Filed to story: Submitting to My Bestie’s Daddy Read Online >>???
I could sense Vinny and Alessandro tense at my side. They shared a look of disbelief on their faces, and they nearly pulled their guns out again.
“You’re lying?” my brother muttered under his breath. “There’s no way he’d actually kill her.”
“Natalia broke free from her restraints and fought back,” I explained with a charmed smile. “Ivan here quickly overpowered her and went for his gun. He had every intention of ending her right then and there.”
Vinny’s lips twisted into a disgusted sneer.
“Your own niece?”
“Jesus Christ,” Alessandro sighed.
I didn’t want to let go of the high that was coursing through my body. It was like a huge weight finally lifted off my shoulders and I could breathe easy again.
“Vinny, round up whoever’s not dead and move them to one of the warehouses,” I said. “I’ll check in later.”
Vinny went off without another word while my brother turned to me.
“Tallon, where’s Natalia now?”
My brows lifted and my shoulders dropped. I finally lowered the gun in my hands and quickly glanced around the room.
Nothing.
“Check down a few of those side halls. I’ll take these,” I told them.
He nodded his head and made his way toward the left side of the building while my eyes continued to scan the other half of the room.
Maybe she’d made it out while all the shooting was happening. It must have been terrifying to watch the whole erupt in a shootout. I wouldn’t have been surprised to find her huddled somewhere with her head tucked between her knees.
Instead, all my eyes took in was a decent number of dead bodies and numerous patches of blood. But what really caught my eye was one spot that led off into a long, dark red trail that led out of the main room and down a smaller hallway.
I followed it.
I expected to see one of Ivan’s men, trying to escape, but instead, I saw Natalia.
She looked one second away from slumping over where she stood. Her body sagged against the wall while her knees were shaking from trying to keep her up.
“Natalia….”
I could barely recognize my own voice as my mind struggled to process what was happening in front of me.
She stopped moving and turned to face me. Her face was ghostly pale. My terror-filled eyes dropped from her complexion down to her trembling hands that were covered in blood.
Her mouth curved into a gentle smile that was meant to ease my nerves, but it did no such thing.
“T-Tallon.”
*Tallon*
“Natalia…”
The exhilarating high that I’d been chasing since Ivan bitterly surrendered to me and my men came to a crashing halt. In fact, I was fairly certain that my entire world was about to be ripped from beneath me.
I was prepared to walk into a death trap before the sun even made its appearance in the sky. I was ready for Ivan to aim his gun at me and possibly end my life. Hell, I’d anticipated walking away with minor injuries at the very least.
But not this….
Nothing, absolutely nothing, in the world could have prepared me for the terrifying sight that awaited me beyond the main room. Somehow in the midst of all the fighting and flying bullets, Natalia had gotten injured. One of the aimless shots must have gotten her when no one was looking.
Oh, Christ. And I hadn’t even noticed because I was too busy trying to keep the gun out of Ivan’s hands. What the fuck kind of a man was I? Here I was trying to keep her safe and ensure that she would get out of that apartment complex alive, only to have her end up shot and losing ounces of blood.
Natalia just stood there, sagging helplessly against the wall. Her skin paled several shades lighter than normal. Her body was trembling terribly.
She looked freezing while also breaking out into a complete sweat like she had a fever of a hundred and four degrees. My mind couldn’t comprehend what my eyes were seeing. From where I was standing, she looked as though she was about to topple over at any given second.
But it wasn’t until my gaze had drifted down from her face that I noticed her hands.
Aside from their excessive shaking, they were completely covered in blood. That same trail of blood I’d been following led to a small pool of it next to her.
Whether Natalia was aware of this or not, she turned to face me and gave a gentle smile. My heart sank into my stomach.
Her voice came out weak and raspy. “T-Tallon,” she said again.
All the air caught in my throat as I watched her eyes roll to the back of her head and her knees begin to buckle. Without a single thought, I dove to her side and carefully took her into my arms. My stomach rolled in a mixture of nausea and anxiety.
I needed to find the wound—needed to stop the bleeding.
“Sweetheart.” My voice came out rough and winded as the fear crept up my spine. “You need to stay with me. Keep your eyes open.”
I waited for her eyelids to crack open. Good! She was still conscious.
“Okay, I’m going to try and see if I can find the wound. We need to stop the bleeding,” I told her.
Whether she understood me or not, I quickly went to work by gliding my hands down both her arms and her sides. Natalia winced and whimpered in discomfort but didn’t tell me if I was getting closer to the area or not. I was growing frustrated from not making any progress. If I couldn’t find the wound, then there was no telling what would happen.
She was losing more of her normal color and fading by the second. My mind began thinking the worst.
“Vinny!!” I called out in desperation.
Moments later I was joined by my second as he came barreling into the hallway. His expression also twisted into one of worried confusion.
“Is she—?”
I wouldn’t even allow him to finish his sentence because, among my overwhelming feelings of dread and worry, I was also in feral denial.
“She’s not dead,” I grounded out. “But she’s losing a lot of blood. We need to get her out of here. Go get the car,” I said shakily.
Vinny responded with half a nod and quickly turned on his heels.
“I’ll meet you out front,” he said.
From there, I gently eased Natalia off the floor and held her close to my chest once more. I felt her muscles tense as she winced in pain.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “But I need to get you out of here so we can get you fixed up.”
