Colby's POV
I hated lying to Julia, knowing how bad her heart would be broken.
Of course I knew the second I woke up tied up to a chair in a random house that I was going to be killed.
I never expected Julia to be the one who had to do it.
She thought she was the reason I was dead but she was really the only reason I was alive.
I swore against wearing bullet proof vests since it made you seem weak. I was always wearing one when I got back into the game though.
I promised that I would come home to Julia and the kids, and it was my only way of really protecting myself.
When Julia shot me, I made sure to bite my tongue as hard as I could to get some blood. It made it seem more real.
I was grateful to have one of the vests filled with fake blood, since that's what made this plan work so well.
I've been in hiding for the past month, watching from the shadows. I was actually impressed by my abilities since nobody really caught on.
I was crazy impressed by Julia throughout all of this though. She was strong and sure of herself when it came to protecting the kids.
I had been able to help her through a lot of her missions while laying low.
It wasn't until I heard her screaming with so much pain and agony that I knew I had to reveal myself.
The anger and hatred that was swarming throughout my body as Julia screamed fueled the fire I had within me to kill Pops once and for all.
As soon as his body dropped, revealing Julia, I felt my heart stop as she looked at me with disbelief.
"Colby." She whimpered, looking at me in disbelief and shock.
"Come here, darling." I whispered and held my arms out. "You're dead." She said shakily, taking a step back from me.
"I'm right here, Julia. I'm here." I said then starting walking up to her.
I watched as her brow scrunched with confusion, then pain. "I missed you." She said then ran to me, wrapping her arms tightly around me.
"I'm sorry, sweetheart. I'm so sorry." I whispered and held her tightly, kissing her head as she sobbed into me.
I knew her coping with my "death" was extremely hard on her but the way she was holding onto me broke my heart.
"I know, baby. I know." I whispered and held her tightly, trying to keep her calm.
It wasn't the best idea in the world to be taking this moment when there was danger surrounding us but I missed her so fucking much.
Julia sobbed into me before she pulled away and put her hand on my cheek, looking at me like she was trying to understand what she was seeing.
There was a look of disbelief on her beautiful face that looked so pained and confused.
I was so lost in her that I almost forgot about the extreme amount of danger we were in.
"We have to-" I started but was interrupted by a knife being drove into my leg.
"Fuck!" I hissed as Julia stumbled back slightly, her face going pale. Before I could even register what was going on Pops was standing up and pulling Julia into him, holding a knife to her stomach again.
"You should be dead." Pops said with an unhinged look on his face. "And so should you." I said and pulled my gun out and lifting it towards him.
"You're really going to do that? Put your precious Julia at risk like this? Silly, Cole. You need to realize that YOU LOST." He yelled angrily.
"Julia needs to pay for what she did, and now you're gonna watch." He said as Julia cried, looking up at me.
I had to be methodical in this situation since Julia was in danger.
"Let her go and take me instead." I said with a menacing tone as he laughed. "That's not gonna work." Pops said with a grin before he looked down at Julia.
"Say goodnight to Colby, Juliana." He said as her jaw clenched.
Before I could react in any way she jutted her leg back to kick Pops, then took the knife from him and plunged it into his neck.
I stood in shock for a second before she looked up at me.
"Kill him." She whispered before stumbling slightly, leaning against the wall.
I knew she was really injured and was probably close to passing out from the blood loss.
I nodded then shot Pops a couple times so I could ensure he was dead.
As soon as I was sure he was dead I rushed over to Julia and pulled her into my arms. "We have to go." I said as she sighed.
"Colby, I'm pregnant." She whispered as my heart ached, looking at her bloody stomach.
I had an idea that she was pregnant because of how her stomach looked and because of stuff I've heard while lurking, but I couldn't confirm it.
"I'm gonna take you to a hospital. I'm gonna take care of you, sweetheart." I said then started guiding her out of the room.
I wanted to think we were in the clear now that Pops was dead, but I knew this was just the beginning.
I ran with her, trying to hold her up as best as I could but I could feel her starting to slip away from.
"Fuck." I whispered and lifted her into my arms, carefully trying to sneak out of the house.
"Hey!" Someone yelled as Julia flinched into me. "It's okay." I whispered then pulled my gun out and started shooting at the guy chasing us.
I luckily was able to hit him and the guy behind him so I could get us out of the house.
By the time I got to the car, Julia was hardly conscious, which made me nervous.
Knowing she was pregnant with our baby meant I needed to get her professional help.
I needed to save her and my kid.
Once Julia was settled in the car, I got in and drove to the nearest hospital.
"Cmon, Jules. Stay awake." I said as she looked over at me.
"You were dead." She whispered as I took her hand. "I'll explain later. Just stay with me right now." I said and carefully sped down the road.
When we got to the hospital I didn't even bother parking in the parking lot. I just pulled up to the door and got out, frantically grabbing Julia from the car.
"Help her." I said harshly to the guy at the front desk. "What happened?" He asked as I clenched my jaw.
"She got jumped and is pregnant. HELP HER." I yelled as he nodded and started paging someone. "You stay here." He said and took Julia from me.
"No. I'm coming with." I said lowly as he shook his head.
"You'll stay here or I'll call security." He threatened as someone came with a hospital bed.
I wanted to argue with him since this was Julia on the line, but I couldn't. Being in a hospital after what just occurred was a bad enough, I couldn't risk it by getting security called on me.
I sat down in the waiting area and tried to stay calm.
Part of me thought hiding away would be a good thing. And it was in a sense. I was able to catch Pops off guard so I could kill him.
Julia suffered a lot in the process though.
Watching her take on impossible tasks was hard. I only stepped in when I needed to so she wouldn't get killed.
I didn't want to bring any attention to myself in hopes I could hide out and strike.
It killed me that Julia and our baby got hurt in the process.
Our baby.
I was still trying to process the fact that I was going to be a dad. Sure, it was something I thought about whenever I was with Julia but I was still shocked.
I was gonna be a dad.
Knowing that the crime world knew about Julia's pregnancy was stressing me out. If the baby lived we were going to have to go into hiding until I figured it all out.
I would do anything to keep Julia and that baby safe. Not to mention the fact that we also had the other kids to look out for.
I couldn't imagine the pain they could be going through knowing that I was gone.
Jenna and Carter were probably staying strong for Julia's sake.
Sam was always a bit sensitive about losing his parents and looked up to me a lot so he was probably heartbroken but also keeping it together.
Juniper was hurt. I know she was. Knowing I left her while she was napping, telling her I would be back in a week and never coming back was probably killing her.
Then there was my best friend Sam who was doing everything in his power to help Julia through the loss she didn't need to go through.
I didn't tell Sam about my plan, since I didn't want anyone who could be listening to hear it. He had to deal with the fact that I was killed in front of him but I knew Sam.
He wasn't going to show how heartbroken he might have been. He was going to pick up the pieces and be there for Julia and the kids.
I couldn't wait to be reunited with all of them, but right now my main concern was on Julia and the baby.
I needed to make sure they were alright before I could move forward with any sort of plan.