Chapter Sixty-One:
____________________________________________
"Consuming all the air inside my lungs
Ripping all the skin from off my bones
I'm prepared to sacrifice my life
I would gladly do it twice."
Darius's POV
I fell for her, all over again, as soon as she stepped through those doors, looking absolutely breathtaking.
She was going to be mine and that thought alone overwhelmed me with a heap of emotions.
Finally, after all the downfalls, I was getting married to her and I wished there was a better way to describe that feeling other than that I truly felt powerful, for the first time. Because she was by my side, for good.
Even now as she stood conversing with that little monster, Leah, I felt complete.
It was nothing like I had felt before. Even being called the most powerful man in the country was nothing compared to everything my woman made me feel.
“It’s good to see you happy.” Adrian commented as he came to stand beside me.
I nodded my head, “It feels even better.”
“I know.” He smiled.
“But, that’s not why I’m here though.” He added, suddenly turning serious.
I turned completely towards him, “What?”
“There’s been an intrusion. Jason informed me.
I looked him dead in the eye and he met my stare head on, “Can you stop beating around the bush?”
“The security informed Jason that they saw a man surveying the area and now he’s trying to discreetly enter the premises. Jason has gone to check with the security.”
My jaw ticked, “And why is the security team just watching it all unfold?”
He sighed and looked at Eirene for a brief moment.
I did not have a good feeling about it.
“Because Christopher Petrakis landed in Greece last night.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose and my hand balled into a fist, “Why the fuck am I being informed about this, just now?”
He clicked his tongue, “They were not sure. Apparently, he faked his identity but they caught him because his last tracked location was Pennysylvani and so was his departure destination.”
“And now he’s here? What exactly are those guards up to?” I asked, growing more irritated by every passing second.
“Jason has gone to check up on them, relax. Hopefully, nothing goes wrong.” He tried to reassure me.
“He’s already entered the premises, and you’re saying that I should relax?” I scoffed.
“I have to go and see it for myself.” I added.
Adrian stopped me from moving by grabbing my arm, “Stop, wait. I’ll go. But if you leave, Eirene will sense something’s wrong. Speaking of which, she’s coming over.”
I looked over my shoulder and, surely, she was close. As soon as she looked up at me, she smiled and pointed towards the cake.
For her sake, I gave her a small smile before turning to look at Adrian, “Nothing happens to her.”
He gave me a nod and left just as Eirene came to stand beside me, “All good?”
“Better with you by my side.” I told her.
She smiled and kissed my jaw, “I’m really happy.”
I placed a hand on her back, to keep her close to me, “Of course, you’re married to an extremely handsome and who loves you more than his own life. What more could you possibly want?”
A laugh bubbled out of her chest, “What more could I possibly want? Let me think, a Pulitzer maybe?”
I chuckled and kissed the top of her head, “That, too, yes.”
I remembered how she had once mentioned that she really wanted to achieve something in her life. And when I asked her what did she dream of the most, she told me she really wanted to get a Pulitzer.
She looked over my shoulder and asked, “Where’s Adrian going?”
“He got a call, I guess.” I lied and pulled away from her.
“Oh.” She nodded her head and slipped her hand into mine.
“Should we wait or?” She trailed.
“No, no. Let’s get to it so we can go home as soon as possible.”
“Okay.” She replied and we walked over to cut the cake.
Immediately after that, I turned to ask her, “Would you like to dance with me?”
She flashed a breathtaking smile, “I would love to.”
I did not want to waste any more time because Jason and Adrian both hadn’t returned and I did not have a good feeling about it.
I took her hand in mine and took her to the dance floor. My mind was in a overdrive and I just wanted this ceremony to end safely.
I couldn’t afford to lose her or snatch all the good memories of today from her. I was engrossed in my thoughts to the point that I didn’t realize when the song started to play and only paid attention when I heard her talking to me.
She looked at me in surprise, “That’s my favorite song.”
I smiled at her, “Aegues told me.”
“What else did he tell you?” She questioned, curiously.
I spun her around and my eyes scanned the dimly lit room to see anything unusual but there was nothing that I could see.
Her hand came up to my shoulder and I answered her question, “That he was coming to attend our wedding.”
She gasped, “You knew?”
I smiled but I caught a movement, very slight almost close to zero, behind the window and nodded my head before dipping her down to get a better look.
There was definitely something there.
Or someone.
I looked down at Eirene who looked a little out of breath, “Goodness Darius.”
Just looking at her brought me an odd sense of calm, “I know that every man feels lucky to have his woman by his side but God’s been way more generous to me.”
She looked taken aback for a moment and a strand of hair fell on her face, so I tucked it behind her ear.
With a concealed smile, she spoke, “I heard patience pays off, and today, having you by my side and as my husband, I believe it was true all along.”
My heart raced a little faster and because I had no clue how to respond to that, I pulled her closer to my chest and kissed her forehead.
I leaned down to whisper in her ear, “I love you.”
My eyes went to the door and I saw Jason and Adrian enetering the hall with a deadly look on their faces.
Fuck.
“I love you, too.” She said and I pulled back to peer down at her.
