by Ann, Bry
Isla’s mouth is open. “You’re joking?!”
“Nope.”
“That’s disgusting! Fucking bitch.”
I chuckle. “I don’t wanna talk about my mom.”
“Right. Me either.”
I run my finger through her wet slit before slipping a condom on my hardened length. When she’s panting and we’re protected from having a Nia number two, I lean over her and look in her eyes.
“You sure you want me, honey?”
She cups my face with one hand gently, giving me a shy nod. I suckle the soft skin of her neck where I once hurt her and slide inside her.
She squeezes the life out of my cock, and listening to her soft mewling sounds of pleasure, I know I never wanna share this with anyone else.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Isla
Three Months Later
“Dad!” Nia calls over happily. Her friends from her days on the street are with her: Carly, Alex, Carl, and Jonny. Seven, Danny, and I took them to the spray-ground to play. Alex, Marley’s daughter, is a little old to be here, but despite her cold exterior, I think she needs time with the kids she grew up loving and protecting on the cold streets. So, she came.
Seven looks over at Nia. She’s in a purple crown ruffled swimsuit, splashing around in the water, giggling. The sight makes me, Seven, Danny, and all the other kids smile.
“Silly girl,” Seven calls over, making Nia laugh before she goes back to her friends.
“She’s really cute, Seven,” Danny says, smiling.
“She’s amazing,” Seven agrees.
Nia’s time with Dr. Petti has been going really well, but it’s also been extremely challenging for Nia. Her vocabulary is still limited, so we don’t know what all she’s been through, but obviously abuse. Working through her past has given Nia nightmares and moments where she just spaces out like we all don’t exist, but we help her. We work through it together. It helps that Seven and I are each dealing with our own trauma at the same time, so Nia feels like she can relate to us, and that gets her through it.
“How are you and Frank?” I grin at Danny.
“Good,” he says quickly. Too quickly.
“Danny…” I draw out in warning. “What are you hiding from me?”
His cheeks turn red. “I wanted to wait…”
He looks down at his lap and bites his lip.
“I proposed, Isla, and… Frank said yes.”
“WHAT?!” I scream, bursting to my feet while ignoring Seven mumble, “Jesus, Isla.”
“DAN PORTER, YOU ARE GETTING MARRIED!”
“Isla,” he whispers, embarrassed and teary eyed.
“AHHH! OH MY GOD! AHHH! YESSSS!”
I launch at him, nearly knocking him off the pool chair. He laughs a little nervously and wraps me in a hug.
“I know, bug.”
“You did it!” I cry.
“I did it,” he confirms, voice heavy with emotion.
“Ahh, can we still do our plans?” I whisper in his ear.
“Oh, hell yeah,” he scoffs, scooting me back. “Trevor’s hearing from us for sure.”“Yes!” I laugh, hugging him again. I can tell he’s uncomfortable, but I just want to wrap him in a million hugs. I’m so proud of him!
“Isla,” Seven laughs, “give the guy some space. He can’t breathe.”
“He’s getting married, Seven!” I tell him like he didn’t just hear as I hop off Danny’s lap to stand in front of Seven. When I’m close, Seven grabs my waist and yanks me onto his lap.
“I heard him. The whole town has now heard, actually.”
Danny laughs.
I swat his chest. “Jerk!”
Everyone laughs as all the kids approach to see what’s wrong.
“Miss Isla is a psycho,” is what Seven says, earning another hard smack. He winks at me. His face is filled with a lightness that wasn’t there before he met me.
It makes me smile.
He’s perfect. Better than any book boyfriend. I frankly don’t care if he carries a sword and works for the mob at this point, even though that probably makes me a terrible person. Because when it comes down to it, he would use and has used that sword to slay my demons, and when he comes home, the gun is gone, the sword is put away and they’re replaced with movie nights and princess books.
* * *
“Before I take a look at your son, I have to ask you something.”
“Yes,” he grinds out, impatient.
