“You’re not coming,” he says blocking the closet door with his arms across his chest and his feet planted apart.
“I am.” I put my hands on my hips and glare at him.
“No, you’re gonna stay here. I don’t know what the fuck happened tonight, but I don’t want you there.”
“Sven—”
“Maggie, I’m not fucking around. You are not coming. As soon as I’m gone, I want you to set the alarm, keep your phone on you, and stay put.”
“I’m coming, Sven, and if you think I’m not, you need to think again, because the minute you leave, I’m in my car following behind you, so you can either suck it up and let me ride with, or—”
“Fuck!” He tilts his head back and looks at the ceiling then his eyes drop to meet mine. “Why the hell couldn’t I fall for a chick who does what the fuck I tell her to do?” he asks, and I feel my eyes go squinty.
“You would have been bored out of your gourd with a woman like that.” I tell him the truth; he would ruin a woman who didn’t stand up to him.
“You stay at my side. You are not out of my sight, not even for a second,” he barks, and I fight my smile, ‘cause I know he won’t appreciate me gloating right now.
“I’ll stick to you like glue,” I agree.
“Don’t make me regret taking you.”
“You won’t.” I smile, then walk past him out of the closet and then rush down to his Suburban before he can change his mind.
Driving past the club into the back parking lot, my head turns as we drive past the chaos. There are hundreds of people gathered on the sidewalks out front, along with police cruisers and fire trucks blocking the road.
“I thought it was a small fire in one of the bathrooms,” I mutter to Sven as I swing my head back around to face the windshield when I can no longer see the front of the club.
“When you’re dealing with any kind of fire in a club like this, they evacuate everyone and every cop and fire department in the city shows up,” he says, pulling into the parking space reserved for him.
“I hope no one was hurt.”
“The alarm sounded, they followed procedure, and they got everyone out. No one got hurt.”
“It’s kinda weird that the fire was in the bathroom.”
“People rarely follow the rules. My guess is some kid was smoking in one of the bathroom stalls and either tossed a joint or a cigarette into the trash. It’s not the first time something like this has happened,” he says, shutting down the Suburban, unbuckling his belt, and hopping out. Unhooking my belt, I open the door then take his hand when he helps me down.
Wrapping his arm around my shoulders, he leads me to the road then moves us toward two police officers who are trying to disburse the crowd.
“I own this—” Stopping midsentence, Sven turns and shoves me to the ground. My hands hit the concrete right before my knees do. Starting to push myself up, his body covers mine and his arms wrap around my head. People around us scream and the sound of gunfire registers.
“Stay down!” someone yells as the windows explode, causing glass to rain down on us.
“Sven!” I scream when his big body jolts on top of mine.
“Shhhhh.” His hands wrap tighter around me, and I feel the top half of his body lift an inch and I cry out.
“Don’t leave.” Wrapping my hands around his arms at my head, I hold on tight.
“I’m not going anywhere,” he whispers gently, and tears fill my eyes.
“They’re gone!” someone close by yells, but Sven doesn’t let me up. He stays on top of me, and I notice his breath is shallow and his weight has gotten even heavier.
“They’re gone,” I whisper, digging my fingers into the skin of his arms. Rolling him to his back, I scramble to my knees, pressing them to his side as I lean over him. Running my eyes over his torso, I see his grey shirt is turning red near his ribcage.
“Help!” I shriek, pressing my hands over the wound at his side.
“Are you okay, baby?” he asks, sounding short of breath, and my eyes swing up from my hands to his face, noticing his eyes look glossy and his face is pinched in pain.
“Stay still. Don’t talk,” I whimper, resting my forehead against his.
“Tell me you’re okay.”
“I’m okay, and so are you.” I kiss him then lift my head when a shadow falls over us. “Please,” I breathe, looking into the eyes of the firefighter across from me. Jerking his head once, his hands move over mine and he pulls them away, and then he yells at someone behind me.
“Miss, I need you to stand back,” an officer says, wrapping his hand around my bicep. Tilting my head back to look up at him, I feel tears fall from my eyes and down my cheeks.
