The love I choose to keep | manny montana

You saved my life

Me and Rio made our way to the car and he started the ignition. I wanted to say something but i didn't know what. There were so many things going through my mind. First and foremost, what was i gonna do with the investigation. I didnt wanna keep on with the case but how could i just drop it without a valid reason? I snapped out of my thoughts as Rio spoke.

"I'm sorry i'm draggin you into this." he said quietly.

"Listen, you're not draggin me into anything, okay? I'm coming because i want to." i said as i grabbed his hand and looked into his eyes with reassurance.

"You got your gun?" he asked after a couple seconds of silence and i sent him a nod.

"Good, you might need it." he said.

After about 20 minutes we parked in front of what seemed to be an abandoned building, some kind of a factory maybe.

"It's gonna be just me, you and the leader of that gang. So if things get heated, look after yourself first, okay?" Rio said before making his way out of the car and i followed him into the building.

As we entered, i saw the man waiting for us. He seemed familiar and i realised it was someone Paige used to investigate. And i led tactical when we made his arrest a couple months back. Seems like he made it out of jail, probably managed to get bail. But that wasn't important. The good thing was that it wasn't me who made the arrest. So he didn't know who i was. This right here was sheer luck. His name was Josh or something like this.

"I see you brought company. I thought we agreed it would be just the two of us, am i wrong?" Josh spoke.

"Keep her out of this. She's not someone you should be worried about." Rio said and made a short pause. "Now, shall we talk business?"

"Follow me." the man said and Rio turned to me, his eyes saying 'stay here'.

After a couple of minutes of standing there by myself i heard gunshots and immidiately ran towards where the sound came from but i was stopped by Rio.

"We need to go. Now." he said and i noticed he had a gunshot wound on the left side of his abdomen.

I didnt question him and took the car keys. As i started the ignition, i spoke.

"We need to go to a hospital." i said panicking.

"No hospitals, we're going back to my place." Rio said and a loud grunt escaped his lips.

"But.. you're bleeding." i replied.

"Just drive, Jane." he said with anger in his voice.

I wasn't gonna question him and did as he said. When we arrived, i helped him go up the stairs. He opened the door and we made our way to his bed. The last time i was in his apartment, which was like two hours ago, i didn't even notice it was a loft. Just one huge room, with everything you could need. A kitchen space, a living room space and of course, bedroom space. As i helped Rio lay on the bed he spoke.

"There is a first aid kit in the bathroom." he said.

I rushed to get it and quickly made my way back to him. He instructed me how to take out the bullet and stitch him. My hands were shaking even though it wasn't the first time i was doing it. The process was long and stressfull, but after i finished, i reckoned i had done a good job and he was gonna recover, hopefully without any further complications. I threw away all the bloody bandages and returned to where Rio was lying. He reached to my face and put away a strand of hair behind my ear.

"Thank you." he whispered. "You saved my life."

And with that, his eyes slowly closed and he dozed off. After everything that happened, he needed to rest.

---

A couple hours went by and as i was making dinner, i heard steps behind me. When i turned around, i saw Rio shirtless, sitting down in one of the counter stools.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" i asked with a vague smile.

"Better." he said as he rested his face in one of his hands. "So, what are you making?"

"Chicken spinach alfredo. Which also happens to be my favourite dish of all time." i said and a big smile formed on my lips.

I placed the two plates of pasta on the countertop and poured both of us a glass of red wine. Rio looked at me with a smile and spoke.

"How did you even make this? I don't think i had any of the ingredients. Or wine for that matter." he said.

"I went to the store. Obviously." i laughed. "Now enjoy your dinner. You need it to stay strong."

After we finished dinner, as i started cleaning up Rio stood up and slowly walked over to me.

"Thank you so much for being here." he said and started leaning in to kiss me but i pulled back.

"Um yeah, we should probably go to sleep, it's late." i said.

I panicked. Did i wanna kiss him? Of course. But i didn't wanna keep making things more complicated than they already were. I had to stay away from him because if i didn't, i was most probably gonna do something i'd regret. I couldn't let my feelings stand in the way of the investigation. What me and Rio had was amazing, what i felt when i was with him couldn't be described with words, but i had to keep it to myself. It was for the best. I snapped out of my thoughts and spoke again.

"I'm gonna take the couch." i said.

Rio didn't say anything, he just stood there looking a bit disappointed as i made my way to the bathroom. I opened the cabinet and got that brand new toothbrush he told me i could use. After i brushed my teeth, Rio gave me a pillow, a blanket and one of his t shirts so that i didn't have to sleep in a tank top and jeans. He was weirdly comfortable with me crashing at his couch but i'm sure he was aware i wouldn't just leave him after he was shot just a couple hours ago. I changed into the t shirt and noticed that Rio was already in his bed.

"Goodnight." i said as i positioned myself under the blanket.

"Goodnight, mama." Rio replied in his sleepy husky voice.

xxx