“What happened to… Ben’s son, Sean?” I whisper. My stomach churns at the sound of his name, still.
Boss stops and his eyebrows raise.
“After a lot of research, I found out that Sean’s deceased mother had a sister in Connecticut that she kept Slice away from. She’s a normal woman. Two dogs. A steady husband. A house. The works. He went there.”
“Oh, thank God! I can’t believe I’m just asking. I just—”
“You’ve been recovering. Don’t feel guilty. That’s ridiculous.”
“Alright. Let’s do it!”
“This is my son” he tells me, side-eyeing me. “Be careful.”
“I will. I promise. I’ll take good care of him. Don’t be nervous.”
He glares at me. “I’m not fuckin’ nervous.”
He’s nervous. I smile, but let it go since, you know, he’s still a mafia boss and I don’t wanna piss him off.
I push the door to the “exam room” open and am met with the most intense little eyes.
“Hey, Isla,” Lacey greets, bobbing her son up and down on her lap.
“Hey, Lace! Is this little guy ready to get checked out?”
Lacey looks less nervous than Adam does. He’s in the corner, pacing back and forth, scowling at me like I’m about to torture his boy. Lacey winks at me and mouths, “Ignore him.” It takes everything in me not to laugh.
I have Lacey set him up on the table and begin, starting with the heart and lungs, moving onto the eyes, then ears and mouth and running down the list. Wulfric is still as a board, watching me with beady eyes the whole time. I treat him like the baby he is, though, soothing and cooing at him as I poke and prod. I ask the parents about his sleep, speech, and activity as I run through my tests.
“Healthy as a horse,” I announce when I’m done, removing my gloves. “I need to check his immunizations and see if he’s up to date, but he looks good. You guys have a strong little boy on your hands.”
I smile at Wulfric Ruston, wondering what his future holds.
“Perfect,” Adam barks and storms out of the room without a word. I’m a little shell-shocked, but Lacey bursts out giggling.
“What?” I ask as Lacey scoops up Wulf.
“He was so nervous. We haven’t been consistent with little Wulf’s appointments ‘cause of… yeah, and Adam was so nervous, more than me, that we caused some kind of damage. He was a jerk just now because he was embarrassed and intensely relieved.”
“He’s an interesting man. Not what I would have expected.”
“You’re telling me,” Lacey whispers. “Well, thank you. Is it okay if you do the follow-up?”
“For sure! Anytime. I literally worked thirty-eight hours this week. I feel like all I have is free time.”
Lacey snorts. “Okay, crazy lady.”
We smile at each other as she moves toward the door.
“Sorry that I haven’t really contacted you since that day. I’ve been busy with Sage and, yeah, she needs me, but we’ll catch up soon.”
“Do not even worry about it! Is she okay?”
Lacey looks to her feet. “She will be. Sage has… she’s had it rough. But she’s strong.”
“Well if there’s anything I can do…”
“I’ll definitely let you know.”
“Thanks, Lacey.”
“No, thank you, Isla.”
With an awkward wave, Lacey leaves and I gather my things.
Chapter Thirty
Seven
I think Isla’s more nervous than
Danny is. No, she’s definitely more nervous. Dan’s actually pretty calm, given the fact that he’s about to get married.
“Your suit fits okay,” Isla fusses. “I mean it’s— it’s not too tight or anything.”
She’s fidgeting with his collar frantically.
“Isla, bug,” he laughs. “Calm down. Frank’s not gonna run away if I don’t look right.”
She pauses, tears in her eyes. Danny’s clearly a much better person than me, ‘cause I’m finding this amusing, whereas he softens.
“Isla, I’m happy.”
She nods. “Th-this is such a big deal. We’ve been planning this for so long. I don’t want anything to go wrong.”
He smiles at her and lightly bops her chin. “If it does, I still have Frank.”
Isla’s eyes go gooey. “Awww! Ahh, you two are so cute.”
