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Axel
"Theresa, baby," I catch her as she slumps against me. "Fuck, fuck, fuck." I hold her close, peer into her features. "Open your eyes, Sunshine." My heart is racing so hard, I’m sure it’s going to jump out of my ribcage. My stomach ties itself in knots. Why did she collapse? Is she hurt? I rake my gaze across her face but can’t find any injury. "Goddamit." I scoop her up in my arms, then walk over to the settee and lower her to it.
Water, I need water.I glance around, spot a bottle of water on the table and leap toward it. I snatch up the bottle, race back to her, and splash some of the water on her face. She moans, then her eyelids flicker.
"Bloody hell." I haul her to my chest and hold her and rock her. My heart beat refuses to slow down and my stomach is still tied up in knots. "You scared me baby, you fucking made me die a thousand deaths in those few minutes."
"S…sorry," she coughs. "I think everything just finally got to me." She shudders, "Is he gone?"
"I think the others are still in pursuit, but," I squeeze my arms about her, "I need to go after him and—"
"And what, kill him?" She peers up at me, "Is that what you are going to do?"
"You know the kind of life I live, Sunshine. Death and I are not strangers by any stretch of imagination."
"I won’t let you go after him." She grips the front of my shirt. "If something were to happen to you, I wouldn’t be able to survive it."
I hold her gaze, then bend and brush my lips over hers. "Nothing is going to happen to me. You, on the other hand," I cup her cheek, "you’re fragile, and so vulnerable. It’s because of me that he came after you. I put you in danger."
"No," I shake my head, "you know better than that. When you live in the world of the Mafia, you have to be prepared for something like this happening."
"And yet, you were safe until I came along."
"You don’t believe that," she argues.
"I do," I nod. The band around my chest is so tight that I can’t breathe. "You sure you’re okay?" I search her features. "You sure you haven’t been hurt?"
"I am fine," she whispers.
I place my palm over hers, wanting to hold her close. Wanting to reassure her and tell her that I’ll never leave her side again. That we’ll always be together. That I’ll always be there to take care of her.
Lies. All lies. It’s because of me, that bastard Freddie got to her. It’s because I married her, she came to his attention. It’s because I brought her here, I put her squarely on the radar of every criminal who holds a grudge against me.
I drop my hand from hers and try to rise, but she doesn’t let go of me.
"Don’t," she begs, "please, don’t leave me."
I glance down at where she clutches the front of my shirt, then back at her face. I gently try to unhook her fingers from my shirt, but she holds on.
"Axel, don’t do it," a tear slides down her cheek, "please Axel, please don’t."
"You don’t know what I’m going to do."
"Don’t I?" She swallows, "You’re blaming yourself right now for what happened. You think I’ll be safer if I’m away from you. You think if you’re not with me, I’ll be safe."
"It’s true," I glance away, "I can’t protect you, my own wife." I squeeze my eyes shut. "I promised that you were not in any danger, that I’d make sure nothing happened to you. I failed."
"You shot him." She grips my cheek and tries to turn me to face her. "It’s because of you that he’s gone."
"It’s because of me that he decided to use you as a way to get to me."
"But you saved me."
"I almost got you killed."
"I am here. So are you. We are both fine. That’s all that matters."
"Is it, though?" I turn to meet her gaze, "What about the next time it happens? And the time after that? What if I am not there to save you the next time?"
