Gabriel looked devastated his gaze centered on me.
I couldn’t stand it. I was weakening, so I pulled out the gun and pointed it at him.
“It’s very easy to deceive a child with a video, Davina. Children don’t know what can be done with photoshop,” he said to me.
Now things clicked into place.
I took my first real breath in God knew how long as I finally received the only answer I was searching for. My hands were shaking when I whirled around unsteadily and pointed the gun at Ivan.
His eyes shot open in shock. “What the fuck are you doing?”
“I believe Gabriel,” I said.
Michele began to pull at my legs. “Davina no!” she wailed.
I turned a stern gaze to her. “Do you trust me?”
She nodded.
“Good. Go to your bed right now and pull the covers over your head.”
She stared at me silently.
“Go!” I screamed at her.
Wailing, she refused to move.
I supported the gun with both hands, wishing in that moment more than anything in the world, that I had listened to Gabriel when he’d told me to at least learn how to use the gun. Hopefully, I would somehow be able to escape here today without killing myself.
“Davina put the gun down and take Michele to her room,” Gabriel said.
I turned a helpless gaze to him. “What about you?”
“I’ll handle myself. This fucking coward will not dare shoot me.”
I shook my head. I felt almost giddy with fear and shock. “You take Michele out of here.”
Gabriel took a step forward and Ivan fired a shot that somehow missed Gabriel. I screamed, and so did Michele.”
“You think I’m fucking joking, don’t you?” Ivan bellowed. “Take another step and the bullet will go straight through your head, or maybe…” He turned the pistol towards me.
My palms were sweating, hands trembling, and my eyes were too afraid even to blink. I thought my legs would give out on me “She’s the one you really want to protect, isn’t she?” His gaze on me was angry. “You fucked him didn’t you?” Ivan spat. “Stupid bitch. I should have known. I hope your betrayal haunts you. You’re destroying Michele’s life.”
“You’re the one who wants to destroy her life right now,” I yelled. “Put your fucking gun down!” I was angry, at the terror he was subjecting Michele to, however it manifested as streams of hot tears that ran down my face and almost kept Ivan out of focus. I was now resigned to the worst, and no matter what happened, I knew that I wouldn’t regret the decisions I made in this room because they came out of the purity of my heart.
The door behind me flung open with a bang, and my heart nearly left my chest. At the deafening fire of a gun, I screamed and turned to see that Gabriel had been hit, and then I don’t know how I did it, but I managed to fire my own gun. I shut my eyes and collapsed to the floor, shaking and wailing, unsure of what had just happened.
I would never know how many minutes went by, but it felt as though the world had collapsed at my feet. A hand eventually touched my shoulder and I opened my eyes to see Alex.
I looked up in shock at him and then turned to see two bodies on the ground. Ivan had been shot straight through the heart, and was unmoving. Jesus, I was a good shot.
Gabriel was leaning against the wall his hand on his shoulder. Underneath a wound was rapidly spreading crimson blood all over his white shirt.
“Gabriel!” I screamed and ran to him.
He bared his teeth in a ferocious smile. “You did good.”
Just hearing his voice almost made me pass out with relief. “Are you all right?”
He shook his head. “No, but I will be.”
A team of his guards came in then with a gurney, and he was laid onto it.
The pain on his face was too excruciating for me to bear. I turned my face away and suddenly remembered Michele. I glanced around the room. She was nowhere to be seen. “Where’s Michele?” I asked urgently.
Alex responded, his eyes still on Gabriel, “I took her out. She’s fine.”
I went with Gabriel and got into his waiting SUV, and we were sped to the hospital. I didn’t know how I was still functioning, but he held unto my hands as they sped along and I buried my face in his neck.
“I’ll be fine,” he said to me. “I promise you.”
I managed to get out some words, “You better be, or I’ll kill you otherwise, I swear to God. Please.”
He was taken in immediately for an operation, then I collapsed, spent and haunted by the ordeal of a lifetime, in the corridor of the hospital. Not until he was somewhat stabilized did I eventually come to my senses.
Gabriel Iwas awake a few hours after my operation.
I opened my eyes to see the face of an angel. My angel, seated beside me, her head lying on the bed, and one hand holding mine. She seemed to be asleep, and I didn’t want to wake her, but the moment I tried to move my hand even just a little, she came awake.
At first, she seemed disoriented, but then she registered that I was conscious, and her eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. “Gabriel,” she gasped and came closer to me, her hands touching my face gently to feel for my temperature. “Are you okay? How do you feel?”
“I’m fine. It’s not the first time I’ve been shot.
I could see that those words brought absolutely no comfort whatsoever to her, so I quickly apologized. “I’m sorry,” I said and brushed her hair away from her face.
Davina lowered her head to my chest and tried to hold back her tears.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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