Chapter 3 - Theodore

Theo POV

After arriving at the hospital I was put in the private area that we own. I know, right. I open my eyes, and the light bothers me. My head is about to explode. I close my eyes again, and I hear the door opening and heels clicking. I open one eye slightly, and I see the red hair I have been waiting for.

“Ash”, I let out as I pull myself up on the bed into a sitting position and my head hurts, sending a wave of nausea down my body.

“Easy tiger”, she says as she rests a hand on my shoulder. I look at her, and I can see bruises forming on her face and arms, her white dress is anything but white; there’s black spots and red.

“Are you hurt? Are you okay? Where is Killian?’ I start bombarding her with questions and Ash smiles, sitting on the edge of the bed.

“He is okay, he’s just dealing with something, and he will come. He took Elliot with him”, Ash says, and I nod my head flopping back down on the bed and closing my eyes.

“How are you feeling?” she asks me, and I offer her my dirtiest smile.

“Fucking peachy”, I say, and I can hear her laughing a little. This girl managed to melt my heart and infiltrate a place no other girl has ever managed to. Ashley is one of my best friends, and I will be any bastard that attempts to hurt her. That is one of the reasons I am so annoyed about being here. I hate being in a hospital bed.

“You look terrible”, she says, passing one hand through my hair, “It’s all tangled”, she says, and I nod my head. She sits on the chair next to my bed, and a bit later, the door opens with Killian and Elliot storming in.

“Okay, we have to go”, Kill says, and I sit on the bed feeling like I have a fucking elephant sitting on my brain. Nausea starts to appear, but I keep my mouth shut and move my feet to the ground, standing up.

“What happened?” Ash asks, and Kill pulls her into his arms, tightening his grip on her. I can’t understand that kind of love. I had never felt it before. I am not that kind of guy, and I hope to stay the way I am for the rest of my life. I like sex too much to be with the same person for the rest of my life. Fuck that.

“It was the Mexicans, and they are bombing loads of places. It wasn’t just us”, Kill says, and I curse under my breath as I put my shoes on. My white shirt is red because of the blood. Elliot walks to me and helps me to a wheelchair. I look at him, frowning. There’s no fucking way I am caught in shit like that. Fuck no.

“Don’t give me that fucking look. You are walking as fast as fucking snail, and we need to get the fuck out of here”, he says, and I take a deep breath sitting on the fucking chair. We all sprint through the corridors and down the lift towards the garage, where Elliot’s SUV waits for us.

“In the back”, he barks at me, and I open the door getting in next to Ashley as Kill and Elliot are in the front. I can hear the wheels squeaking as we get the fuck out of here before we get fucking killed. I know. My life is full of excitement. It wasn’t enough being shot and almost killed trying to save Ashley. Now I almost died again. Fuck my life.

Elliot has the radio on, and we can hear the news about the bombings. They think it was a terrorist attack, and Kill is on his phone, barking orders to cover up our involvement in anything. We are going to the safe house. Of course, we are.

“Faster”, Kill barks at Elliot, that puts his foot down and manoeuvres the car like a fucking maniac in the New York traffic.

We arrive at the safe house, and I can tell Ashley is relieved, especially when she moves faster than usual to get out of the car and hug Killian. Her phone starts ringing, and she starts barking orders. Sometimes I forget that she is the leader of the Italian mafia in New York. She adapted so well to this life that it scared the fuck out of me.

I have been training her in weapons and fighting with Elliot, and she is a fucking pro. She is amazing. We walk down the corridor towards the office, and once inside, Kill sits behind his desk with Ash on his lap, and I flop down on the settee at the end of the room with my head hanging back.

“We need to stand down for a bit, let everything explode and then see what’s left. We can’t just go out and attack”, Kill says, and I frown.

“Why the fuck not?” I ask, and he looks at me shaking his head.

“This is bigger than us. We need to focus and form a solid plan. They joined the fucking Japanese and the Colombians”, Kill says, and I lift my head to look at him.

“Since when?” I ask, standing up, and he shakes his head.

“Go get changed and have some rest. We will meet again tomorrow and come up with a fucking idea to stop this and to take what’s ours back”, Kill says before kissing the top of Ash’s head.

I nod my head and walk out of the office toward my room. Once inside, I flop on the bed with my arms in front of my eyes while my head pounds. I feel sick, but nothing will stop me from helping my mates.

I get up and have a shower. I can see the red coming off the water while black stuff peals from my skin. I looked like a rubbish bin. With my hair down, I walk to the mirror to look at the damage. My eye is black and swollen, and I have a cut on my lip, a cut down my neck, and bruises down my chest and ribs. I cringe as my fingers rub the purple spot. “Fuck”, I hiss.

It’s been three days since the attacks, and I have been resting a lot. To be fair, I have been sleeping most of the time. My head feels better, and Killian wants to see us today. He has a plan, and he wants us to help.

I get myself dress and put my hair up into a bun. I look at myself in the mirror, and the facial bruises are gone, but the cut on my lip is still there. Fucking great. I walk out of my room towards the kitchen to get some coffee. Ashley is sitting at the kitchen island, cradling a coffee mug.

“Hey, lass”, I say, walking in and kissing her cheek. She smiles but stays quiet, looking down at her coffee. She looks tense. I look around and can’t see Kill anywhere, which is very odd. Wherever she is, he is two steps behind.

“Where’s your man?” I ask as I bring the coffee mug to my lips, drinking that pure liquid gold that brings my soul back to life.

Ashley’s eyes meet mine, and she shrugs. What the fuck? She’s been spending too much time with Ell. I walk to her, sit on the stool next to her, and put my mug on the island. Her eyes meet mine, and I can see something in them. I frown, looking at her, and she shakes her head, pushing away tears.

“Lass, why are you crying?” I ask, and she shakes her head, standing up and walking away from me. For fuck sake. Killian, if you fucked up again, I will put a bullet between your eyes. I stand up, following her, and we reach the office. She opens the double doors without knocking, and I see way too many people when I get inside. All eyes are on us. Elliot looks like he has been dragged to hell, his eyes are red, and he looks tired.

“What the fuck is going on? Who died?” I ask, and Kill’s eyes meet mine. He has anger plastered all over his face as he swallows hard.

“We need to make an alliance with the Americans”, he says, and I nod my head. But that doesn’t fucking answer my question. As I am about to ask again, the door behind me opens, making me jump out of the way, and Kill’s dad walks in. He looks miserable, and he looks crazy. I look behind him, but his mum is nowhere to be seen. No… No,… not possible.