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“You’re going to be okay, honey,” I told her as I kissed her cheek. “Everything will be okay now, I promise.”
CHAPTER 29
MADDIE
I sighed deeply as I rested my head against the window frame and looked out at the view over the city, alight in the dark.
It had been a long night. Hell, it had been a long damned month.
When we got Willow to the hospital they took her blood to try and find out what she had been drugged with as they did their best to counter act it. I hadn’t been allowed to be with her for a while as they determined exactly what had happened to her, but Nico had quickly cleared that up by having his FBI contact, who had arrived at the house where Edward’s body now sat, call, and clarify we weren’t a threat.
By the time we were allowed into the room she had been placed in, they knew what she had been drugged with and were giving her the correct meds to flush it out of her system. They said there wasn’t anything much to worry about, and that she should wake up soon. They didn’t find any more injuries on her except for some slight bruising around one of her wrists, but it was still too much for me. No one should ever be able to bruise and drug my child, and certainly not her own father!
The FBI had arrived shortly after that and we’d all needed to give statements about what happened. Nico’s contact explained to us that Frank had been under investigation for some time because he had ties to some mafia family in Chicago that I had never heard of. They suspected he was taking bribes from them and passing them information on cases against their people. That week a RICO case had been made and Frank was part of it. That was why he had shot himself. He’d rather be dead than face the repercussions of his actions, which sounded about right. He was a coward at heart.
I had worried the guys would face charges for killing Edward, but they assured me it wouldn’t be the case. It was self defense and there was ample proof that Edward had kidnapped Willow.
“You should sit, Mads. You look exhausted,” Cam said as he came up behind me and wrapped his arms around me.
“I am, but I think I’ll fall apart if I sit,” I confessed.
“I think you’re allowed to fall apart. It’s been one hell of a week,” he sighed.
“I’m just so glad she’s safe. I just need her to wake up.”
“She will. The doc said the drugs should be almost out of her system now.”
I turned in his arms and rested my head on his firm chest, sighing with contentment when he wrapped his arms around me. I looked to the room. It was filled with people. Nico, Kai, and Hunter all sat in chairs at Willow’s bedside, watching her intensely, willing her to wake up and look at them just as I was.
Sam and Garth were leant against the wall in the corner, refusing to leave until they knew Willow was okay.
At the other side, snuggled on a sofa that barely fit them all, were Emilia, Lincoln, Jax, and Parker, and Nate was perched on the arm beside them all. Tyler was sat on the floor in the opposite corner, his phone in hand so he could send updates on Willow’s condition to a very worried Livy, who had heard what happened from Emilia.
It was so strange to me, to have so many people who were concerned not just about my daughter, but about me too. I had never had that before, not really. Well, not other than the time the guys had been there for me when we were kids. Apart from that I had always been alone, and I wasn’t sure if I had ever really known or understood what true family was until the day before, when my daughter was taken and they all rallied around to get her back. It meant so much to me and I was so grateful for all of them.
Willow moaned, the sound little more than a squeak, but we all moved, the guys jumping up as I hurried to her.
“Willow, can you hear me, sweetie?” Kai asked as he smoothed his hand over her forehead. I almost collapsed with relief when her eyes started to flutter open, Cam steadying me instantly as he pressed into my side.
“Kai?” Willow said, sounding a little hoarse and very groggy.
“Hey sweetie,” he greeted as a huge smile stretched across his face.
Willow smiled a little, then froze as fear filled her eyes. She reached out and grabbed Kai’s fingers, clutching them tightly. “Daddy! He’s bad!” she cried, and I fought not to sob. She had gotten away from Edward before with a fractured arm, but no real mental scars, which had been my only relief at what she had been through. This was going to be different. That bastard had terrified her and this would leave scars that I hoped we would be able to heal by surrounding her with love and safety. But I doubted it would be that easy and I knew my child had many sessions of counselling and nights plagued by that monster ahead of her. And that was on me. I married that monster. Everything she had suffered, and everything she would face as a result was on me.
“Daddy can never ever hurt you again, Willow,” Hunter told her as he leaned in close and smoothed a hand over her forehead. “He’s gone, pumpkin. You and mommy are safe now.”
“Mommy?”
“I’m right here, honey,” I assured her as I leaned down and pressed my forehead to hers. “I missed you so much.”
“I was scared, mommy,” she whimpered, her little lip wobbling. “But I tolds daddy that Nic Nic, Hunter, Kai and Cam would get him!” she added with a determined nod.
“They got him, peanut, and they saved you,” I told her with a sad smile.
“They’re like superheroes!” she cried as she looked to them again. The guys smiled at her, clearly happy with that moniker. Willow turned back to me and urged me closer. When I leaned in she put her hand to my ear and whispered loudly, “You could marries them, mommy, and then we can stay wiv them forever and ever.”
“You think so, huh?” I asked as I stood back up and looked to the guys, who were all smirking.
