Page 54 of Let Vengeance Be Mine

“What I want, is you dead. It was never meant to be Thalia, that day.” I hear the shake in Demitri’s voice, and when the pain I’m in becomes too much to bear, I decide I have to fight for the son I’m about to push into this world.

Twisting my head, I take the risk of a bullet when I sink my teeth deep into Demitri’s leg. Matteo uses the distraction to dive onto him, struggling with him on the ground and smashing the hand, he’s gripping the gun with, on the floor. I quickly scurry out of the way, placing myself back in the corner of the room so I can finally give in to my body's demands.

“Help her!” My father calls out, and Anita rushes through the door.

It's a relief to see her, but my relief is short-lived when the gun goes off with an ear-splitting bang.

MATTEO

Seeing him holding a gun to her head was enough to make my heart stop beating, and when Aria fought back, I knew her distraction would be my only chance. Demitri is bigger than me, he always has been. But I have the fight of a thousand armies inside me, as I attack him. The grip he has on the gun is too tight, it doesn’t matter how many times I slam his hand into the ground, he’s not giving it up; so I keep his wrist pinned while I smash my fist into his head, over and over, again. He manages to catch me with a left hook that sets me a little off guard, and when he lifts the gun, to point it at my face, I'm surprised when Aria’s father comes in from my right and kicks Demitri’s head like it’s a football. The gun goes off, grazing through my shoulder instead of my skull; when I look up at the man who just saved my life, he nods his head, as he drags a dazed Demitri up off the floor and holds him upright with his arms behind his back.

“Matteo!” I hear Aria screaming from the corner of the room, and when I glance over my shoulder and see her with her knees braced up to her chest, panting, I know I have to make this quick

“You're lucky she needs me. I’d have liked to have made this much slower.” I reach down for the knife that I always keep strapped to my ankle, and just as he goes to say something, I slice the blade across his throat. Blood flows from the gash like a river, and when Aria’s father lets his body slump to the floor, I look down at my best friend and feel an unexpected pang of sadness.

“Go be with her.” Stevan’s voice shakes me out of the trance I’m in, as he looks across the room at his daughter. And I waste no more time, rushing over to my wife and dropping to my knees beside her.

“Is he dead?” she manages, in between the breaths she’s making.

“He’s dead,” I assure her, taking her hand and letting her squeeze it.

Did you love her?” She forces her words out, as her face screws up with pain.

“Love who?”

“The woman you were having a child with. You told me you only ever….Holy fuck, this hurts!” Her hand shakes as her nails dig into my palm.

“No, I didn’t love her. The child wasn’t planned, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t grieve it,” I tell her, swiping away the hair that’s stuck to her forehead and fallen into her eyes. “But none of that matters, now. What matters, is this.”

“He’s coming, Matteo, it’s too early and he’s coming. What if something goes wrong?” She starts sobbing and I feel completely fucking helpless.

“Nothing’s going to go wrong. He’s gonna be fine, just concentrate and listen to what Anita tells you. She’s delivered lots of babies, she knows what she’s doing.” Anita looks up at me and raises her brow because she knows, as well as I do, that I’m lying, and when I throw her a stern look of warning, she strokes the shaking leg that Aria has balanced over her shoulder.

“What if he’s coming out the wrong way, or if he’s too big?” Aria continues to freak out and I realize I have to put all my own fears aside and take some control of the situation.

“Listen to me.” I grab her face in my hands and force her eyes onto mine.

“You are doing great, you are going to push as hard as you can and our son is going to be fine,” I tell her firmly, and when she nods back at me, through her tears, I quickly release her and take hold of her hand, again.

“He’s definitely not coming out the wrong way, I can see his head.” Anita looks up at Aria with a reassuring smile on her face. Hearing that seems to give Aria a new strength, she presses the back of her head against the wall behind her, tensing her whole body as she pushes.

“I can’t deliver my baby in the same room as a dead man,” she tells me through her gritted teeth.

“I’m on it.” Her father quickly grabs Demitri by his ankles and starts dragging him out the cabin, leaving a thick trail of blood in his path, while Aria continues to push.

“The head’s out. He’s almost here!” Anita’s voice comes out excited.

“You hear that? It’s almost over, you're gonna have our little boy in your arms any minute, Aria,” I tell her, shrugging out my jacket and passing it to Anita so she’ll have something to wrap him in.

“It hurts. I wanted drugs,” she cries, taking a breath before the next contraction hits her.

“We’ll get you drugs for the next one, I promise” I assure her, and when both her, and Anita, give me the same shocked look, I wonder which one of them is going to punch me first. I smile back at my wife, awkwardly, and she proves she isn’t mad when she makes that cute, little laugh. It only lasts until her next contraction hits, and her face suddenly turns serious, again.

She growls like a tiger, pushing so hard that her skin turns red and her whole body shakes.

“Shoulders are out… and tummy… and legs and…he’s here!” Anita yells, over the sound of crying. When I look down into her arms and see my son, wailing, and wiggling his limbs, I glance back to Aria and see overwhelment on her face, too.

“He’s here.” I can hardly believe my own words, as I stare at the tiny person we made, who is finally with us.

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