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Pressure seemed to push on her from all sides as her dad started to pull her forward. Her plan immediately firmed in her mind. It was up to her to put it into practise. It was now or never. She swung her good arm forward and plunged the knife into the side of his neck, while she twisted her body away from him towards her cell, getting out of the line of fire. Blood squirted and gushed from the neck wound all over her as she heard shots fired. She dropped to the ground, curling her body around her sons. A thud near her caused her head to turn to the slumped body of her Dad. His eyes open, unseeing, blood coating every inch of him and pooling around his body. She couldn’t feel anything. She expected remorse or horror at what she had done and at what she was seeing but all she felt was exhausted.
Her body was pulled up from the cold floor and and embraced in large strong arms. Duke’s scents swamped her and she let herself sink into his warmth.
“I’ve got you, baby. I love you.” He rocked her tightly in his arms, quietly repeating the same phrase over and over in her ear.
She used all her remaining strength to cling to him. She never wanted to let go ever again. His breath was sawing in and out of his chest rapidly and she rested her head over his heart, listening to the thumping rhythm. She heard Slam talking to someone else outside the corridor and Razor dragging her Dad’s body away. A whimper drew her attention and she all of a sudden remembered Bianca. She tried to pull away from Duke’s hold, he wasn’t letting go. He held her so tight, she couldn’t struggle against his strength. He picked her up and started to walk along the corridor.
“Duke, let me go. There’s someone else in there! Bianca’s in the cell next to mine.”
Duke paused and shouted instructions to the Musketeers to collect Bianca. Knowing Bianca would be rescued, Nicole relaxed, wound her good arm securely around Duke’s neck and buried her face in his shoulder, soaking his shirt with her tears. She was home at last. Her babies started to kick like crazy, looked like they knew it too.
Duke
Nicole was back in his arms. His body finally felt settled but his mind still raced with all that could of happened, it spun with the possibilities. He kept replaying Nicole thrusting the knife into Nole’s throat. His heart had stopped and his brain had struggled to register what it was seeing. What had his baby gone through to make stabbing her father an option? Nicole wouldn’t normally hurt a fly. To have turned on her father, something inside her must have finally broke. He hated that that was how it had gone down. Duke should have rescued her but instead she’d rescued herself. If she lost one minute of sleep over that pathetic fucker, he would lose it.
He felt like he’d let her down over and over again. How was he ever going to make this up to her? He pulled her even tighter into his chest, using her as a blanket, the only one that could warm the cold feeling he had that was eating him up inside. He relished his son’s kicking against him as he stood in the relative quiet of the reception area as his brothers sorted the bodies outside. Nicole didn’t need to see that.
His body felt wired. He knew he wouldn’t settle until he knew Nicole and their boys were alright and healthy. He closed his eyes and buried his nose in her hair. Nicole’s sweet smell calmed his heart. He felt her breath steady against his neck. She had fallen asleep. He wanted to wake her and hear her reassurances that she was okay but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. She looked so peaceful. They had all the time in the world to talk, so he let her sleep, loving that she still trusted him enough to keep her safe and protected after everything that had happened.
He walked outside, Razor and Slam came to stand by him. They never said a word, just gave their silent support and it was just what he needed right then. He was lucky that he’d never have to stand alone. He knew Nicole loved Razor and Slam like the brothers she’d never had and would be happy that they were nearby. They were waiting for the clubs truck to pick them up.
Just then, Duke saw Bones emerge out of the warehouse carrying a petite blonde woman. She looked tiny in his arms, this must be Bianca who Nicole had mentioned. She looked beat up. Even from all the way over here, Duke could see cuts and heavy bruising marring her face. Hollywood went to talk to him but Bones quickly backed away, while Digger and King blocked him from getting any closer. Their faces were fierce and determined. He looked at Razor and Slam, they both shrugged. Obviously they didn’t know what was going on either.
While everyone else watched that event unfold, Duke studied Nicole. She was as beautiful as ever but from the dark smudges under her eyes, he knew she was worn out and had been through too much. He was going to give her a hot bath and then hold her tight against him in their bed for as long as he could keep her there. First, Slam would have treat her gunshot wound. He could see the heavily soiled bandage haphazardly wrapped around the top of her arm. He lifted her slightly and pressed light kisses all over her face. In her sleep, she hummed and snuggled into him, burying her face in his neck. God, he loved her.
The two trucks pulled up and four brothers got out. One to ride his bike back for him and three to ride the ones they’d acquired from the dead Riot brothers. He glanced at the bodies being loaded into the second truck as he climbed into the first, making sure not to move about too much, then settled Nicole on his lap. He didn’t want to jar her awake. A commotion outside the truck woke her anyway and now Duke was pissed.
