Page 58 of Fragile Union

When my gaze lands on her, my heart fucking shatters. I’m glued to the spot, unable to move. The sight of her tears at me. Her head is drooped down, she’s unmoving, and blood completely surrounds her at her feet. Denis reaches her before I do, his touch gentle as he tries to move her. That’s when I get a look at her face. My beautiful wife, so full of love and life, is unconscious. Her face is battered with bruises, blood splattered across it. She looks as though she’s in a fucking horror movie.

I hear laughter and turn my head away from Holly to find Jose Ortega laughing like a fucking maniac.

Pain, anger, and worry rush through me. I want to go to her, but I can’t. Not yet. I need this motherfucker to hurt, to bleed for what he’s done to her.

I try to tamper down the urge and push past my gut instinct to go to her, to take her into my arms and hold her against me. I’ve never felt this way before. So, fucking gutted. I never thought I’d ever love someone but seeing Holly so broken, beaten, and fragile, makes me realize just how much I love her. How much I failed her. She deserves better than what I have given her.

Alessio moves and pins the fucker to the wall. Whispering something in his ear.

“I’m taking her to the hospital, as soon as she’s checked in, I’ll be back,” Denis says, his jaw clenched tight, his eyes narrowed in on the motherfucking bastard. “You handling him here?”

I shake my head. “No, I’ll have Stefan bring you to where we’re going.” We need to get out of here before the cops arrive. All the gunshots in this side of town wouldn’t usually raise too many brows, it’ll take the cops a while to arrive, but the calls that’ll come in, telling them about the amount of foot activity that’s going on, could lead to them coming sooner rather than later.

“I’ll be there, he deserves everything that’s coming to him.” I see the unshed tears in Denis’s eyes.

This wasn’t meant to happen. Our women don’t get hurt. We keep them out of the family. They’re to be revered, protected, loved. Yet, here we are, a bleeding and beaten Holly. He’ll pay and when he does, it’s going to be painful.

I’ll repay him in kind. For every injury he inflicted on my wife, he’ll receive the same. Only worse.

“Alessio, time to move. You’ll ride with the bastard,” Dante announces, and I see the men stand a little taller, they’re not happy with it and I can’t blame them. But this is Dante giving Ales a way to make things right, or at least to make some amends.

Danny, Hayden, and Liam are moving Holly out of the house. Danny has her wrapped up in his arms. Her head pressed against his chest as he cradles her. I should be doing that, but I’m still rooted to the spot. My heart pounds a mile a minute.

“Are you coming?” Denis asks me softly. The man is close to the edge. I know the feeling. I never thought I’d be in this position and yet here I am, feeling every fucking emotion under the sun and having no idea how to deal with it.

“Go,” Dante says. “The men will sit on him. He’ll not be touched until we come back. You need to make sure she’s okay.”

I don’t want the fucker to be alive when she wakes up. Having her know that he’s dead will put her mind at ease, knowing he can’t hurt her again. But Dante’s right. I don’t fucking like it, but I need to see her. I need to know she’s going to pull through. I have to hear everything that the bastard did to her.

I nod, unable to speak right now, not trusting myself even if I could.

Denis slaps me on the back. “You’ll be the one she’ll want to see,” he says as hurt flashes through his eyes. “It pains me to fucking say this, but it’s the truth. When you have a daughter, you’ll know exactly what I’m feeling. But I couldn’t have asked for a better man for my daughter, Romero. That’s the God’s honest truth. I know you’ll get revenge for what that fucker did to our Holly, I know you’ll unleash that monster that’s so close to the surface. When you do, I’ll be standing on the sideline fucking cheering you on.”

That has me looking over at him. “You’ll stand back and let me do it?” If that was my child, I would by vying for blood, fuck what anyone else thought.

“Oh, I’ll get in my own fucking punches but you,” he shakes his head. “You’d off anyone who took the privilege of killing him away from you.”

Fuck. He’s right, I would.

“It’s time to go,” Dante urges us, and I nod, following him out of this fucking hell hole and find out if my wife is okay.

* * *

Everyone is sittingin the waiting room, not one of us has moved since Holly was admitted. That was well over two hours ago and I’m losing my goddamn mind with each minute that passes. Denis is pacing and glancing up at the clock every other second. Danny has his head bent and his hands clasped behind his neck, Melissa comforting him with her hand on his thigh. No one is talking, all of us in reflective silence.

Liam, Edwina, and Hayden have been to check in with Jade, she’s awake and doing okay. The bullet hit her side but managed to not hit any major organs. She has a few cracked ribs, meaning she’ll be in pain for a while, but she’ll eventually be okay. She’s filled everyone in on what happened once they finished their shopping trip. Finally, everyone was able to hear what went down. Knowing everyone had put their life on the line to save my wife - Jade included is a fucking blessing. I’m in debt to them all and anything they need, I’m there. No fucking questions.

Finn, the man is in critical condition. The gut shot he sustained did hit something vital and the doctors worked on him for fucking hours. They’ve told Makenna to prepare for the worst, the next twenty-four to forty-eight hours are critical.

When Edwina told Jade that Seamus died, they thought she’d have to be sedated. She was devastated and I can only imagine what Holly’s going to be like when she finds out that her Grandfather didn’t make it. The man was pronounced DOA, the bullet to the back of the head killed him instantly.

Malachy was shot in the back, it was a through and through, but it went through his heart. He was never going to be able to make it. Both Boz and Reilly are up and moving, they wanted to sit and wait, but Makenna sent them home, told them to rest, that the time will come when we’d all get our revenge. Her words were easy to read, we’re all going to war. They’re not going to get away with what they have done.

The door opens and a petit doctor stands in the doorway, “I’m looking for a Romero and a Denis?”

I step forward, a lump lodged in my throat. “Holly’s awake and is asking to see you both,” she tells us with a smile.

“She’s okay?” Denis asks, his voice hoarse.

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