“I need to stay with him,” I whisper, and his eyes fill with concern.
“I promise you won’t be far, but the paramedics need room to work.”
Biting my lip, I look from him down to Sven, drop my body forward, and press my mouth to his ear.
“I’m not going anywhere, but they need to look after you, honey.” He doesn’t reply or even move, but when I lift my head above his, his eyes lock on mine. “Promise I’m not going anywhere.” I lean in and press my mouth to his, holding it there as I try to control my tears.
“We’ll stay close,” the officer says as he places his hand on my back. It takes everything in me to go with him, moving away from Sven. All I want to do is lie down next to him, to absorb his pain, to make him better. Reaching down, I grab his hand, squeezing gently, feeling his fingers tighten on mine before releasing. Moving back with the cop, I watch the paramedics and firefighters swarm, blocking him from view.
“Let’s get him in the ambulance,” I hear an EMT say, and I feel my world falling out from under my feet.
“Can I go with him in the ambulance?” I ask the officer at my side as my arms wrap tighter around my waist, trying to hold myself together.
“I’ll find out for you. If not, I’ll take you.”
“Thank you,” I whisper shakily then look toward the front door of the club. My skin prickles as I watch Zack, Teo, and Lane make their way toward me. Each looking worried and seriously pissed off.
“Maggie,” Zack says, and a fresh wave of tears fills my eyes and I move quickly in his direction.
“Sven,” I choke out on a sob, and his arms wrap around me.
“I’m so fucking sorry. We were talking to the cops inside when we heard the shots start. They wouldn’t let us out ‘til now.”
“He got shot,” I tell him, pulling away and moving my hands over my cheeks in a jerky movement. “Who would do that? Who would shoot at us?” I ask, panting, and his eyes move over my face.
“Can you ride with Sven in the ambulance, or do you need a ride to the hospital?” Lane asks, cutting in, and my eyes turn to meet his.
“I…I don’t know. A…an officer was going to find out,” I stutter out, noticing my body has started to tremble.
“Miss, I’m going to take you to the hospital. There’s no room in the ambulance.”
“I’ll take her,” Zack says, and I look at him then to the cop, and I know I have a much better chance of getting to the hospital quickly if I’m in a cop car.
“I’m go…going t-to—” Placing my hand to my stomach when a sharp pain hits me, my eyes try to focus, but blackness seeps in around the edge of my vision until I see nothing.
Hearing low murmurs, I wonder who Sven’s talking to as I fight to the surface of consciousness. Blinking my eyes open, I know I’m missing something; something’s not right. Then everything comes back to me, every detail.
“Sven,” I breathe, tossing the cover over me back as I groggily attempt to sit up.
“MoonPie!” my mom cries, rushing to my side and holding me down.
“Where’s Sven?” I ask frantically, and my dad moves to my other side and places his hand against my chest.
“Stay down. Sven’s okay,” Dad says, and I look at him and search his face, seeing a deep
sadness in his eyes.
“I need to see him. I need to know he’s okay.” I lift my hand and notice an IV line then look down and see I’m in a hospital gown.
“You’ll see him. The doctor should be back in soon. Until then, you’re going to lay down.”
Feeling confused and lightheaded, I ask softly, “Why would I need a doctor?”
“Oh, MoonPie,” Mom whimpers, and my eyes fly to hers.
“What’s going on?” I question, seeing tears in her eyes.
“You were pregnant,” Dad says, and my head swings in his direction.
“What?” I whisper as my hands move to rest over my abdomen, and now that it’s been brought to my attention, I notice a slight pain there and can feel some kind of gauze or something under my gown.
“Mom,” I whisper as she settles herself at my side near my hip and runs her hands down my hair like she used to do when I was little.
“It was a ectopic pregnancy. Your tube ruptured and they had to rush you into surgery. We got a call from a guy named Zack, and he told us Sven was in surgery as well and that we needed to get here.” She presses her lips together and more tears gather in her eyes. “I’m so sorry.”