I caressed her cheek and asked, “Let’s leave after this?”
I had to get her home safely.
She nodded her head, “Okay.”
I kept my body posture relaxed and laidback as to not give her a hint of how murderous I absolutely felt in that moment.
A proper shadow formed on the window, now, and my eyes involuntarily went to it. I could make out an object in his hand and my heart stopped beating for a moment.
The next minute, I spun her around and not even a second later, I felt a bullet pierce through my body.
Everything stopped moving and my eyes went to Eirene to see her neck and dress covered in blood.
My blood.
Thankfully, she wasn’t hurt.
I wanted to say something to her, anything, but I was unable to due to the immense pain.
Her blank face was the last thing I saw before I passed out.
—
I felt someone caress my face, and heard a faint voice, “I wish you didn’t do that. You may have been shot but you killed a part inside of me, too. I love you, Darius.”
“And, it’s because I love you is why I have to go. I’ve seen pain most of my life, I’ve seen people around me in pain, as well, and I’ve caused other people pain, too.”
There was a long silence after that. I did not know what was going on, nor could I recognise that voice even though it sounded familiar.
“I often wonder how things would have turned out if my mother hadn’t taken the bullet for me. Those nightmares still keep me up at night. It’s like walking through the never-ending hell. So, did you want me to spend the other half of my life wondering the same thing about you?”
Eirene.
I wanted to move and hold her hand but something was restraining me.
“You wouldn’t understand, and I don’t blame you either. If you can’t let me die then how do you expect me to stay alive without you?”
“I’ve loved no man but you, and it will forever be you. But, I can’t deal with this guilt anymore. It’s killing me from the inside. I feel as if someone is strangling me.”
I tried to move my fingers, anything, but I was unable to.
Something about her words was unsettling.
They were not comforting anymore.
I felt my hand being lifted and something soft touching my palm, a while later.
“I love you. And, I’m sorry that my love has nearly cost you your life.”
No, no, no.
I heard a faint sound of a chair being pushed.
My mind was still foggy so it took me a lot of time to process that Eirene was leaving the room.
I tried to move my fingers, once again, and this time, they actually did. Only slightly, though.
It touched her hand, maybe.
But, she pulled away.
I could feel her presence but I could not hear anything, otherwise.
I wanted to move, desperately. Wanted to stop her.
I tried opening my eyes with great difficulty but they seemed to be heavy. As if someone had kept a ton of weight over them.
And then, I could not even feel her presence in the room.
She was gone.
That thought made me try harder and after a few minutes, I was able to open my eyes finally and saw a dimly lit room.
I wanted to move my head but it felt even heavier so I closed my eyes briefly and heard the door being opened, again.
“Darius!” I heard mom’s voice followed by a couple of more voices.
Slowly, I craned my head to look in her direction and she instantly placed a hand on my head.
“I can’t believe it, you’re finally awake.” She said and my eyes moved across the room to see everyone except the person that I wanted to see the most.
My gaze landed on Angelo who was standing in a corner, in a stiff posture. His face was blank as he looked back at me.
And that was enough indication for me to understand that there was something wrong.
I wanted to ask him and I was about to, but Anna and Alec came rushing towards me and Alec handed me a glass of water and helped me sit up.
I nearly groaned in pain but held myself back.
I drank the water bit by bit and Anna started talking, “Thank God, you’re awake. We were so worried about you.”
I nodded my head, “I’m fine.” I said.
Alec scoffed, “Like hell, you are. You nearly died.”
I stayed quiet and looked at Angelo again, who was leaning against the wall with his eyes trained on his shoes.
“Thanks to Eirene, her blood type matched yours and the doctors were able to get your situation under control.” Dad told me.
At the mention of her name, Angelo’s head snapped up and he averted his eyes to look at me.
“Speaking of which, where did she go? She told us that you’re awake.” Mom asked, looking around.
“I sent her home. You know her condition. She needed to rest.” Angelo quickly intervened.
I frowned at his statement. What did he mean by ‘her condition?’
“Ah, yes. That poor child. This all had taken a toll on her. I should stay with her tonight.” Mom told him.
“No, no. You don’t have to. She’ll be staying at my place tonight.” Angelo answered and gave her a small smile.
He was hiding something.
“What happened to Eirene?” I asked.
Suddenly, everyone inside the room turned grim.
I looked at Jason but he did not meet my gaze, either.
“It’s nothing. This was all very…shocking for her. Plus, she gave you blood and that made her body weak.” Angelo butted in, again.
This was not the entire truth.
“You should get some rest.” Alec said and one by one, everyone started to leave the room.
However, Angelo stayed back.
When everyone was gone, he walked closer to me, “Are you okay?”
“Where is she?” I asked, instead.
“Not here. And she won’t be, for quite some time so you should get used to it.”
My eyebrows furrowed in worry, “What do you mean?”
“She doesn’t want to see you, right now. Especially after what you did.” He told me and shoved his hands inside his pockets.
“What did I do?” I questioned in confusion.
Angelo chuckled and shook his head, “You took the bullet for her. As much as I admire you for that, you could have died leaving my sister in guilt and despair for the rest of her life.”
