Page 18 of A Valentino Princess
I fire off six shots. One to his head, two to the chest. And three more at his friend. “Who the fuck brings a knife to a gun fight?” I grunt as the blade hits the ground, followed by Alan’s lifeless body.
Chapter Fifteen
What just happened? My hands cover my face, and then it hits me.Marco. He’s here. He shouldn’t be here. He’s on top of me.
I open my eyes to see him hunched over and pointing a gun at Alan. Everything happens so quick, and then I squeeze my eyes shut at the sound of more gunshots.
“You’re okay. It’s going to be okay,” I hear Marco whisper into my ear. His whole body is covering mine, pressing me into the grass. “It’s okay,” he repeats before rolling over. I see him sit up. He’s looking around while waving a hand in the air.
“Helena!” My brother runs towards me, scooping me up off the ground. He stands me on my feet and cups my face as he scans my body from head to toe. “Fuck. Are you hit?”
Hit? What?I don’t know what he’s talking about. Neo starts moving my shirt, and I look down to see my white blouse stained red. It’s covered in blood.
“It’s not mine,” I say. “Oh god… Marco!”
I shove my brother out of the way just as Marco drops.
“No!” I scream as I fall to my knees beside him. “No. No. Neo, do something!”
“It’s okay.” Marco smiles at me. “I’m glad you’re going to be okay.”
“You’re going to be okay too. You owe me a date, remember?” I tell him, not caring who hears me.
“Get him up. We need to get him to Doc now,” my brother yells out, and then suddenly a group of guys are surrounding us.
“Wait. Don’t move him. He’s going to bleed out, you morons.” I shove them all aside, reaching for my shirt and about to tug it over my head, when Marco groans.
“Don’t you fucking dare take that off here.”
“Now isn’t the time to care about modesty. I need something to stop the bleeding,” I tell him.
“Here, ma’am.” One of my brother’s soldiers bundles up his jacket. Then he moves Marco onto his side, glancing down before looking back up at me. “There’s no exit wound.”
“I called an ambulance. They’re on the way,” Neo tells me. “We need to get you out of here.”
I shake my head. “I’m not… I can’t leave him.”
Neo looks at me, then at the ground. “Okay.”
Once the paramedics have Marco on a stretcher, I stand and follow them. “Are you family?” one of them asks me.
“She’s my wife,” Marco lies.
“Okay, come on. You can ride with us,” the paramedic says.
“Wife?” I mouth at Marco.
“Eventually,” he mumbles. And that’s the last thing I hear him say because he blacks out.
“You know he’s tough. He’s not giving up yet. He’s going to be fine.” Neo wraps an arm around me, and I sink into his embrace.
“I hope you’re right,” I tell him.
“I’d prefer we go back to you not liking made men,” he grunts.
“Too bad. Because I think I really like him,” I admit.
“I know. Doesn’t mean Ilikeit,” he says.