Closing my eyes, I lean my head back against the pillow as a feeling of loss washes over me. I didn’t even know I was pregnant, didn’t even have any inkling, but knowing I was and knowing I’m not anymore, my heart hurts.
“I need Sven,” I whisper, hearing my mom sob.
“You’ll be able to see him soon enough. He’s being taken off the ICU floor as we speak and should be here with you soon.”
“Promise me he’s okay.” I open my eyes, pinning my dad in place.
“Promise. He’s tough. He’s more worried about you than he is about himself.”
He would be; he was probably worried out of his mind. “Does he know about the baby?” I ask, and for the first time in my life, I watch my dad’s eyes glitter with tears.
“I had to tell him. He was causing a scene, thought they were just keeping you from him. No one would give him any answers.”
Closing my eyes, pain cuts through me, and I pull in a ragged breath, feeling my bottom lip wobble.
“He told them that he wants to be moved in here with you, tossed around a few names, names of men I only know because everyone knows them, and they agreed to it,” he says, and a silent tear slides down my cheek.
*
“Has she woken?” I hear Sven ask, and my eyes fly open seeing Sven in a bed next to mine. As I try to sit up, my dad puts his hand against my chest as my eyes lock on Sven’s.
“Easy,” Dad says gently.
“The doctor said I can get up,” I remind him softly, looking up at him.
When the doctor came in to talk to me, he told me it was okay for me to move around as long as I didn’t do anything strenuous. I had gotten up and gone to the bathroom on my own with only minor pain in my abdomen. But that didn’t mean I wasn’t in pain. My heart hurt badly. The doctor explained I was approximately six weeks pregnant and that the baby was growing inside of my left fallopian tube, which ruptured. The surgery they performed—removing my left tube completely—left me with only one, which he explained would make conceiving in the future a little more difficult, but not impossible.
“Baby.”
That one word has me coming out of my thoughts and my dad’s hand moving to my elbow to help me up. Gaining my feet, I walk slowly across the space separating me from Sven, our eyes never leaving the other. “Fuck, baby.” He reaches out to me with his left hand when I’m close.
“Please, be careful.” I take his hand in mine and pull it up to rest against my chest.
“Come here,” he demands softly, sliding his hand around my back, pulling me closer, proving that not even a bullet wound will stop his bossy ways.
“We’re gonna step out for awhile,” my dad says from behind me, but I don’t turn to look at him or my mom as I hear them moving around or when the door closes a few seconds later.
“I was so scared,” I whisper after a long moment of my eyes taking him in and the various machines he’s hooked up to.
“I need to hold you. Climb up here with me.” He scoots over, and I know I should protest, but I need his touch right now. I need to be in his arms, where I feel safe, where the world outside of us doesn’t exist. Being cautious of the IV in his hand, I get onto the bed with him and tuck myself into his side. “Please don’t cry,” he whispers, and I move my hands over my face, feeling wet on my fingers when I do. “I’m so sorry baby, so fucking sorry,” he says, and I know he’s not talking about getting shot, but about the baby.
“Me too.” I move closer to him, pressing my face against his neck.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t here for you.”
“You were kind of busy not dying.” I swallow down a new wave of tears, bringing my head out of his neck to look at him, noticing his face is pinched in pain. “How much are you hurting? Do you need the doctor?” I ask softly trying to move off the bed.
“Stay.” He pulls me back to him, wincing when he does. “I’m worried about you. It kills me that you woke up and I wasn’t here.”
“Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I’m fine baby. I’m down for about three weeks, but I’m fine. The doctor even said I was lucky.”
“I thought you…”
“Shhhh, I’m okay. A week, and then we go home.”
Fighting myself to keep quiet, to not bring it up—not yet—I still ask, “Who shot at us?” Yes, there were other people outside the club, but those bullets were all aimed in our direction. No one was hurt besides Sven, not one person.
“You don’t worry about that right now. The club’s closed down for now. Zack, Lane, and Teo are going to be doing security for us while we’re home.”
