Page 101 of Captive Vows
“I love you,” I told her, holding her close. My arm was on fire. Pain radiated from the gunshot wounds I’d acquired to save her. But nothing would stop me from telling her that and touching her. “I love you so fucking much, Gabriella.”
She sniffled, crying happy tears as she leaned over. I kissed the top of her head, watching our son pout in her arms.
“I love you, too, Luka.” She rested against me, holding our son close.
“Don’t hate me for ruining the moment, but you’re both losing too much blood.” The nurse shook her head, eyeing us both.
I wasn’t in the mood to argue with her. I wouldn’t protest medical advice to keep Gabriella and our son safe. I was a tough old guy, though. They came first.
As the building was cleared out and law enforcement arrived, my men handled the situation. Emil showed up, dealing with the cops who tried to interfere on the scene. It was a mess out there, but with the help of a few nurses and doctors, my family was taken to the hospital next door where we were checked over.
I didn’t make it easy. Insisting on keeping Gabriella in my room, within my sight, I ensured that she was stabilized where I could see her and keep her safe.
She was traumatized from the birthing process happening like it had, delivering our son amid the violence, but physically, she was fine.
Our son was healthy, too.
It turned out that the doctors had tried to guess at the gestation timing all along. Gabriella hadn’t been having cycles before she was kidnapped. With an athlete’s physique from dancing and malnourished from scarce food at home with Miguel there, she’d missed her periods so often that it wasn’t easy to determine how far along she was. Based on the baby’s measurements, an older, more experienced doctor said the baby was more like thirty-seven and a half weeks.
What mattered was that no time in the NICU would be needed. The baby was healthy, showing no signs of distress or concerns, but we would keep him overnight for all the necessary precautions and checks.
I was checked over as well. Emil and the others would continue to handle the technical matters of reports for the pesky cops who’d get in the way. But while they took care of those details, I was free to relax in the room I shared with Gabriella and our son.
Stitched up, X-rayed, and checked over, I was on my road to recovery. The gunshot wounds I’d obtained weren’t life-threatening in the end. I would survive. Just like Gabriella and our son, I was a survivor.
Surgery wasn’t necessary, but it seemed like it took hours to be sewn up and cleaned up from the injuries I’d collected in my pursuit of protecting my love.
When night fell and the sky turned dark out the windows of our private suite, I got out of bed.
“Luka, what are you doing?”
I tugged off the straps that connected the monitors to me for the vital checks. “Coming to you.”
She smirked, watching me pull out the connector to the IV they’d insisted on giving me.
“Stubborn man,” she teased as I crawled into bed next to her.
“Stubborn woman,” I replied, tucking her against me. “I told you not to come too hard.”
She laughed lightly, resting her head against me as she sighed.
“I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to see you like this.”
I threaded my fingers with hers. “I can’t believe you picked up a gun off a dead man.”
“I knew you’d come and save me, but still…”
I kissed the top of her head, at peace. “But still, you’re such a badass you would step up and handle it yourself, too.”
She smiled up at me.
“What do you mean, it’s taken you this long to see me like this?” I recalled when I’d come home bloodied and wounded before. The last thing I wanted was for her to be scared she’d lose me.
“Like this.” She lifted our hands and kissed the back of mine. “Not as my captor, but as the brave, strong man who loves me.”
I tipped her chin up so I could claim her lips in a tender kiss.
“Not as my captor, but as the fearsome boss who would risk his life to save me.”
