LUCIEN

 

THE NEXT DAY I'm sitting in the library with my laptop resting on my legs while Adeline sleeps serenely a few feet away in a comfortable chaise lounge in the corner of the room.  She was reading for a while, but subsequently fell asleep with the book in her lap.

She's understandably exhausted from our fuck fest yesterday; and she's, unfortunately, still feeling under the weather.  I text Jax to let him know I want him home soon so he can check on her, but he's been ignoring my calls and texts all morning.

I'm beginning to wonder if he didn’t participate in his own fuck fest yesterday…with the woman I heard moaning in the background of our phone conversation last night.

It's not like him to not answer my calls or respond to my texts.  That combined with the nightmare I had last night about losing Adeline has me on edge.

But having her close to me now, sleeping peacefully while I attempt to get work done on my laptop has me feeling a tiny bit at ease.

After rewriting the same damn code ten times from my lack of concentration, I decide to get in a quick workout while she sleeps.  So I go to my room and change into a pair of charcoal-gray, fleece workout pants and a navy blue, long-sleeve compression shirt.  Then I head down to the gym and hit the treadmill first, trying to chase away my worry and tension.

With Nothing More's Go to War pumping through the surround sound speakers, my legs move vigorously as I run.  I can't shake this terrible feeling that something bad happened or is going to happen.  And the more I think about it, the faster and harder I run.

It reminds me of a time when I was younger.  Whenever my mother was sweet or made me something to eat…something horrible always followed.

Maybe I'm just stuck in that mindset and nothing will actually happen…but why isn't Jackson checking his fucking phone?

I've just grown so accustomed to him being around that the thought of him suddenly not being here never really crossed my mind.  He's the only family I have left.  But if I'm being truly honest with myself, he's more than just family.  He's my best friend, my confidant…and I love him like a brother.

It's hard to admit my feelings for anyone, especially when it comes to Adeline, but I need to realize that life is too short to live with regrets.  And I would definitely regret if the two most important people in my life didn't know that I cherished them and loved them.

I definitely need to pull my head out of my fucking ass and confess my feelings for Adeline.

She's told me several times that she loves me…and I haven't even uttered some semblance of a comparable response to her declarations.  She has no idea that I'd do anything for her, slay any demon to get to her…even die for her.

Once Jackson returns with the ring, I'm going to take Adeline on a trip far from here and propose to her.  I will finally make her mine.  For eternity.

Panting, I hit the stop button and jump off the treadmill.  I grab my phone with the intent to check to see if Jackson called or sent me a text during my workout, but stop dead in my tracks and almost drop the phone from my hands.

Several notifications are on my screen and continue to pop up by the second.

My blood runs cold as I scan the automatic alarm messages.  They all lead to one thing and one thing only — the island has been breached.

The sensors and cameras around the island picked up suspicious activity, and I was too fucking stuck in my head that I didn't even hear the first alarm.  The first alarm would have called for a protocol to be put in place to eliminate the threat…but, fuck, I'm not in my office or even near my laptop.

In a panic, I sent out an SOS text to Jax and Wraith.  Jax is definitely not home yet, and Wraith…fuck, he could be anywhere on the island or not.  I have no fucking clue on his whereabouts, and now I regret not keeping better track of him.

I pull up an outside security camera feed and inhale sharply when I see gunned men dressed all in black storming the mansion.

Adeline.

My only thought right now is that I need to get to her.  I'll protect her with my last dying breath.  They'll have to get through me first to get to her.

I take two steps before the tinted windows of the gym explode.  I'm knocked to the ground from the sheer force of it as glass scatters down around me.

A loud crack sounds in the room, and I watch as the glass wall leading to the pool room shatters and comes crashing to the floor.

Scrambling to my feet, I turn just in time to see the devil himself walking through the empty steel frames of the gym with a smirk on his face.

Giovanni.

He's decked out in black and armed with a Glock at his side.  Several men follow behind him, and I stand my ground, not even a bit interested in surrendering.  My only focus right now is to get to Adeline, and my mind is on a one-track mission.

I retreat a few steps with the intent to get to the library, but Giovanni raises his gun and shakes his head slowly, tutting.  "You're not going anywhere, Big Bad Wolf," he sneers.  "Where is she?"

I remain silent.  I can only pray that Adeline heard the noise, woke up and hid somewhere in the library.  Maybe they'll never find her…

But my optimism turns to complete shit when I hear her screams from somewhere in the mansion.

Giovanni's smirk morphs into a huge grin on his face.  "Never mind," he says, tucking his gun into his waistband.  Speaking into a walkie-talkie, he tells whoever's on the other end, "Bring her to the gym."

The fact that his men would know the layout of my house so well surprises me.  Did someone from the inside betray me?

My hands curl into fists when I think back to the gardener's wife.  She's the most likely suspect in all of this.  She would know this place practically inside and out…and she would have been seeking revenge on me for killing her husband.

Fuck.  I should have killed that bitch when I had the chance.

I should have done a lot of things differently.  If I wasn't so caught up in trying to be happy and normal, Giovanni would be dead right now…and all of his men.  They would have never gotten within a hundred yards of this fucking place.

