Authors: Megan Noelle
“Where the fuck is Jazmin hiding out?” His lips curled up in a devilish grin.
“You need to know before you start this, Corey, your odds of walking out of here aren’t good. Let’s see here, there are two of you and there are six of us. Still want to take those odds?”
I turned my head over my shoulder to see Alex. “You down?”
“Let’s kill these fucks.” My ear was trained on the floor and I knew by the subtle creaks that Bobby was shifting his weight closer to attack. Unfortunately for him, I was quicker.
I whipped back around and felt his nose break beneath my knuckles. Bobby fell to the floor; I’d be back for him but for now I had a couple other goons I had to take down first.
They came at me two at time hoping to give them the advantage. Wrong again. My right hook swung against the side goon one’s face while the second got a taste of my boot hitting his stomach. He keeled over as I looked to see how Alex was doing. His bats really were an extension of his arms.
The twirl he put on it before hitting someone added a boost of power that sent goon three into goon four. The fifth received a blow to the face causing blood to splatter out from his broken nose. Alex had it handled and it was time I finished my talk with Bobby.
Bobby was finally getting to his feet but it wouldn’t be for long. I grabbed hold of his back and slammed my knee deep into his stomach. He began coughing and it told me I was finally getting somewhere.
“Where’s your fight, Bobby! Huh? Hit me back, you little bitch!” I dug my fingers into his arms as I slammed his back against the nearest wall.
“Why don’t you answer my fucking question?! Where the fuck is Jazmin?” My arms pinned his shoulders to wall.
Bobby said nothing and I slammed my right fist into him.
“Where is she?!” I growled out, feeling my body shaking with the rush of adrenaline.
My left fist was next and this time I smashed into his already broken nose and then his eye. Then the least expected sound came out of him; a laugh so wicked I knew this was wrong. None of these men really put up a fight and even Bobby let me pound on his face without so much as retuning fire.
“Where is she?” I breathed out in a menacing whisper as my hand locked around his throat leaving him just enough air to speak.
“She’s…” He choked out but I didn’t loosen my hold and I wouldn’t until I knew what was going on. “With your bitch.” I shoved against his throat hard before letting him fall to the ground.
The second he was there my boot pounded repeatedly into anything it could reach. Over and over, I couldn’t stop; my heart was pounding and I was seething. We fell for all of this but I wasn’t going to walk away and leave him completely intact. I felt Alex’s arm wrap around my shoulders to pull me back.
“Let’s go we have to get to her!” He yelled out at me and in an instant I whipped around and took a swing at him. His reflexes worked in his advantage as he just narrowly missed my blow.
“What the fuck dude, you’re not fighting me! You need to be fighting for Dani!”
The sound of her name calmed my pounding rage in a way that nothing else could. I needed to save her—Jaz had somehow managed to get the two of them alone and now I was Danielle’s only hope.”
*~*~*~*~*
I broke about ten different driving laws to get to my bar in record time. My car slowed enough for Alex to jump out and ran into the parking lot. We made a deal that he would check the bar and my apartment since his car was already parked in the parking lot; while I sped off to Dani’s house. With my foot to the floor I arrived in record time. The lights were off, there were no cars in the driveway but one thing tipped me off. The front door was slightly ajar and I knew it was no coincidence. No one was worse at closing doors than Jazmin and that was how I knew they were here. I threw the jeep into park and booked it into the house.
They stood across from each other. Dani stood near the hallway opening to the bedrooms and Jaz matched her stance. Jazmin held a gun pointed directly at my whole world and I felt downright terrified that in a single instant, I could lose it all. This was the first time I had laid eyes on her since the night we broke up and so much had changed about our growing baby. I wanted nothing more than to go to her, fold her in my arms; massage my hand over our little Bean that I so missed talking to. But right now all that I had was about to come crashing down in the amount of time it would take to blink an eye.
“Jazmin.” I watched to be sure my tone was soft and understanding. Even though my blood boiled at just the sight of her, I couldn’t react with those emotions.
“It’s supposed to be me, Corey.” Jazmin said, her eyes trained on Dani like she was nothing but her prey. “That,” she waved the gun in front of her as if it were simply her pointer finger. “We were supposed to have that.”
I looked from Jaz up to Dani and for the first time I noticed the gauze bandage pressed against her forehead. “How were you discharged, Danielle?” I put a bit of anger behind my words. Although now of my anger was for her, Jaz needed to believe it was.
“It’s amazing what a little bit of money can do to make someone forget all the rules.” She cooed, priding herself on her trickery.
“So you were never in trouble with Bobby, were you?”
