Love Bites & Bullet Holes

I was floating. I had to be. There was no other explanation as to why I felt so weightless as if the lightest breeze would end my fragile existence. "Come on..." My brows crinkled at the very smooth, very male voice that echoed around my head. I couldn't place it, couldn't remember ever hearing it before...but...I wanted to hear it again. "Open your eyes for me..." I sucked in a shallow breath, the pull to do as I was told creating an overwhelming pressure within me. Suddenly I was falling. My body growing heavier and heavier the more it plummeted. Sensation, sound, touch, all my senses came rushing back to me and my eyes flew open with a gasp. Everything bombarded me at once. The feel of something connected to my hands, tubes? The sound of a machine beeping incessantly, and men speaking a foreign language with a hint of urgency to their tone. Was that...Russian? Then the smell of a light cologne mixed with the wearers own unique scent filled my nose and claimed my attention. The source of the scent leaned over me, his face floating into my vision and I was immediately fixated. Ice blue eyes stared down into mine with an intensity that was startling, a stern expression on his chiselled features. Who are you? I must have said it out loud because his brows furrowed slightly. He opened his mouth to speak, drawing attention to his lush full lips, but before he could get anything out the sound of people rushing into the room had him looking towards the door. "The doctor is here." Someone informed him, and he gave a curt nod. Doctor? It didn't look like anything was wrong with him, in fact, he looked perfect. From his gorgeous features to his immaculate dark locks, to his elegant business attire. I finally pulled my eyes from him and looked around me. I was clearly in a bedroom, one lavishly decorated at that. The concept was dark but almost....sterile as if it was hardly used. It barely held any furniture and everything seemed to have their own particular order. The walls were a soft cream and the carpets a complimenting contrast with their dark navy hue. I realized I was in a bed, black silk sheets covering me. I could feel myself starting to panic at the unfamiliar surroundings. I lifted my hands and my eyes widened at the sight of an IV drip inserted into them. W-what? I glanced to the side and frowned at the machine that had been beeping all this time, monitoring my vitals. Oh God, What was all this? Where was I? Who were these people? but more importantly...Who am I? As soon as that question fluttered across my mind I went into full panic mood. Breathing heavily, I tried to sit up even as I attempted to rip one of the IV drips free. Oh God, Oh God, Oh God! The mysterious male cursed under his breath and muttered something to me in what I was slightly sure was Russian "prekrati eto!" (Stop this). He reached out and grabbed my wrist, forcing them down to my side. Just then, a man, clearly the doctor if his attire was any indication, came in and moved towards me with purposeful strides. Before he got into earshot the Russian male leaned down and whispered into my ears, "Say anything about how you got into this state, or about me and my men and I will kill you." My eyes widened and my body immediately began to shake. "Nod if you understand me." I did as I was told and that seemed to satisfy him. "khoroshaya devushka" (Good girl) he whispered and I barely held back a whimper. I may not know who I was, or where I was, but one thing I did know? I wasn't safe here. 72 Hours Earlier... I wanted out. In fact, I wanted my whole family to put a stop to generation after generation of illicit and criminal activity. But when your father was the head of the biggest Italian mafia family, that was just plain wishful thinking. I hated this lifestyle. I spent my whole life forced to look over my shoulder and unable to leave my house without at least five heavily armed men by my side. And every time we moved, the stories I had to tell as to why I was always escorted became more and more ridiculous. At the age of eighteen, I wanted to really start living my life. Like live on campus, go out clubbing with friends, stumble home drunk at two in the morning and not worry about getting a bullet between the eyes. My nineteenth birthday was in two months and I was thinking that would be a good time to tell my father that I wanted to live overseas for a year. Explore and enjoy what the world had to offer. After all, it's not like I would put a dent in business. My brother was already lined up to take over whenever my father retired and if I stayed under the radar enough I was confident that I could live a safe life away from all this. A sense of sadness descended over me. The conflicting thing was, I loved my family. My father still treated me like his little