Trembling with anger, my heart seems to cease beating when a tall man in a black ski mask drags Adeline into the gym.  She struggles against the man, but his grip on her is ruthless.

It's not until my girl kicks his shin with all her might that he finally relinquishes his hold on her.  She comes running into my arms, and I hold her so tightly I worry that she won't be able to breathe.

"I'm sorry.  I'm so fucking sorry," I tell her over and over again, my voice breaking.

She looks up into my eyes, and I can see the sheer terror behind her tears.  "I love you," she sobs.

A slow clap from behind us draws our attention.  Giovanni glares at us with a crooked, evil smile.  "So Little Red Riding Hood fell for the Big Bad Wolf after all.  Is that how the story goes?"  He stops clapping and pulls his Glock out of his waistband.  "I don't care for happy endings, though."  His hazel eyes snap to Adeline, and he calls her like a dog, patting his thigh.  "Come here.  Come here, girl."

Adeline's grip around me tightens, and I hold her, not willing to let her go.  I close my eyes for a moment and relish in the feeling of her in my arms one last time.  I know what has to be done even though it goes against every fiber of my being right now.

"You're just making it worse on yourself, Adeline," Gio taunts.

She's trembling against me now, and I wish I could take all of her fear and sadness and absorb it so she didn't have to experience them anymore.  "Go," I whisper to her, my voice hoarse.

She looks up at me with a horrified expression.  "No," she hisses.  "I'm not leaving you," she tells me.  "I won't leave you," she cries.

"You have to," I tell her.  There's nothing I can do to protect her now, and it fucking guts me.  I don't have my gun.  I don't have my computer.  I don't have Jax or Wraith, and all of my guards are probably dead right now.

We're completely and utterly fucked, and there's not a goddamn thing I can do about that fact.  The only thing I can do right now is make sure that she gets out of this alive.

If Giovanni was planning on killing Adeline, he would have done so by now.  Clearly, Salvatore wants his daughter back alive.  And knowing that she'll be safe makes my grip loosen when one of the men grabs her and pulls her from me.

"No!" she screams as she fights the man.

Ragged breaths exhale from my seizing lungs as I clench my hands to my sides and glare at Giovanni.  He's still smiling; and I make a vow right there and then that if I make it out of this alive, I will personally slice that smug look off his fucking face.

I hate the fact that Wepner didn't bring down the empire quickly enough.  He had the fucking paperwork, all the fucking evidence, all the fucking power to do so.  But the government follows strict rules, unfortunately, to make sure they can try and convict these fuckers.  He probably needed warrants and all that good shit.

But he, in turn, cost me so much by going by the book.

Giovanni grabs Adeline with his free hand, twists her in his grip and holds the gun to her temple.  "Stop struggling, Adeline," he snaps at her, and it has me taking a menacing step towards them.  His gaze locks on me, and he clicks his tongue in disapproval.  "I wouldn't do that if I were you," he warns.

Adeline covers her eyes with her hands, sobbing loudly.  I watch her powerlessly…feeling weak and so fucking stupid that I didn't see this all coming.  I should have listened to my gut and protected her.  I failed her…again.  I'll never be able to forgive myself.

Giovanni pulls her tighter against him and points his gun towards me.  "Don't cover your eyes now, sweetheart.  You're gonna wanna see this," he says through gritted teeth.

The moment her eyes meet mine, I have no time to react before the gun is going off.  It echoes off the gym walls, sounding much louder.  And then a searing pain travels through me as the bullet rips through the meat of my outer thigh.

"Fuck!" I roar, grabbing at the wound.

"Lucien!" Adeline screams, fighting against Gio, but he only holds her that much tighter.

Grinding my teeth together, I remain standing and glare at him defiantly.  He's not going to knock me down that fucking easily.  I will not fall to my knees for this asshole.

I stand tall, proud and keep my eyes trained on Adeline.  I can feel the blood oozing from my wound, but I've had years of conditioning to learn to block out the bad things in my life.  I can barely feel the pain.  Hell, I've been through worse.

"So brave," Gio mocks.  "We'll see how brave you are soon enough, Wolf."  He pushes Adeline out of his grip towards two men, who put their greedy hands all over her as she kicks and screams.

My head pounds with a ferocious migraine as I squeeze my fists at my sides.  If only I could get my hands on these fuckers.  I would kill each and every one of them; tearing their limbs out with my bare fucking hands and making them suffer ten-fold.

Giovanni takes several steps towards me, motioning with his gun to make me step backwards over the jagged broken windows leading to the pool room.  Once I'm near the edge of the pool, he asks me, "Can wolves swim?"  He points his gun at my chest this time and smirks.  "Let's find out."

My eyes instantly find Adeline's, and I begin to utter the words I wanted to tell her for so long but never could before.  "Adeline, I -."

But I never get to finish.

I hear the gunshot and feel the pain ripping through my upper chest.  And then I'm falling, falling backwards into the watery grave below me.

I struggle, trying to swim to the surface of the crimson-tinged water, but I never make it…

 

And the last thing on my mind is that I never told Adeline how much I love her…and I'll never get the chance now…