Isabella's POV:
Beep Beep Beep
Noises swarmed all around me yet I couldn't recognize them. Low murmurs echoed through my ears, but they weren't clear. I strained my hearing in hopes to understand what the dull voices were saying, but it was useless. I opened my eyes with ease eager to meet sunlight, but instead I was greeted with darkness like an old friend. I shot up hoping to see moonlight or to feel the softness of the bed but neither comfort was there. I reached out to feel for James, but he wasn't there either. I screamed and shouted for James but only the dull voices remained. I knew James was not close by as I didn't feel safe or secure, but I desperately wanted him here with me guiding me out of the darkness with his hand. The voices began to quieten and soon left leaving me completely surrounded by silence and darkness. I begged and prayed for a sound or a sight, but nothing came. I collapsed to the floor scared and alone desperate to be found but there was no sign of life.
Seconds felt like minutes, minutes felt like hours and hours felt like days.
I realized laying on this cold floor would not do me any good. I had to go and search for the light myself. I had to be brave.
Placing my hands on the floor to push myself up, expecting to be greeted with the coldness of the floor, I was shocked when I felt something cold and wet. It wasn't water, it felt too thick, but I couldn't see what I was laying on. But as if my voice could be heard a sudden bright light ripped through the darkness causing me to squint my eyes shut tight.
Seconds flew by and I managed to open my eyes letting my pupils adjust to the new light. I stared round baffled by my whereabouts. I was laying down in a white room with no furniture or person in sight.
I rested my hands back on the floor to push myself in hopes of looking for a way out, but my hands once again touched the wet substance on the floor. Slowly lifting my hands up to my face I suddenly began to tremble uncontrollably.
I was laying in blood, completely surrounded in blood. My head whipped all around me staring at the blood on the floor that began to seep out further into the pristine room.
Stumbling back, I felt heavy, heavier than usual.
Gazing down at my body I was shocked to see that I was dressed in a beautiful wedding dress. But the exquisite wedding gown that was so clean and so white was now slowly staining red from the blood that was pouring out from beneath me. I couldn't feel a cut or pain, but the blood couldn't stop pouring from me.
Using the wall to support me, I fought to push myself up and battled against the blood weighing the dress down. Standing up to my full height I stared down at the ground to see that blood covered the entire floor like a flood.
"SOMEONE HELP" I screamed out as the blood began to rise higher and higher. It would not stop.
Picking up the bottom half of the dress I waded through the thickness of the blood and barely reached the other side of the room and began banging at the walls frantically screaming for someone to save me. The blood had now reached my waist and I felt the weight of the wedding dress increase against my tired body. My legs gave way and sank to my knees letting the blood reach up to my neck.
"Please help".
Suddenly a loud boom sounded throughout the room sending my body into shock waves. Gunshots echoed all around me, yet I couldn't see any bullet holes. The blood continued to rise higher and higher as I held my blood soaked hands to my ears pleading to make the continuous gunshots stop, but they only got louder and louder.
Realizing I was about to die I closed my eyes and let myself fall back into the blood wanting nothing more for the anticipation of death to stop. I was surrounded in thick blood, but wasn't drowning.
The gunshots could still be heard, but instead they were dull thumps.
Isabella. Come on hun. Time to wake up.
A familiar voice echoed throughout my ears like a whisper. It sounded like, Louise.
Come back to the light. Open your eyes.
How could I come back to the light when I was drowning in thick blood?
Just open them. Trust me. Louise screamed loudly and I forced my eyes open through the thick blood. Expecting to meet nothing but red, I jumped when I saw the familiar ceiling of our bedroom. I blinked baffled by my reality. What's real? What's not?
"Isabella? Thank goodness you're ok Ma'am". My eyes met with two familiar looking ladies and stared down at their nurse outfits.
"We're going to run some tests ma'am. We need to check your vital signs". The other nurse gently wrapped her arms around me and helped to lift me up and rest me up against a propped up pillow. I stared round to see that I was back in the room I loved most. The room that brought me so much comfort. I watched baffled as the nurses walked around gathering equipment and bringing them to the table beside me.
They were chattering amongst themselves whilst looking at me quizzically and with concern.
"Where is James?" I whispered capturing the nurses' attention.
"He'll be home very soon".
"And Milo? Where's Milo?". The nurses looked at each other with a sad and forlorn expression.
"I know you're still in shock ma'am, but Milo died. You found him and fell unconscious from the sheer shock".
My body began to tremble uncontrollably as the visions of Milo's bloody body laid on his bed came back to my head like a canon. My eyes flooded with tears as I remembered how I had seen him laid in his bed surrounded in a pool of his own blood with a single gunshot wound.
"Ma'am, I need you to calm down".
"No no no, I need James. P-please I-I"- I began to fumble around frantically with the duvet trying to free myself it's confinement.