Like a cheetah scanning the sea banks for a possible take down, I moved about the room to slowly put myself between my future and my past.
“Oh no, I was. But when I went back we made up, like I knew we would. Then he asked where I had been staying and we start shooting the shit about old times the three of us used to have together. That was when we both decided that it wasn’t fair. When you’re in that life, that’s it, you are in it for good.” Her eyes danced between me and Dani. As with my fight with Bobby I knew not to let anything distract me from my opponent.
There was one problem with that theory—those goons were nothing to me. They weren’t a distraction because if they got in my face, I was going to pummel them too. Danielle wasn’t just a distraction to me; I needed to know she was okay and if something were to happen to either of us in that moment—I couldn’t bear the thought of her never knowing the truth.
My eyes tried to focus on Jazmin but I couldn’t avoid looking toward Dani as I heard a grunt of pain. I shot a look in her direction and saw her teeth clenched together and her eyes squeezed shut.
“What’s wrong?” I asked without thinking
“You see Corey!! Why do you get a happily ever after when none of the rest of us do. So we both decided the only way to punish you for thinking you deserved more than us—was to eliminate the thing you loved the most. I figured I’d have to do a lot more digging than I did in order to see what had become important in your life. You were the fool that spilled the beans about your little girlfriend.”
“Bean!” Dani yelled out and I flipped my head around to see her and that’s when I saw her pants were soaked.
“Your water broke??” I asked and she nodded, biting through the pain.
“Stop paying attention to her!” Jazmin cried out. I looked her way but saw the control in her gaze was leaving. She wasn’t completely with it right now and I knew the possibility of her taking the shot was almost a guarantee.
*~*~*~*~*
Danielle
“Jazmin, we need to help her.” Corey’s voice was soothing and when I shut my eyes I wasn’t being held at gunpoint with my child. We were somewhere magnificent with the sun shining down on us and Corey’s hands laced together with mine.
Another contraction rolled through my pelvic bone and this time I couldn’t hold back my cry. I heard Corey shift toward me and I wanted to tell him to go and save himself. But my voice was stuck between a mix of crying and moaning.
“Don’t you fucking touch her, Corey!” Jazmin screamed out. I was completely terrified at the building tension within the room but I couldn’t do anything more than stand here in complete agony.
“Dani.” Corey whispered to me.
“No Corey!” Jaz screamed.
“Trust me, baby. I love you.” I couldn’t pro
cess what was happening but next thing I knew Corey’s hand pushed me backward to the floor. A cry left my throat but at the unmistaken sound of a gunshot—I screamed. My body crashed into the floor and my head crashed against the wood floor and for the second time today, everything went black.
Danielle
Darkness surrounded me; pain took hold of me. I wasn’t sure where I was or what was happening but I felt I was sinking into an endless sea of emptiness. My body was free falling until a sharp twisting pain brought my head above water once more. The pain was excruciating but at least while I felt it, I was no longer falling into the unknown. Another piercing sting of discomfort pulled me above the surface and into the light. Never before had I had a hurtful sensation make me want it while terrifying me at the same time.
A murmured voice broke through the silence. I silently begged for it to call out for me again. Whatever that sound was, I hungered for the taste of more. Again the voice called out and finally I heart it clearly.
A deep, melodic rumble breathed out a single word: “Danielle.”
That was me; this voice was calling out for me!
“Danielle,” it sang out again. I reached for it but with that hauntingly beautiful sound came the mind-numbing pain that made me cry out.
The light that remained as a Heavenly glow suddenly brightened; blinding me with the harsh, dramatic change from the cool and dark place I came from. For the first time my eyelids fluttered open and I was stunned by the sight in front of me. Nurses and doctors surrounded me as IV’s were stuck into both of my hands with a loud beeping noise filling the small room.
“Welcome back, Danielle.” One of the nurses cooed out and then I realized why she looked so familiar—this was Nurse Tracy.
That’s right! My water broke, and then there was Jazmin, a gun and Corey
… Corey! The last thing I remembered was the sound of a gunshot piercing through the tension only seconds after he pushed me backward.
“Corey!” I screamed out, finally finding my voice. I tried to sit up but Tracy held a hand against my shoulder to keep me against the bed. “Corey!” I cried out again, feeling the hysterics shake my restricted body.
“Where is he? What happened to him?” Tears poured from my eyes as I thought of the worst possible scenario, that one single bullet shot by a psychotic woman, had ended Corey’s life. Taking the generous, heartfelt and loving man that I had never been able to let go.
