’s been shot, boss.”
“FUCK!” My fist punched through the wall I stood next to. “Get the car and a crew to Bella,” I ordered Mickie. “I’m on my way,” I said to Tommy. “Fucking Russians shot Bella.” I was sure it had to be them, they’d been seeking revenge for a lesson that went in a bad direction. I slipped my hand under my desk removing my gun and retrieved a few clips from the drawer. “Let’s go.”
“Jax, if you don’t send your men and you go there, they’ll kill you. That’s what they want. They're sending a message, and we needed to listen.”
I froze with anger. “A fucking message? The Bratva shot my wife. They’ve just started a war with this famiglia.” I ambled towards the now open door. “I want a sit down with New York and Detroit.” I wanted a sit down with everyone, but couldn’t risk it. Having everyone in Detroit only a month prior was on the verge of insanity as it stood. But the Feds had nothing so they couldn’t move. Fuck, they knew I was the boss now. They’d known why we were all getting together, but what the fuck could they do with that? Nothing.
My office was a long fucking ten minutes from Bella. Mickie called a crew in. By the time we rounded the corner sirens blared. Took them long enough. The glass to the restaurant was cracked with a large hole near the left side, it was impossible to see inside. I jumped from the Denali with my gun in hand. The crew I’d had Mickie send scattered around the entrance. One of the soldiers peered into the window, he indicated that he could see Bella. There was no sign of the Bratva. The sirens came closer as I moved quickly to the door. People lay everywhere unmoving and panicked. My heart pounded violently as I searched for Bella shuffling through the people that cowered behind their tables.
“Bella?”
“Over here,” Dominic mumbled.
Tommy’s body lay over hers. They’d wrapped her with their own bodies protecting her, my wife. I approached seeing that Tommy’s body was limp and unmoving. I moved him from her. Blood soaked her white dress. Her eyes were open and roamed not in focus. Her lips half-parted.
She was alive.
Chapter 6
Bella
A knife was ripping through my flesh. I winced feeling the ungodly pain rip through my core. My eyes opened: a blur, fuzzy and bright. My hands raised to my eyes rubbing them clear with my palms. White, cold, stillness floated throughout the unknown space. Black polo and jeans, messy hair, large gold watch, shiny black shoes to my right, a crucifix in his left hand that rested upon his chest. Jax’s legs extended onto the table next to the hospital bed I lay tucked inside. His head lay back over his right shoulder. I’d never seen Jax sleep before, he was at peace in that moment. A flutter from his closed eyes and a flinch from his full lips drew my eyes in further as I watched. I held in the cry that threatened, I didn’t want to wake him. I’d likely never see him like this again, so I’d enjoy it if even just for a moment.
Twenty minutes had easily passed while I continued to watch him rest his troubles away. When he lay peacefully unconscious he wasn’t the domineering Jax. Boss of bosses Jax. He was something more Jax. Some undefined explanation lay beneath all of the hardness he portrayed.
He stirred for a second then opened his eyes catching me as I watched him. A smile. “You’re awake.” It was a rush of air from his full lips, lips I’d wanted to touch as he’d slept. He straightened in his chair stretching for a moment before reaching towards the bed. “You’re going to be okay,” he reassured me.
“What happened?” I asked, my voice hoarse as I reached up to my throat with my cold fingers.
“Try this.” He reached to the table his feet had rested upon and handed me a bottle of water. A giggle slipped from my lips as I remembered a situation similar to this one not so long ago.
His eyes narrowed in on me curiously. “What’s so funny?”
I shook my head. “It seems as though you’re saving me yet again.” I tipped the water bottle. When my eyes had opened only a few minutes ago and I saw Jax sitting there, something changed. I didn’t know what it was, but I saw him for something different, something more.
The darkness that I’d become familiar with in his stare was brighter, more color washed in. As if in a trance, he watched me drink the water from the bottle until it was finished. “Thank you.”
“For?”
The water and for being here.
Again his stare fixed and then his head fell, “You’re my wife, Bella. It’s my job to protect you, and I didn’t do that.” His eyes didn’t meet mine as he fixed his stare on my small hands and then my wedding ring. My eyes followed with him unknowing.
“You were only grazed; mostly you were in shock.” He’d answered my silent question.
“I remember there being so much blood, thank God Tommy and Dominic were there.” I’d hoped that Jax would commend them on a job well done. “I’d like to see them, thank them for protecting me.” I would hug them. It may have seemed a bit silly since that was their job, but to me, it was so much more. “Where are they?”