She glances over at me. “What?” I ask defensively. I’ll never be as emotional as them, and it makes me nervous. I don’t want her to feel like I don’t care, I just… that’s not me.
“Nothing. Just admiring you. Is that okay, Mr. Defensive?”
I soften at her tone. “Yeah, it’s okay.”
“Good. Now, let me go grab you some water, Danny, before you go! You need to be hydrated!”
Before either of us can argue, Isla’s gone. Danny laughs and smiles at her before turning to me with a stern look.
“Are you serious about her, Seven? Isla’s starting to feel things for you. If you’re not feeling them back, you have to leave,” he rushes out.
My heart starts to pound in my chest.
“I think I hear her coming back. Just know that—”
“Seven!” Isla’s panicked scream rings out from down the hall. Danny’s wide eyes meet mine, and we run.
* * *
Danny
Seven’s way ahead of me with his hand on his belt. Isla. Isla. Isla.
“Seven! Sev—”
Her words are cut off by something. We both push harder. Isla. Isla. Isla.
The person who saw me when I had no one.
“Isla!” Seven roars, tearing down the hall.
Where’s Frank?
“Isla,” he calls again, then screams. “Isla!”
I catch up behind him and see the man from my nightmares standing in front of me.
Trevor fucking Porter. I growl.
“What the hell are you doing here?”
I glance at the corner of the room and see Isla laid out on the tile, her freshly curled hair spread out over her face, her body crumpled in a ball, and her beautiful dress hiked up around her knees. Seven is seething, but can’t go to her with Trevor hovering.
“You wanna send me the fucking shit you did and think I wouldn’t show up, you piece of shit?”
Seven growls and takes a step closer, pulling out a dagger I didn’t know he had stashed in his shoe. Before I can respond and laugh at the memory of Isla and I mailing Trevor our wedding announcement in a box full of dick-shaped confetti, Seven has Trevor in a chokehold.
“Here’s what’s gonna happen,” Seven growls low in his chest. “You’re gonna leave here. Not just this wedding. This town. And never come back or I’ll kill you. Slowly. And I’ll fucking love it.”
“The hell are you associating with, faggot?” Trevor snaps at me… and just like that, the memories return.
“You like boys, you fucking piece of shit,” the monster seethes, storming over to me.
I fucking hate him. I hate people. Maybe I’m not gay. Maybe I just hate humanity.
“Get the hell away from me!” I scream, skidding backward.
“Oh no, you don’t, faggot. No, you don’t.”
His fist comes down on my face in ruthless punches, one, two… I jam my knee into his dick and run down to the creek, muttering to myself and pacing the grass. I’m gonna end it all just to spite Trevor. I’m about to take the knife I snuck with me and slit my wrists right here, when a beautiful little girl in tattered clothes comes running down, calling for me in a sing-song voice.
I hate her. I hate everyone.
But she looks too much like an angel to make her see my life blood pouring from my mangled wrists, so I decide to hold off on my suicide for a later date.
When I meet her, that day never comes. She still doesn’t know she saved my life that day.
“Check on her. Danny!” Seven’s voice cuts through my memory. I jolt and sprint over to Isla as Seven struggles with Trevor.
“Isla, bug…” I slide to my knees and move her hair from her face.
“You fucking piece of shit!” I roar, storming toward Trevor in a blind rage at the sight of Isla’s black eye. He punched her!
“You fucking piece of shit.”
“Danny?” Frank slowly comes out in the hall.
BANG!
… It all happens too fast to know what hit who.
* * *
There’s a heavy weight on me when I come back from the black.
“Wake up, Danny. Come on. Fuck, please wake up.”
“Erghhh,” I groan, holding my head.
“Thank God. Dan, you need to come back. You passed out. Isla’s in a coma.”
Seven’s voice cracks.
“She needs you. I need you. Come on.”
I jolt up, ignoring the way my head spins.
Seven is in front of me, looking exhausted.
“Isla… what?” I try to make sense of everything.