“Calm down, Danielle, he is
…” I cut Tracy off because I knew what was coming.
The incredibly selfless and foolish guy that couldn’t resist finding us had also given his life for us.
“Corey.” I cried again but this time it was more of an internal sob that I couldn’t get past. Then I heard it, the thing I never thought I would hear again—Corey’s voice.
“Dani?” I heard call to me from the entrance of the hospital room. My head turned to see who was talking to me and when I saw Corey standing there a whole new wave of tears fell from my face.
“Baby!” He set down the cup of whatever he was drinking and ran to my side. Our arms tangled around the other as best as we could with all the cords and wires sticking from my arms. “I’m so sorry, Danielle.”
“Corey you were shot! Are you okay, baby?” A strangled sob choked out as he nodded and brushed the hair from my face.
“Yeah, it wasn’t that bad it was in the shoulder. The bullet didn’t hit anything major and I told them, I didn’t care what they did to me but I was in no way going to miss the birth of my baby.”
I laughed, knowing all too well that the conversation probably ended soon after that as they relented to his demands.”
He slowly shook his head from side to side. “I wanted to be here when you woke up but of course the one time I leave the room—that’s when you finally open those blue eyes that I’ve been dying to see.
A sob erupted from my chest and my fingers trailed the length of the face I had missed so incredibly much. “I could say the same about you.”
Corey’s forehead pressed down against mine as he breathed a sigh into my face. I closed my eyes, reeling in a moment I didn’t think would have ever happened again.
“I almost lost you.” He whispered in the same low tone that made his chest rumble against mine.
“I almost lost you.” I repeated.
Our eyes locked and in that moment nothing mattered. Corey was the only one who could take me away from the realities, and the hardships of life. He was the only one I wanted to escape with and the only one I could imagine sharing the good with.
“Let’s just never let each other go again, okay?” I nodded with complete agreement.
“As long as you kiss me and tell me you love me.”
His lips sealed over mine and it didn’t matter that I was in labor; that I was surrounded by nurses or that Corey and I had spent the last two months apart. There would never be anyone else for me and that was all I needed to know.
“I love you, Danielle Hamilton.” I smiled and pressed my forehead to his.
“I love you, Corey Preston.” My lips moved over across his lips as I spoke the words that had always had a place between us.
Corey backed away and took a seat at the chair directly next to my bed.
“By the way, why did I only wake up from shooting pains for a little while? I’m not feeling much right now.” Nurse Tracy stepped back in after giving us a little privacy for our much needed moment.
“By the time you arrived at the hospital you were dilated enough to receive an epidural. Normally we are not allowed to administer those without the mother’s signature but we had the baby’s father here.” She said smiling at Corey. “And you were also suffering from a nasty bump on the head so went ahead and proceeded with the medicine. For a little bit there, right before you woke up the meds were beginning to wear off, we gave you another dose now so you’ll be good.”
“That’s absolutely nuts.” I said.
She laughed with a smile. “It is, but we’re happy to have you back.”
“We are.” Corey added in, as he wrapped his long fingers around my arm.
As much as I wanted to bask in the moment of just the two of us, there were far too many questions that remained unanswered.
“What happened to Jazmin??”
Corey reached over and grabbed his hot coffee and took a sip before answering. “Well, right after she shot me, Alex ran in and pummeled her to the ground. The cops were already on their way so he held her down until they showed up. She was arrested and Alex and I paced around you until the ambulance showed up for you. Pretty uneventful if you ask me.” He drank down another sip of coffee as I snorted.
“Oh sure, just another Monday night for me.” Corey laughed and nodded his head.
“God, I missed you. Oh, but I was wondering, how did she get you out of here?”
I had to think about it for a second to try and remember the list of events. “After she tried to run me off the road I opened my eyes and dialed 911, and then I called Abby to let her know. She said she was on the way over and so I just laid down in a bed waiting for her. A male nurse that I hadn’t see before had come in with a clipboard, said something about me being discharged and that someone was down in the lobby waiting for me. I didn’t get it but I went with it anyway. When I got down there I looked for Abby but then someone stood directly behind me and pointed a gun into my back. She told me not to scream or do anything she didn’t say to. We took a cab to my house and then you found us about twenty minutes later.”
Corey’s head shook as he inhaled a deep, slow breath to regain control of his emotions. “She’s lucky I didn’t kill her.” Was all he said.
*~*~*~*~*
Another hour passed and finally it was time. It was hard to imagine that we were mere moments away from being parents. The nurse’s propped my legs in the stirrups while Corey took hold of my hand and together we guided a future little Preston into this world. The pain was worse than anything I had ever felt and then with a few big pushes—there came a cry that was the most beautiful sound I heard. Maybe that cry would get old as time went on but that cry was the one of our little Bean and nothing could have been more precious.