"Please, stay in your bed Isabella. You're still very weak and in shock". I couldn't piece together what the nurses were saying. My heart was thumping a million miles and hour and my vision was rapidly blurring. I didn't want to stay in this bed. I wanted James, I wanted Milo.
"Get the sedative". I tried to fight my way out of bed, but I was way too weak. I screamed as one of the nurses walked towards me with a syringe in her hand full of a clear liquid.
"STAY AWAY" I screamed as the nurse edged towards me.
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James's POV:
I sprinted as fast as I could as soon as I pulled up outside the front door. I swung it open with such force that it left a hole in the wall, but that was the least of my worries.
As soon as I entered the foyer I threw my bag and coat to one side and immediately began pacing up the stairs to find Isabella. But as soon as I reached the top of the stairs, my heart instantly sank hearing a broken and scared voice screaming in distress.
"NO. DON'T TOUCH ME. I DON'T NEED MEDICINE, I JUST NEED JA-"
I burst into our bedroom and in that moment I could've easily collapsed to my knees as my eyes fell upon the sight before me.
Two nurses rushed around the room trying to calm Isabella down, but Isabella was inconsolable. I felt my eyes brimming with unshed tears as Isabella kept screaming and thrashing around, endless tears pouring down her face like a waterfall.
"It's okay. I'm here now. You may leave us". My voice boomed around the room capturing everyone's attention and suddenly all the noises quietened only silence remaining.
"Boss-". I held my hand up to the nurse and shook my head gently letting her know that now wasn't the time. The nurses looked at one another and then back at me nodding subtly before quietly dismissing themselves from the room.
As soon as the door closed behind them, Isabella's sobs came back even harder than before. Isabella opened her mouth to talk, but before she could utter a word I had already made my way over to her and embraced her in my arms with no intention of letting go. My eyes stared straight ahead not wanting to look down at Isabella. For I knew if I was to look at her trembling mess, I would break. Not a lot could break me, but seeing Isabella in pain and torment like she was now was more than enough to break down my self built walls around my cold heart.
She didn't deserve to cry, not after everything she's been through. She doesn't even know how much her heart aches, she doesn't know the amount of fights she's endured. I just wanted to shield her away from the cruelty of the world, but little to her knowledge the monster she feared more than anything was the one trying to protect her.
Tears I had so stubbornly held back began to cascade down my cheeks at an uncontrollable pace that I knew it would not be possible to force them to stop. I had to let the waterfall run until it had no water left to flow. I was overcome with emotion. All the thoughts, worries had taken over. I cried for the secrets I was keeping from her, I cried thinking of what I had done to Isabella before her coma and I sobbed for the loss of our beloved pup. I had always thought it stupid for people to cry over a death of ones pet, but how naive it was of me. Milo hadn't been with us long, but he had snatched a piece of my heart and had taken it to the grave with him. He annoyed the living shit out of me at times, but he was our boy. Milo for me was a symbol of a fresh start. He was the good in my dark miserable life. He and Isabella were my family. A piece of me was stolen and cruelly robbed of a life. An innocent, mischievous yet adventurous and free spirited soul bringing joy to our lives.
"H-He's g-gone". Isabella nestled her head under my armpit and nuzzled her head into my side. Her trembling and sobs had quietened down, but her tears and sniffles were still uncontrollable. She was calming down, yet I couldn't control the tremors that overtook my body. I slowly rested my shaky hand on my beautiful broken wife's head and softly stroked her smooth hair letting my fingers trail through the delicate strands.
"I know baby. Shh". As well as my hands, my voice was also shaky as I tried to reassure her, but failed to reassure myself. I had an unnerving feeling in the bottom of my stomach. This wasn't a random home invasion, this was a message. A warning of worse things to come, that was for certain.
Guess this is karma for all the wrong I have done. The murder of my father, illegal activities, forcing Isabella into marriage and abusing her like a rag doll, letting Isabella fall back into the arms of one of the men she feared more than anything. I wanted to leave the mafia life behind and live a peaceful life with Isabella, but it couldn't happen that easily. I had made a deal with the devil himself and as a result got myself wrapped up in chains forever bound to the mafia. I was foolish for thinking that life would be perfect once Isabella woke up. Whoever killed Milo was only just starting. The enemy had made their first move and it surely wouldn't be their last.
Should I let Isabella go for her own safety? Send her far away, cut all ties and never see her again. Maybe that's the right thing to do. To see her suffer, or endure any more pain would be the end of me, that's for sure. I would rather let her go than see her stuck in the middle of the mafia world not knowing if she would live another day.
If you truly love someone, you'll let them go.
"W-why". I wiped away the tears and scary thoughts before turning to stare down at the girl who completely owned my heart. Her oceanic blue eyes stared up at me swarmed with innocence and sadness. We stared at each other for a short moment, but my heart began painfully clenching as her eyes began to glisten once again with tears that threatened to fall.