girl, doting on me endlessly and finding time to spend with me no matter how busy or tired he was. I lost my mother when I was very young and I can tell he tried to make up for the lack of her presence by making sure I never felt lonely or wanted for anything. A gentle hand on my shoulder pulled me from my thoughts and I looked up into the face of Valter, one of my most trusted bodyguards. He has been guarding me ever since I was a little girl. He was basically a second father to me. I smiled up brightly at him and came to a stand, brushing off the back of my dress. "It's time to go?" He nodded and I sighed and slipped my hand through the crooked of his arm. I had been feeling restless at home earlier so he had suggested a drive out. My destination? A waterfront park that had a pop shop that sold the best ice cream floats I'd ever had. "Better?" he questioned gruffly. Valter wasn't a man of many words, or expressions, for that matter but I knew he cared deeply for me and my family. I nodded and took a deep breath. "I just needed to sort out my thoughts...put some things into perspective." He grunted, his way of saying he understood and walked me back to our car. He opened the back door and climbed in after me. Our driver was already in the front seat so Valter gave him the okay to take off and the car rumbled to life. At this point, it was late evening. The sun already setting, giving way to an indigo sky. It would be about an hour drive so I closed my eyes and let the smooth drive lull me to sleep. I woke up to a nightmare. The first thing I noticed? The heavy metallic smell of blood. the coppery scent permeated the air and I gagged. The second thing? Valter was reaching into the front of the car trying to wrestle the wheel from our driver. Furious Italian was being fired back and forth and it became clear real quick what the situation was. Our driver had been replaced back at the park but because of the darkening day and the fact that the driver wore a cap, obscuring most of his face, that detail had escaped us. It appears, when the time was right, he had turned a gun on Valter. I sucked back a scream and looked around the back seat wildly for something, anything, that I could use to aid Valter. The car swerved dangerously and I did scream then. My heart practically in my throat. A few more seconds of struggle ensued before Valter finally managed to knock the drivers head against the windshield, knocking him unconscious. With no one in control of the car, it zoomed carelessly down the road, threatening to spin out of control. Valter cursed and hurriedly yanked the unconscious man out of the driver's seat. He climbed into the front taking the man's place and evened out the car. "Cecilia. Are you alright angelo? (angel)" I was too shocked to answer at first, my mind trying to process what was going on. "Cecilia!" I jerked and my gaze jumped to Valter's in the review mirror. "S-si (yes)" I whispered shakily. "Good. Now. under the passenger seat is my gun. I need you to grab it." Nodding, I slipped to my knees and reached blindly under the seat until my fingers brushed steel. Grasping it, I dragged it out and clumsily handed it to him. As soon as it was in his hand he barked an order in Italian for me to look away and then fired off three bullets into the unconscious man. I didn't dare look over into the passenger seat but I did look over the rest of the car and finally noted that the back seat was covered in blood. I gasped realizing that it must belong to Valter. "Oh my God, Y-you're shot? We, we need to get you to-" "You and your family are my main priority, Angelo." He said sternly, cutting me off. I looked out the window and realized we were on the somewhat private road leading to our home. But the closer we got, the more I realized something was wrong. Black smoke clouds rose high in the air and even from this distance, I could see the chaos that was unfolding. The sounds of screams and gunfire were almost deafening and for once in my life, I was thankful that my father was anal and had decided to buy a house that was secluded and miles away from prying eyes. The thought of innocent people being dragged into this mess would have haunted me for years to come. Valter stopped the car abruptly and uttered a string of curses. He had his phone up to his ear talking furiously into it as he opened the door and made his way to the trunk. I didn't know if I was supposed to stay inside or not but that was my family and my home. There was no way I was gonna sit back and watch this happen. My father and my brother were in there and I needed to know they were okay. Moving towards Valter I could now see that he had been shot in the arm and in the side, both of which were bleeding profusely. "Val.." I whispered, raising a shaky hand to my mouth. He pulled out the floor of