“They’re bouncers. No offense, but what do—”
“They we’re special ops. I trust them,” he cuts me off. “I know them. I know they care about you, and they’re the only people here right now that I know would lay down their lives for you.”
“Don’t say that.” I squeeze my eyes closed. I don’t want to see anyone else I care about hurt. “You were on top of me when you were shot. I know that bullet could have hit me, and knowing that doesn’t make me feel any better. I don’t want any of them hurt.”
“Baby.” He pulls me gently until I’m pressed tighter against him. “Don’t think about that right now. You need to rest.”
“You need rest,” I mutter, and I hear a smile in his voice when he mutters back, “Let’s both rest.”
“You’re still very bossy.”
“Rest, Mags.”
“Fine.” I let out a breath, carefully resting my hand over his abs, thinking I would get bored if he wasn’t exactly who he is. And with that, I fall asleep in his arms, which I know now more then ever will always keep me safe.
Chapter 10
Sven
Missing pieces
Feeling Maggie behind me, her tits are pressed tightly to my back. Her arm is over my abs, and her leg is shoved between mine. I roll to face her, noticing the dark circles under her eyes are slowly disappearing. When I was in the hospital, she stayed with me every night, even after I told her she needed to go home and get some rest—the kind of rest you can’t get in a hospital because there is someone coming into the room every fucking hour, disturbing you. She didn’t agree to this and insisted she stay with me.
Knowing I wasn’t going to win the battle, I had the nurses push her bed close to mine so she could sleep close by but not be disturbed. Yet she always woke anytime someone even opened the door, and she didn’t sleep again until after they finished checking me over and told her I was okay. Even now, two weeks after they released me to come home, she was still waking up almost as often as when the nurses had come in to check on me. Every night I wake to find her with her hand on my chest or her fingers at my wrist, taking my pulse—literally. I knew she would be shook up for a while over what went down
, but I didn’t want her to dwell on it, especially when she had lost our baby the same night and hadn’t really had a chance to process that.
I hadn’t even had a real moment to process it either. I just know there is now a pain in my chest that wasn’t there before, a pain I knew I would have for the rest of my life, because whether or not Maggie and I knew about the baby, he or she was still ours, still something we had created together, a part of us that was now lost.
Wrapping my hand over the curve of her waist, I carefully pull her closer so I don’t wake her then rest my chin on the top of her head and close my eyes. Kenton and Kai are hitting town tomorrow night, and then we’re moving to Kai’s place until shit gets sorted and we figure out exactly what our next move needs to be. They were going to show up after I got shot, but I told them to stay put. I didn’t want to send Paulie the signal and knew I needed time to recover.
I know Paulie put a hit out on me, because I got the message from Justin after I got out of surgery and got my phone back. Only I got that message way too fucking late, and by the time I got it, I had already been shot and had a six-hour surgery to repair my lung and make sure there was no other internal damage.
I didn’t give a fuck about me getting shot. Yes, that shit hurt more than any pain I’ve experienced in my life, but nothing compared to the fear I felt knowing it could have been Maggie. That bullet could have hit her, and the way I was laying on top of her, I’m still surprised it didn’t. The bullet hit under my armpit, inches away from her, so fucking close that had she moved, had I not wrapped my arms up and over her, it would have.
I’m done with this shit with Paulie. His rein of terror is coming to an end, and I don’t give a fuck if I’m the one who has to put a bullet in his head to do it. Over the years, he and his son have fucked me over on a variety of occasions, but this time, he went too far. This wasn’t drugs in my club or dead bodies at the door; this was him taking a shot at me and my woman. A woman who was carrying my child when he had his men do it. Yes, this shit is coming to an end, and then I’m moving Maggie to Tennessee to start over. I can’t say I haven’t enjoyed Vegas, but the life I was leading was a life I was never really living at all. I moved through the motions, not really connecting with anyone. I have no roots here, no family, and only a handful of people I would consider friends. I want more than that for Maggie and me. I want her to have people, family around, bonfires, dinner with friends, and a house eventually full of kids. Vegas isn’t the place I see myself building that dream for us.