The doctor cleared the nostrils and mouth before instructing me to give one final push. Suddenly, there she was with the most beautiful face I had seen before. The nurses cleaned her off and placed our little bundle onto my chest. My eyes locked with Corey’s and tears poured down our cheeks.
“We have a daughter.” Corey sobbed out and together our lips pecked in one kiss after another.
“Does your baby girl have a name?” The nurse asked as she filled out the information on certificates indicating the day our love was brought into this world.
Before we split up, we managed to decide on first and middle names for a possible boy and girl. Corey and I looked at each other and smiled.
“McKinley.” We said simultaneously.
“McKinley Grey Preston.” I added, giving her the full name.
McKinley had to be taken down to the preemie ward since she decided to make her appearance a few weeks ahead of schedule. Despite the fact that she was smaller than a full term baby, she was perfect. A light speckle of blonde hair and little cheeks that would most definitely be perfect for pinching.
The rest of our hospital stay was wonderful and McKinley had visits from every single person that had anxiously awaited her arrival. Corey’s sisters loved her, while Alex and Sanders fought over which of them got to hold her more. Bailey stopped by for a visit to wish us Congratulations and promising me that the Inn was in good hands with her. The most surprising visit was from my Grandparents. While I expected to see my Gramps I never expected to see Gram
… happy. She fell in love with McKinley at first sight and while the men were getting us some refreshments from the café she promised me that we would work on our relationship.
There was a lot that had to be done to make repairs but at least it would be in progress and not simply cast out the window. For the first time in my life I was beginning to feel that there was hope for the women of this family. Even more, I prayed there was because McKinley had a chance to know some very
strong and independent women. I longed to show my little Bean the beauty that came from strength and everything these predominantly women families had to show her.
The one person I was disheartened not to see there was Gabriella. Originally I promised her that I would call the second I went into labor. Well, when I promised her that I never expected for my water to break when I had a crazy woman pointing a gun at me. I told her the story of everything that happened and sent her about a thousand pictures of McKinley. When I asked Gabby when she was coming up to visit she told me she wasn’t. I had a major shit storm on the verge of escaping when she clarified. Gabriella was not coming to visit because she was moving to Serenity Cove.
Corey had to remind me that squealing with joy at a maternity ward was probably going to make us the least liked parents around. Eventually I reigned in my excitement but it wasn’t nearly as easy it seemed to be. For the first time the possibility that things were going to be great were overwhelming.
With my daughter in one arm and the man of my dreams on another, I had finally found my home.
*~*~*~*~*
One Month Later
Corey
It was a crazy thought to think of how much could change in one month while at the same time, nothing really changed. Dani and I fell back into the madly, passionate, and unbelievably intense connection that rocked my entire core. Even after just having a baby she was by far the sexiest woman I had ever laid eyes on. From the curves of her body to the electrifying feel of her kiss to the way she could be the biggest goofball I had ever known. If you took the Dani I loved and added the title ‘mother of my child’ to it—I’m surprised I let her out of bed some days.
Even with a strict no sex rule for the first six-weeks after a baby was born. Dani was adamant that this was some sort of challenge for the two of us to grow in more ways than just physical. It hadn’t mattered that that was the way our relationship started, I never would have stayed around this long. Not to mention, I wouldn’t have fought for love since I hadn’t done it with a single woman before. I just wished we had reconciled one day before she went into labor so I had at least a day to feel her beneath me while I filled her—I needed to stop. These thoughts were going to be the death of me.
A soft light from the bedside table left a soft glow against her bare back while strands of blonde hair curled the length of her spine. My hand moved along her back, brushing the hair from the base of her neck where I placed a lingering kiss. I loved tasted the sweet taste of her against my lips. I rolled out of bed, pulled my gray sweatpants over bare ass and crossed the room toward the door. Before I could leave Dani rolled over and called out my name.
She asked with a yawn. “Where are you going baby?”
“Just to grab some water; do you want something when I come back?”
“No,” Dani said with a sigh before rolling over and going back to sleep.
I made my way down the hall but I couldn’t help but stop at the outside of McKinley’s room. I peeked the door open and snuck in, hoping not to wake her. As if I were trying to avoid stepping on a bomb; I made my way to edge of the crib but looking down at my little girl was breathtaking. She slept with her lips puckered out the same way Danielle did but there was always one arm behind her head which was undoubtedly from my side.