Page 32 of Fragile Union

"That's our Holly," she murmurs and the use ofourspisses me off. Holly is mine. "When she loves, she loves hard. She'd have been devastated if you had been the one that was shot."

"She shouldn't have fucking done it!" I snap, pissed that she'd endanger her life for mine. She's innocent, pure, perfect.

This is my way of life. The bullets are part of my world. The death and destruction come hand in hand. I'm so deep that I fucking bleed this life. Holly, she shouldn't even be tainted with it.

"Do we know who did it yet?" I ask, needing to have information on this.

"Adriano, Bosco, and Franco are tailing them. They'll have back up soon enough," Dante assures me. "Whoever the fuck did this is going to pay."

Too fucking right, they will. "They're mine."

No one else touches them. I own that right. They shot my fucking wife. They made her bleed. I'll repay the favor in kind. Those motherfuckers are going to be screaming for mercy when I'm finished with them.

I don't offer mercy. I never have. But this time is different, I feel it deep in my bones. The anger I have is unlike anything I've experienced and it's because of who they targeted. My one savior. My wife.

As soon as Stefan pulls into the drive of the house, I'm moving. The bleeding hasn't stopped, and she hasn't moved an inch. Makenna walks ahead of me, bringing us to the room that not that fucking long ago, Alessio was bleeding out in. I lay Holly on the table and stay close while Makenna gets to work.

She moves effortlessly as she cleans the wound, her shoulder slump forward in relief, "It's only a graze, head wounds bleed a lot. She's got a goose egg at the back of her head, probably where she went down. She's going to be okay."

I nod, unable to speak right now. I'm so fucking close to the edge, the anger bubbling to the surface. "Romero," Dante says and I slice my gaze to him. "They got them," he says, and I smirk. Fuck yes. "Two Bratva bastards," he spits the words out, like they leave a bad taste in his mouth. "The men are bringing them in."

"Thanks." My voice is darker than I've heard in a long time.

"She's going to need to be checked on every hour," Makenna announces, cutting through the silence. "While you're gone, I'll stay with her." She glances around. "Where's Alessio?"

I lift Holly from the bed, "I don't know, I'm going to bring her to our room."

Makenna's gaze is soft as she looks at my unconscious wife lying in my arms. "I'll come and check on her soon."

I don't answer her, I walk out of the room and down the hall. Each step I take is heavy on my heart. This is my fucking fault. The fucking Bratva. My father and his shit. The sins of my father are coming for us and Holly's had to pay.

No more.

Tonight, I'm sending a message.

You do not fuck with my wife.

She's off limits to everyone.

I'll go to fucking war to protect her.

When we reach our bedroom, I push the door open and lay her down on the bed. Blood soaks her hair and face. Seeing it is a knife to the chest. I grab a washcloth from the bathroom and begin to clean her face. I need to get the blood off her face, I need her to be clean.

I knew that Holly meant something to me. Knew it from the get go. Those soft smiles she has that belong to me and me alone, not to mention the way she seeks me out in bed. She may be angry at me, but at night, after she falls asleep she pins me to the bed, her leg entwined with mine and her head on my chest. It's the fucking best feeling in the world. Knowing that even though she's fucking pissed, she still wants me, still trusts me.

Holly is the only person in this world that will ever have my trust. She's the one that I know will never use it against me or hurt me. Before her, I never wanted attachments, I didn't want the responsibility of having to be a husband. I perceived marriage as a hardship, that it would be something that would take a great deal of effort and time. Things I didn't have to give. But as soon as I got to know Holly, all those perceptions went away. I relish the time that I spend with her. I keep her away from the spotlight as I don't want her to be a target. Yet, that's exactly what's happened.

She begins to stir and I'm right there, holding her hand.

"Rome," she whispers as she glances around the room, her hand tightening in mine. "Rome?"

"Right here, doll face," I tell her as I lean over her.

That soft smile is like a balm to the anger that I have rolling through my body. She's awake. That's all that fucking matters right now. I push all the anger aside and focus on her.

"You’re okay," she says, her gaze roaming my face.

"Yeah, baby, I'm okay. Although your ass is going to be red by the time I'm finished with you." I push my face closer to hers, my mouth hovering just above hers.

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