"W-why would s-someone kill an i-innocent-t puppy?". Isabella pulled her gaze away from me and clamped her eyes shut showing reluctance to cry anymore. She wanted to seem strong, but what she didn't know was that she was stronger than any man or woman I had ever met. She's been through hell and back and lives to tell the tale. Lifting up the hand that rested on her lower back, I gently gripped her chin and turned her face back to mine so that she was now staring deeply into my own watery eyes. As her eyes met mine, the tears she fought so hard to contain began to trickle down her cheeks at an uncontrollable speed.
Moving my hand away from her chin I gently wiped away each gem like tear drop with my thumb not wanting to see her cry anymore.
"I don't know sweetheart. But I will find out who did this". Isabella lent her face into my large hand letting her eyes close. Soft sobs escaped her mouth once again as she snuggled herself closer into my body and began to shiver frantically.
Resting one of my arms on her waist and the other under her legs I pulled her down so that her head rested on the pillow and made sure she lay comfortably on the bed. Sitting on the edge of the bed I stared down at my feet, anger and sadness coursing my body like a drug.
"D-don't l-leave me". I spun round to see Isabella in the same position I had left her, but my chest tightened seeing her lip quivering and more tears flowing down her pale cheeks.
"I'm not going anywhere baby". I kicked off my shoes and flung my jacket off not caring about the cost of it or even possibly ruining it. For my worldly possessions meant nothing when I had the most beautiful angel in my arms. She was all I needed. I didn't care if I lost my wealth, my power or anything. I would give it all up for her.
Climbing back onto the bed I grabbed the duvet and pulled it up to the top of the bed and laid down with it still clutched in my hand letting it fall over Isabella and I. Isabella was laying sideways staring straight into my soul cutting through my walls like the sharpest sword. I laid on my side only wanting to stare at my wife who was the only one that could ease my own inner pain.
"I'll always be here. Right here beside you. I'm so sorry baby girl for the terrible things you saw today. I know what you saw was horrendous, but trust me, we'll get justice. But please baby, let me be your comfort. Let me be your sanctuary. I know it'll take time to get over such a devastating trauma, but I want you trust me. Trust me more than you ever have. We will get through this, I promise you. I want you to know that whatever happens in life, I'll always love you".
My hand involuntarily reached up to her delicate face to wipe away the tears as I poured my heart out to her.
We continued to stare at one another in silence. Neither of us could exchange words, for we were too swarmed of grief and pain, but somehow with Isabella wrapped up in my embrace soothed my aching heart and I was more than pleased to see Isabella no longer crying but instead lay silently in my arms. Relief took over my body that Isabella did not get her memories back after such a brutal and possibly triggering event. There was no indication of any old memories and that's how I wanted it to stay. It seems selfish, I know, but I can't begin to imagine the pain Isabella would endure if she was to even get a glimpse of her real memories of her life with me.
Jessica's POV:
"So they're madly in love?". I pulled up my miniskirt letting it rest perfectly on my waist.
"Hm. Supposedly. They need to be broken apart". I turned round to Anthony who was fumbling around with his belt. His hair was disheveled and sweat was still dripping down his incredible 6 pack torso looking like something out of a GQ magazine. A lit cigarette hung from his lips as he finally buckled up his belt.
"I agree. James has never been the settling down type. Have you got an idea in mind?" I reluctantly pulled my eyes away from Anthony and scoured the floor looking for my bra that I had thrown and discarded in the moment of pleasure.
"Yes. I want you to try and get acquainted with his wife, obviously without James' knowledge, Chase will be able to help you with that. Oh, looking for this?". Anthony picked up my bra from the floor and dangled it on his fingers with a menacing smirk that was all too familiar to me. It always turned me on when James gave me that look, his father had the same effect, but we had already had 3 rounds.
He tossed it towards me carelessly before rummaging around in the bedside table.
"You want me to get close to his wife? What if she tells James?". I had never met his wife, but the idea of getting close to the woman who had James wrapped around her finger did not sit well with me.
"Let her. It won't be that disruptive to the main plan of mine. It's merely a benefit on our part. Your main goal is trying to get close to James and I have the perfect thing to break the couple apart".
Anthony pulled a small item out of the bedside table drawer and walked towards me with a sinister smirk. His eyes bore into my soul like the devil would look at me on judgement day. Anthony grabbed my hand and gestured for me to open up my palm. Obeying his command, I opened up my palm and stared down at the small box that rested in my palm.
"Is that?". I stared up at Anthony in shock. He smirked at me wickedly before nodding slightly.
"Just think. He could be yours and yours alone. Will you do it?".
My own lips quirked up into the same wicked smirk and smiled down at the box in my hand.
"I'll do it. I'll destroy their marriage".
Hey guys. Hope you enjoyed this chapter.
Who else is in love with James, because I know I am.
What do you think Anthony gave Jessica?
Let me know what you thought of this chapter.
I told my mum some of the upcoming events and plot twists and this was her response.
"You are so evil. What is wrong with you?". ;)
Sorry for any errors or mistakes xoxo