the trunk revealing a myriad of weapons. Grabbing a .40 Caliber pistol, he pushed it towards me and reached back in for a few other choices for himself. "Stay here and shoot anything and anyone that comes near you." I stiffened at the order but didn't argue. I knew my way around a gun, you didn't grow up in the mafia and not know how to defend yourself. I just never thought I would ever need to. "Val..." I wanted to ask him to bring my father and brother back to me no matter what, but I knew that wasn't a promise he could keep. "Just...be careful" He pressed a kiss to my forehead and then made his way towards the chaos. * * * Five minutes. It had only been five minutes, but it felt like an eternity. I paced alongside the car, fidgeting endlessly and wondering if I should go in or not. I can help... I thought but quickly shook the idea away. I would be useless, in the way, and one more thing Val would need to worry about...but the waiting was driving me crazy. I pulled out my phone and my finger hovered over my father's number before jumping down to my brothers, then Val's...Damn it! I shoved the device back into my cardigan pocket and gave a small growl of frustration. I couldn't call them and risk being a distraction or accidentally give away their location. My grip tightened on the pistol and I pulled my bottom lip between my teeth and nibbled on it. They were okay, they had to be. The sound of cars approaching had me spinning away from the house and casting my wide gaze down the road. Dense forest lined the winding road leading to the house and I made my way towards them, hiding behind the nearest tree. Two cars pulled up beside the one me and Val had abandoned and four men stepped out of the first car, guns c****d as they checked the interior of the deserted vehicle. One of them cursed when they saw the dead driver but still held his hand up signalling for the men in the second car to step out. Three others joined the first four but only one held my attention. He was tall for starters, no doubt well over six feet. He wore a classic black suit minus the suit jacket, instead opting for an overcoat that was draped over his shoulders, his arms outside the sleeves. It was getting darker and darker as night fell so I couldn't make out all his features, but when he turned towards my direction what I did see was his eyes. They were the bluest eyes I'd ever seen and inadvertently I sucked in a breath at the unexpected sight. They were intense pools of ice blue that seemed to be looking right through me. Wait. He was actually looking at me! My eyes widened as his narrowed and I began to shake. s**t! He said something in Russian and two of his men turned to my direction, peering through the trees. I knew when they spotted me as well because their expression grew dark and they lifted their guns. I gasped and made to move but in the next instant bullets were spraying the ground beside me, some hitting the tree I was currently pressed against causing me to scream and hold my ears. The bullets stopped abruptly and I realized it was because the man with the blue eyes had his hand on the wrist of the shooter. His tone harsh as he fired off a round of Russian at the eager gunman. He turned his attention back towards me and took one step forward. I didn't wait to see what he would do next, I turned and bolted. Pushing branches and leaves out of the way as I ran. I didn't dare look back. Not even when I heard heavy footsteps snapping twigs behind me. Not even when I heard Russian being shouted back and forth. Not even when bullets started flying. And not even when I felt one nick me high on the thigh. I swallowed the cry of pain that was bubbling up and kept running. My lungs began burning in protest and soon my legs followed causing my steps to become clumsy. My left foot snagged on a raised root and it twisted, causing a yelp of pain to escape as I tumbled to the ground. The air whooshed out of my lungs and my vision danced briefly. My panic set in tenfold and I tried to scramble up again despite my disoriented state but the moment I put pressure on my left leg it gave out and I slipped in the soft dirt, rolling down a slope I hadn't noticed was there. My body picked up momentum the longer I continue to slide downward. Along the way, the side of my head cracked off what felt like a rock but I couldn't be sure. The only thing I could think of was the intense throbbing pain radiating all over my head. Finally, my body came to a stop and a broken cry left my parted lips. I wanted to get up but I couldn't. Everything was heavy and everything hurt. I could hear distance voices shouting urgently but my head was a mess and I couldn't focus on where it was coming from or what was being said. My eyes fluttered closed and the last thought to float across my mind was, Please find me.