“Bella…” Jax reached for my hand cradling it into his own, softly. He’d never done that before. His hand warm and large caused mine to disappear behind his tanned skin. I found myself lost in the moment. “Bella,” Jax said again.
My eyes lifted to his and my skin prickled with fear. “What is it?” I didn’t want to know.
“Tommy gave his life for yours.” Tears ran as I recalled what had happened. He was laying on top of my body protecting me, but then he wasn’t moving. “The blood on your dress was his blood, well mostly. The bullet that grazed you hit him.” Jax shook his head. “Dominic knew he’d been hit, but when he’d went to say som
ething Tommy nodded not wanting you to know. He died an honorable death, Bella, and I’ll never forget what he sacrificed for you.”
“Family? Did he have a family?” Tommy was the reserved of the two that guarded me. He never spoke of himself even when I’d tried and tried at the dinner table. I’d made him sit to eat with us at dinner or breakfast. He’d refused several times, but I usually got my way. I’d watched him and imagine the man that he was. I imagined all sorts of scenarios over and over. It had been entertaining.
“A mother, his father passed away several years ago from cancer.” I cried a deep gut piercing cry for the man that had saved my life. “His father had been a part of the family,” Jax said. I knew what he’d meant.
“His mother, will she need looking after? Money, anything?”
“Would you like for me to see to her needs?”
“Would you if I asked?” His glower was strong and kind.
“Of course I would, but there's no need. I’ve already arranged for her to be well provided for.”
“Thank you, Jax,” I relished in the comfort of the softer Jax. I was sure it wouldn’t last, but for now, I’d enjoy it.
I’d almost forgotten the pain until another stab came. “Ouch,” I winced freely now that he was awake.
Jax bent over to press the red button with a nurse’s hat. The nurse came in quickly asking me a few questions as she tapped the keyboard on a computer. She handed me two white pills and left the room without another word. I’d imagined she was terrified of my husband. I smiled.
“Boss?” A head peeked around the corner. It was Dominic. My eyes widened, I was so happy to see him and thrilled he was okay. “May I?” he asked while offering me a smile.
“Yes, of course,” I answered gleefully. “Thank you so much for protecting me.” I sobbed with a broken heart that they had risked themselves for me. That was their job and I knew that, but it was something more, something beautiful. It was family and that’s what this was, that’s what we were. Family.
“Bella, that’s my job. But I’m glad you’re okay.” Dominic’s response was reserved and modest. I was certain it was required for him to not show weakness or applaud himself for a job well done.
Dominic eyed Jax and sauntered towards the door. “I really am glad you’re okay.” He offered a dry smile.
I smiled back.
Chapter7
Jax
“Are you feeling pain?” I carried Bella over the threshold of the penthouse.
“No.” her head bobbed back and forth.
“Isabella!” Alessandra chirped as she ran from the kitchen to the entryway. “Oh my, I’m so glad you’re okay.” She made the sign of the cross then kissed her crucifix. She mimicked that gesture with everything she did. I’d found solace with the rosary beads Alessandra had given me the day of the shooting. Bella had only been in the hospital one day for observation. Seeing her like that… I knew then and there I couldn’t waste another day ignoring my feelings for her. I’d feel them out, explore them and what they’d meant. I continued through the corridor and sat her on the sofa. I’d have a nurse come in if she needed it. I wouldn’t let my mistake with the Bratva cause her any more discomfort than it already had.
“Tell me, Bella, what would you prefer for dinner?” I sauntered to my office while Bella rested with Alessandra talking her ear off.
I sat behind my desk pulling the drawer open seeing the small box I’d hidden in here months ago. Maybe it was time to take it out. My fingers traced the leather and then I slid the drawer closed once more.
I needed to deal with the people responsible for Bella’s shooting, Tommy’s death, the explosion at the warehouse that took seventeen soldiers. Orders needed to be given, and I was the one that had to give them.
“Boss.” Mickie slid inside my office closing the door behind him. When Mickie needed to talk business, like clockwork he’d turn up the radio anywhere he was. Paranoid as fuck. With good reason, of course. I waited patiently for him to follow through with his usual. Mickie wasn’t only my guard but my enforcer, he needed to keep a tight lip. “Boss, you’re not gonna like this shit.” He sucked on his toothpick, and I was suddenly grateful for the rock music that blared through my speakers.
“Yeah?” I emptied the .365 and began cleaning it as I listened.
“That thing you had me lookin’ into. That person you were worried about. Looks like you were on to somethin’. What do you want to be done?”
“Make a reservation, and no leftovers.” That was code for kill every fucking one involved.
