His Princess; The Devils Daughter - Book 2

Chapter 28

Mayah stood downstairs with Marco in the large party hall. He greeted the guests who arrived with a smile as Mayah stared ahead. He grinned at her broken personality. Since she was attacked and had her miscarriage, she became a shell of herself. Her eyes no longer held the spark of hope she'd had all those years, trying to break free of Marco.

"Come Carino, time to take our seats." He led her by the small of her back to their table. He grabbed his glass of champagne as he rested his other hand on Mayah's thigh. When she didn't react to his touch he chuckled. "I said I would break you, Carino." He pulled her closer as he took a drink. After he emptied the glass, he motioned for a waiter to bring another glass.

"Hey boss," said Jackson as he walked up to the table. "Can we talk?" he asked. He was given strict instructions to make sure that tonight's event went off smoothly without a hitch but he also had other responsibilities that he had to report to him.

Marco removed his hand from Mayah's thigh, giving her a kiss on the cheek as he stood up. He grinned as she remained still without emotion. He pulled Jackson two steps away from the table. "What is so important that you have to interrupt me from the event?" he hissed in annoyance.

"It's the doctor. He dropped off the packet but we haven't seen him...I don't know if he split or what." He held out a paper for Marco to read. "We tracked his cell phone to the Devil's Angel's territory. From there we tracked it to the mafia estate but after that...nothing."

"Maybe he killed him." Marco shrugged his shoulders.

"Maybe boss but I gotta bad feeling. Every time we ignore the red flags, they bite us in the ass every time."

Marco looked back where Mayah was still sitting. "As far as she knows, he's dead. Keep it that way. Make sure you have extra guards at the gates. I'm going to take her outside while you run a sweep of all the guests. Let me know once you're done so we can get started." He turned away without giving Jackson a chance to respond. "Come Carino, let's take a walk." He guided her up from her seat and led her outside into the cool night. "So Carino, when are you going to speak to me? We'll be married soon and you can't ignore me forever." He ran a finger down her back as they walked into the nearby garden. When she didn't respond, he grabbed both of her shoulders and turned her to face him. "You know I hate repeating myself...you can answer me now or..." he paused as he grabbed the strap to her dress and tugged it. "You can answer after I have you again...It's your choice." He slowly pulled the strap down off her shoulder as Mayah continued to stare off into her own world with just a single tear sliding down her cheek. "Fine Carino, have it your way," he growled as he pushed her back into a nearby lamp post so hard that she whimpered in pain. He slammed her back against the post a second time before pushing her to the ground ignoring her unsuccessful attempts not to whimper aloud. He straddled her ripping her dress with one hand as he fumbled with his belt with the other.

"Stop!" Marco looked up to see Adriano standing only a few yards away. "Get. Off. Of. Her." Adriano's gun was trained at Marco.

"Ah, so you survived," taunted Marco as he stayed where he was. He knew that as soon as he stood up, Adriano would most likely shoot him. "I take it the doctor found you?" he asked as he pulled Mayah up in front of him as a shield. "Look Carino, look who's here," he said to her, kissing the skin between her neck and her shoulder as Mayah's empty gaze stays on the ground. "You see...the Mayah that you loved is gone. She died the day I told her you were dead...and she died all over again inside the day I killed that bastard child inside her," growled Marco. "The shell that's left is my Mayah."

Adriano looked at Mayah. His heart hurt for her as she stood there motionless, empty of emotion with lifeless eyes. "Princess..." he called to her. "Princess," he called again with desperation in his voice.

Marco roared in laughter at Adriano's attempt to call out to try and reach Mayah. "She's gone," he said. "There's no snapping her out of it this time. I won...you lost her, she's mine," he growled at Adriano.

Ignoring his taunts, Adriano called out to her again. "Mayah, baby it's me. Baby, please look at me," he pleaded. He took a step closer. "It's Adriano, Mayah..I'm here." Her eyes flickered up to him briefly before resuming her gaze back to the floor causing him to smile. "That's it..it's okay baby, it's me..." The brief recognition by her looking at him was all he needed to let him know that she was still in there somewhere.

"No...you're dead," she said softly as she looked at him again, this time with tear filled eyes. "You died...you're dead," she said a little louder as Marco gripped her arm keeping her firmly planted in front of him.

"No baby, I'm not dead...I'm right here."

Mayah shook her head. "No...you're not real," she sobbed as a tear escaped her eye. "You died, I couldn't save you... I tried but I couldn't save you! I didn't save you!" she cried to him.

Marco looked around as he heard gunfire ring out from inside the house. He took a step back, pulling Mayah with him. "He may not have died that day but he's going to die today. You're always in the way!" he shouted as he pulled his gun from his waistband and pointed it at Adriano. "He doesn't want you anyway Carino," he said sourly. "You lost his baby, after we slept together," he taunted. "He doesn't want a slut like you!" he said to her.

"You shut up!" shouted Adriano. "You don't talk to her like that! Raping her is not sleeping together! Princess, baby..don't listen to him...Forever and always, remember?" he said to her looking into her eyes.

"Forever and always," she repeated back to him softly with a soft smile. Without warning, she threw her head back into Marco's nose causing him to stagger back but more importantly, he loosened his grip on her enough for her to pull away and drop to the ground for cover.

"Bitch!" he yelled as he raised his gun at Adriano. He took aim but not before a shot rang out from Adriano's gun. Marco stumbled back and fell to the ground clutching his shoulder.

As soon as he fired, he rushed to Mayah who laid huddled in a ball on the floor. He dropped his gun and grabbed both sides of her face. "Are you okay? Are you hurt? I missed you so much!" he said as he pulled her into a hug with his back towards Marco. After a few seconds of holding each other, they broke apart peppering each other with kisses. "I'm so sorry I wasn't there for you," he apologized.

They looked each other in the eyes for a moment when the sound of a barrel clicking and a evil laugh brought them out of their daze. "Adriano!" screamed Mayah as she reached for his gun. She pointed it at Marco and fired.

Adriano flipped around to see Marco with a bullet wound right below his rib cage. He looked at Mayah who was shaking with the gun still in her hands. "Princess...I need you to give me the gun..."

"I-I... I didn't mean... h-he," she stammered as he reached for her shaking hands that still tightly gripped his glock. "I didn't mean to.." she sobbed.

"Shhh, it's okay...give me the gun. It's okay, I promise." He grabbed the barrel of the gun just as the sound of voices and footprints neared their location. When he went to take it from her, she pulled the gun away from him and pointed it in the direction of the voices. "Whoa Princess..it's okay." Just as those words left his mouth, Kace, Roach, Carlos, Doc and Stitch came around the corner. "Baby, it's just your dad and everyone...It's just us...put it down Princess, please," he pleaded. "You're safe now."

"Mayah, listen to him," added Roach. "It's over...we can go home."

Mayah looked around at everyone before she began to slowly lower the gun. As soon as it was pointed to the ground, Roach grabbed the barrel of it as Adriano pulled her into a tight embrace. "It's over Princess, your safe baby." He held her close as he whispered in her ear. "I missed you so much." Adriano looked around at everyone before looking back at Mayah. "You ready to go home?" he asked softly. She simply nodded as Adriano led her out of the garden around the house. Once they made it to the front, he helped her into the backseat of one of the waiting SUV's. Once he was situated in the back beside her, she laid her head on Adriano's lap and let out a sigh of both sadness and relief while he stroked her hair. She felt a tear escape as she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.