“Dad.”
Though he struggled to do so, Merrick turned and looked in the direction of the door. Tamryn, with tears in her eyes, walked to Merrick’s side, and I walked over to the other side. Avion stayed lingering near the door, just watching and nodding me on as I took in the sight of my dad, who did not look good. Other times when he held up this silly, not-going-to the-hospital rule, I thought it was just him being a little dramatic, but this time as much as I hated to admit it, his fears may be founded.
“Dad,” I said. “You look a little under the weather.”
A strained chuckle came out of him. “Yeah.”
“What … what happened?”
Immediately, Merrick’s eyes shot to Avion. “Her brothers.”
“Merrick,” Tamryn warned, sniffling in some of her emotions. “Tell the truth.”
“That is the truth,” he grunted out through a gravelly voice.
“He didn’t see who did it,” Tamryn said. “I’m told the ones who attacked were masked and that no one matched the description of the Narzand Brothers.”
“They never do the dirty work on their own though,” Milli said. “Enemies though Merrick has piled up, none of them would be bold enough to attack his compound. Not unless they knew that his attention was divided. Who else would know that besides them?”
“Still, jumping to conclusions in this world is always dangerous,” I said. “The best course of action is to look into it, and in the meantime, we need to get you to an actual hospital.”
This triggered Merrick turning and looking at me like it was going to be the last time we ever spoke. “Giovanni. I need you to promise me that you’ll find who did this. Make them pay and don’t forget to look after your mother.”
I’d long since learned that trying to convince Merrick that things would go one way or another in the hospital was pretty much fruitless. “I will, dad. I promise. Thank you for everything you’ve done for me.”
He turned and looked at Tamryn, squeezing her hand which he’d been holding ever since she made her way back to his side. “Keep an eye on him, Tam. You know how our kid can be.”
She nodded and a loose tear escaped her eye. “I know. I will.”
“And you.” Merrick turned and looked at Avion. “I’d prefer it if you’d sort out your ambivalence before your brothers kill my entire family. If you’re committed to not being useless here, at least help lure your brothers out and stop them from causing my family any more harm.”
I narrowed my gaze at him.Useless? Was that where Avion was getting the idea that she had to train herself and be useful? Did it have something to do with that conversation they had back when Avion was still in the hospital.
Avion just nodded at him. “I will. I swear.”
Because Avion didn’t know Merrick’s penchant for dramatics, and emboldened by the fact that he actually looked like he was on the edge of death, Avion was staring back at him through emotional eyes. On top of looking sad, she also looked absolutely guilt-ridden.
“Milli,” Merrick started, but he didn’t get anything else out before someone came bursting through the door.
One of Merrick’s gunmen pushed Avion into the room and slid in behind her, then shutting the door. He looked across the room with a horror-filled gaze. “We’ve got a problem.”
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
His eyes twisted back towards Avion, where he looked at her with a level of suspicion that told me Merrick had been filling his team’s ears with his opinions about her. “The police have been informed that the Governor’s missing daughter is here, and they have a warrant for the arrest of everyone in this building. We denied them, but they’re storming the property now.”
“I told you,” Merrick said. “That first attack was the Narzand brothers, and now they’ve sent their dogs to finish me off.”
41
AVION
If we wanted any time to process the warning, we weren’t afforded it as someone kicked down the door to Merrick’s bedroom. A small, green canister came flying into the room, which I only barely registered clattering across the floor before it popped, filling the room with a deafening bang and a thick, blinding smoke.
“Gio?” I called out, but the room was quickly filling with the chaos of many people storming around, shouting, and eventually, guns discharging.
In a panic, I reeled backwards, hoping to make it somewhere where the smoke couldn’t reach me, and fell right over an armchair behind me and crashed to the ground. A bolt of searing pain flashed out from my side and shot across my body, so painful that it made my head hurt instantly. I groaned and felt around me, still unable to see through the smoke, when a hand reached out for me. Disoriented, I grabbed it and was pulled to my feet, but it wasn’t Milli, Tamryn, Gio, or even Merrick holding my hand.
It was a guy in SWAT gear.