“Isla was shot,” Seven croaks. “He… shot her. I ran to take care of her. Trevor cocked you with his gun hard enough that you passed out. Frank jumped on his back and stopped him from shooting you, too.”
“Where’s Frank? Isla…”
“Is in a coma,” Seven says, choking back tears. “Frank’s with her. Everyone's with her. I came to you ‘cause you’re her best hope of waking up,” he whispers.
Tears roll down his cheeks. I can’t believe this is the same man who so easily held a dagger to Trevor’s throat earlier.
I push myself up from whatever bed I’m lying in and yank cords away from my body.
“Where is she?”
“Come on.”
Seven drags his large body down the hall and expects me to follow. I feel like I’ve been dragged through the mud. I don’t understand. I was getting married…?
“Here.” Seven opens the door. “Talk to her. I-I read that coma patients can still…” His eyes well up and he looks away, gritting his jaw. “Go.”
I slowly enter. He runs off. The room is full of people: Nia, Lacey, her husband, and a few other men and women I haven’t met.
And then I see her.
Isla Grace. She’s got a respirator on and she’s not moving. She’s not moving. No. No. No. No. No.
I can’t move. I can’t breathe.
Trevor did this. Trevor…
“Babe,” Frank sobs, wrapping me up from behind. I wanna push him off me and tell him to fuck off! But that’s what Trevor wants. He wants me to turn mean and cold again.
Moments before the bullet rang out come back to me. Moments I didn’t register because I heard Frank come out in the hall.
“SHE started this! That two-timing whore!”
I grab Frank’s hands and revel in his comfort before pulling away and walking over to Isla. My entire body is shaking.
“Isla, bu…” No. No. No. “You have to wake up. We need you.”
I start to cry. Frank is in the corner, hand over his mouth, unsure what to do because he knows Isla will always come first. There’s no Danny without Isla Grace. There’s just not.
Lacey comes over and takes my hand. She’s stoic, but I see the pain there.
I think I’m gonna fall apart, until I see Nia huddled in the corner by the wall. Seven fucking left her here. An older girl, probably eleven or so, is sitting next to her, trying to coax Nia out of whatever state of shock she’s in. There’s also a very skinny woman with stringy black hair with her, too. But Nia’s not there. She’s vacant.
�
�Isla! You have to come back. DO YOU HEAR ME? You have to come back to me! I need you. I need you. I need you, bug.”
My legs give out from under me and I rock back and forth. I feel Frank’s arms around me, but I can’t focus.
Isla. Isla. Isla.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
“Dan…ny…” a voice croaks. I only look up past the pain ‘cause I know that voice and Isla would kill me if I ignored her.
“Hi, Nia,” I whisper, trying not to cry.
“Dead?” Her brown eyes are blank.
“No,” I whisper, really not sure, but unable to fathom a reality without Isla Grace. “No way, kid. She’s just… sick.”
Nia goes even blanker, like she can read right through the lie.
“Where’s Seven?” a girl with green-tinted hair asks.
“He ran,” I whisper blankly.
Adam, Lacey’s husband, who I’ve just gotten to know, comes out of the shadows.
“He’s with Trevor, I’m sure.”
His voice is cold and unfeeling.
“He’s alive?” I whisper as Nia slips her little fingers in my hand and holds on tight.
“Yes. For now.”
“Adam,” Lacey whispers. “Kids.”
He doesn’t seem to care. He’s completely dark. His gaze keeps flickering over to Isla.
“Can I— can I have a minute with her?” My voice cracks. “Please.”
“Of course,” Lacey whispers, lightly touching my shoulder.
Nia lets out the smallest of cries. It makes me feel awful for making her leave. The older girl—I think someone said her name was Alex—comes over and helps Nia walk away while the black-haired girl seems tense and ready to attack anyone who comes near Alex or Nia.
Once everyone is gone, I go over to my girl, curl up next to her, and cry.
God, please don’t take her. This is my girl. My sister. My bug.