I looked at him incredulously and was about to answer but he wasn’t done yet.
“And as much as that felt the right thing to do, if you knew Christopher was there, you could have left immediately or gotten out of the way. You had a lot of time to think.”
“Protecting her was my first instinct.”
“Your instincts should have kicked in when you were informed of the intrusion.” He countered.
I pursed my lips and looked down, “I did not want to ruin our day for her. Wouldn’t you have done the same?”
He scoffed, “Of course, I would have done the same. And, wait, scratch that, I am sorry for blaming you. But it’s just that Eirene did not take it well. Her mother took the bullet for her and then her husband, she’s had enough nightmares to last her throughout life but then the history had to repeat itself.”
I often wonder how things would have turned out if my mother hadn’t taken the bullet for me. Those nightmares still keep me up at night. It’s like walking through the never-ending hell. So, did you want me to spend the other half of my life wondering the same thing about you?
I heard her voice say inside my head.
“She needs space. You won’t see her for a couple of days.” Angelo spoke, breaking my trance.
“I have to see her, please.” I probed.
He sighed, “Darius, she’s not in the right headspace. Respect that.”
“Fine.” I gritted out in frustration. “I will see her in two days, that’s it. That’s the maximum I can go without seeing her.”
He looked at me like he wanted to say something but remained quiet and left the room.
Why did she leave my side?
This was so shocking for me to comprehend.
Sleep did not come easy to me and when it did, I only dreamt of her.
—
I barged inside the house and looked around to find the living room empty. One by one, I slammed the door of every room downstairs to check if she was there but she was not.
A minute later, Angelo appeared in the stairs and looked at me furiously, “What the fuck is your problem?”
“WHERE IS SHE?!” I roared in anger.
“Watch your fuckin’ tone with me.” He bit back.
I pulled out my gun and aimed at him only for him to mirror my actions.
“I will kill you, Darius, and my sister’s not here to stop me.” He threatened me.
I took a menacing step forward, “Where is she?”
His nostrils flared and he tucked his gun inside his waistband, “She’s not in Greece. That’s all I can tell you because I don’t know where she is.”
I froze.
“What?” I whisper-asked.
My heart stopped beating, then and there.
A sharp pain shot up my heart and I clutched it in pain. The gun fell from my hand and I struggled to maintain my balance.
Footsteps thudded across the wooden floor and Angelo supported my weak body, all of a sudden, and walked towards the living room where he made me sit on a couch.
“I need to see her.” I said, quietly, after a few minutes when the pain had died down.
“Shut up. I’ll ask someone to bring you water.” Angelo replied.
I shook my head, “Just please tell me where she is.”
“I don’t know, Darius.” He replied.
I gave him a blank look, “What do you mean?”
He ran a hand through his hair in frustration, “She’s in Russia.”
“WHAT?!”
“Don’t fuckin’ yell at me. You’ll get a heart attack for real, this time.” He snapped at me.
“You had the audacity to lie to me? For two weeks, you kept telling me that she’s with you. And now you’re saying that she’s in Russia? With whom?” I asked in exasperation.
“Alone.” He answered.
I clenched my jaw in frustration and stood up, “What do you mean she’s alone? Are you out of your goddamn mind? How could you let her go alone?”
He scoffed, “You know her as much as she let you. She’s as stubborn as one can get. And truth be told, I did not protest much when she told me that she wanted to leave because maybe, if I were in her shoes, I would have done the same.”
“And for your information, she would still have been left alone if you had died.” He added with a glare in my direction.
“Fuck it. I’ll find out where she is, myself.” Saying that, I turned to leave.
I was livid, to say the least.
How could she go to an unknown country all alone?
“Don’t try to find her, Darius. You’ll only end up pushing her away, even more. Let her be. Our helicopter asses have brought nothing but paranoia and uncertainty in her life. She deserves to experience a life outside of this, and above all, she needs time to sort out her emotions.” I heard his voice from behind me, making me halt in my tracks.
“And once she’s done, I know that she will come back. If you’re afraid about her safety, don’t worry, she calls me every now and then and I have people there to look after her if need be.”
After processing all that he said, I turned out and asked in a much calmer manner, “Are you alright with her being away from you?”
Instantly, his eyes flashed with hurt but he was quick to cover it, “Fuck, no. I am not. But, I have to be for her.”
"You don't get it, Angelo. Her absence is killing me more than any bullet ever could." I paused.
“Was it really wrong? What I did?” I asked him.
He smiled and shook his head, “Like I said, I would have done the same if I were in your shoes but you triggered her trauma, even if it was unintentional. Something that she never wanted to relive.”
“You were lucky to not have found her in a condition that we did. I’ve never seen her like this, she was a completely different person.”
I looked away from his face and sighed, “She told me that her love had cost me my life.”
I chuckled to myself and thought how absurd that was.
Angelo nodded his head, “Maybe, yes. Her love almost got you killed and your love made her kill someone.”
My head snapped up in alarm, “What?”
He looked at me with a curious smile, “You don’t know?”
“I don’t know what?” I asked, taking a step closer.
He shoved his hands in his pocket and smirked, “She killed Christopher that night.”