“Done, oh and Boss, what do you want me to do about replacing Tommy? Boss, you could use a cugine, but if I may… I wouldn’t right now. Could end badly for everyone. We need someone that’s up the ranks and has dealt with the problem at hand, might see shit comin’.”
“You recommending someone, Mickie?” Fuck he knew how to drag shit out.
“I think you should return the phone call.” He said as I lay my gun and cloth on the desk thinking he may have a point, but I wasn’t completely convinced it was a great idea. I’d need to put my own selfishness aside right now as head of this family. Mickie held onto his toothpick and walked out of my office forgetting to turn down the music.
“Hey.” Bella entered just after he’d walked out.
“You’re supposed to be resting.” I stood, turning the music from rock to Nessun Dorma: Italian opera. I tapped the button bringing the sound down.
Bella’s eyes became teary as she listend. “You know this?”
She shook her head. “Tell me about it.” She leaned in pressing her hands together as she sat in the chair.
I watched how the music affected her. I’d not seen that on anyone ever. “Nessun Dorma means none shall sleep. It’s from the final act of Giacomo Puccini.” She smiled sweetly as the most beautiful music in the world played. “It’s been said that Puccini was the greatest composer for romantic opera, I’d agree.” She leaned in. “Pavarotti redid this piece in the 90’s. That’s what we’re listening to now.” She nodded. “The Prince falls in love with the beautiful but not so nice princess. Any man that wishes to marry her must answer three riddles and must answer correctly or face a beheading.”
“And he risks that for her? For someone, that’s mean to him?” With the tilt of her head, she asked confused.
“Of course, you see he loves her and feels nothing if not confident he’ll conquer the riddles and then her love as well.” Her hand raised to her cheek swiping at a fallen tear. I reached forward tapping the repeat button and listened as it played again. “Close your eyes, feel the music enter your soul. It doesn’t get better than this, Isabella.” Her hands tucked into her chest as she bathed in the music. My head fell back as I also bathed in the beauty while my hands gripped the edge of my desk. When my eyes opened I saw that she was swaying back and forth as if she was dancing to the waltz. She was beautiful.
When the music ended I turned the sound down and drew in a deep breath. “Are you feeling okay?” I asked again.
She shrugged. “I’m a bit sad. But I feel okay. A little woozy from the pain meds.” She shrugged again. “Oh, I wish I could see something like this in person.” She stood, tracing her hands over the stereo.
“Have you not been to the opera?” I asked dipping my head in her direction. Her dainty fingers continued a dance with the music that quietly hummed throughout the room.
Her head shook. “No, never.” Her eyes closed as the music gripped her soul. She was falling in love. I smiled as she was turned away from me.
“I’ll download this to your iPhone.”
She turned. “Thank you.” Her eyes glistened with unknown reason. Maybe it was the music or the sadness she’d felt for Tommy dying, but I’d not seen that look in her eyes before tonight.
I’d try to see that gleam again.
Chapter 8
Bella
It had been two days since the shooting and Tommy’s funeral would be tomorrow. I attempted to b
usy myself with nearly anything I could find to do but soon ran out of things. I’d attempted to reach Megan several times with no response. I had decided on a masquerade invitation since that was also our theme. The invitation I’d chosen was black with an ombre gray background. The mask was embellished with faux diamonds and gems. I’d never been to a masquerade ball before, so I was extremely excited to say the least. We would raise tons of money for cancer research.
My phone dinged with a text message, I thought it may be Megan so I hurried to answer.
Jax: I have a surprise for you.
Bella: Oh?
Jax: There will be a gift arriving in a few moments.
Bella:?
Jax: Go to the door.
I slipped my phone into the pocket of my jeans and hurried down the stairs wondering what he was up to.
“Bella.” Dominic held the door.
“Mrs. Moretti?” A young guy stood at the door holding a large black box.
“Yes?”
“Sign here please.” He handed over an electronic signature pad. I scribbled my signature then handed it back to him and reached for the large box.
“What is it?” I asked the delivery boy.
“I just deliver them, ma’am.” He shrugged.
“Thank you.” Dominic closed the door. “What is it?” I smiled. Jax had never really gotten me a gift before, he’d bought me a wedding ring that I was sure cost him a fortune and the red gown for the family dinner, but I was his wife and of course he’d want to claim me, but this was different. My phone dinged with another text.
Jax: Open the box.
I giggled.
Bella: I’m working on it.
I quickly wondered how he’d known I hadn’t. But I smiled anyway.
I walked the box to the sofa and sat it atop the table. There was a gold A embossed into the top.
I carefully opened it lifting at the top seeing a card. My fingers fumbled with lid as excitement overcame me.
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