Chapter 5
Zachariah
Before Avidya had come into my life, I would do just about anything to keep myself busy. There was always something that needed to be done either at the club I owned or the brothel downtown that I ran. I was always there at one of the places for one reason or another. There was nothing else for me to spend time doing. I literally threw myself into my work.
Now, I never wanted to leave home. Home was where Avidya was at, and where my heart was forever. I never knew that life would be so different with someone that I loved so deeply.
With Avidya, I had a purpose. I would do anything to keep us both alive. She was my life; my everything. I didn’t want to think about what could possibly happen if she were to leave me.
My father had given me orders, ones that he knew I’d find a way around, to take it easy and not dig into the past. Not yet at least. He was worried that I’d do something stupid and make one of us get hurt again, or worse, killed. Before now, I would have done anything to find the hitman.
I didn’t blame him, not when it came to my girl. She was what I was now living for. I knew nothing would ever come between us.
Being stuck in the hospital sucked. I hated sleeping without her in my arms, as I had quickly gotten used to being with her every night. It certainly hadn’t taken very long for either of us to fall asleep. She had looked as tired as I felt, even after her nap.
Being who I was, I was used to getting hurt. It was a given. It was something a man of my status had to get used to. Fast.
“How many times have you been shot?” Avidya asked as she sat in the uncomfortable chair beside my bed. I had just been released from ICU, and about damn time, too. I loathed all the beeping and nurses that had to come barging in every single fucking hour.
There was no privacy of any kind in the ICU. There wasn’t much in my own room either, but at least it was a bit better. At least now I could take a piss without being watched.
“Too many,” I yawned out. “Five, though, to be exact.”
“Oh,” she said, surprised.
My sweet girl had one rude awakening to how dangerous this life was. I had hoped to ease her into it as well as I could, but the car accident didn’t quite go along with my plans. If I could, I’d hide it all from her.
Being part of the mafia like I was, there was always danger around the corner. I always kept my guard up, and now it would be even tighter. I had guards for a number of reasons, and Avidya was going to hate me with how tight they were going to be watching her from now on.
I couldn’t help but look over at her. She was sore and tired, not used to dealing with the pain like I was. Her hair was a bit crazy around her shoulders, showing that she had gone to sleep with it wet once again. She still had some bruising along her face that was just about gone. I hated seeing such marks on her skin, knowing that she bruised way too easily.
“I could say it gets easier to deal with each time,” I laughed out before grimacing in pain as my shoulder was jarred with such movement.
“Don’t laugh,” she said, amusement mixed with worry shining through her tone and look.
I gave her a sheepish smile in return.
I had been cut with a knife a time or two, too. A few broken bones. A couple of concussions. I could even tell you the exact name of the man that caused each wound or hit. Each of them didn’t see another day, either. They each died by my own hand.
All in a day’s work.
I knew that my time away from everything was winding down, though. I couldn’t be gone for too much longer without my men starting to question my motives. I was their boss, their leader. I couldn’t stay hidden away with my girl, even though I would love to do nothing more.
If only life would work like that.
I knew that my family had taken care of everything so far, thankfully. The car accident had hit the newspapers just because there was a death. Everyone knew that I was still alive, so my men knew I’d be back. I knew they needed a hard hand to follow to make sure everything went smoothly.
I held Avidya to my chest, soaking up her warmth as she slept. I hoped with everything I had in me that she’d never be put in danger again. She didn’t need to be, and I’d do anything to make sure that didn’t happen again.
There were a number of things I needed to go over with her after she woke up. Not only the contract and the rules, to make sure she hadn’t changed her mind about everything, but also on what we would do about the wedding.
At the moment, my mother had put a pause on it after the car accident. Surprisingly, no one was too upset about it being pushed back who knows how long. I was okay with that. Neither Avidya nor I wanted a huge wedding as it was.
Maybe this would be the chance for us to do the wedding how we wanted.Yeah, highly unlikely due to whom my parents were.
Thirty-five minutes later, Avidya’s hand began to clench the material of my shirt against my chest as she let out a whimper. I briefly remembered Jonas mentioning that she suffered from nightmares and that she hardly talked about them afterward, preferring to wallow in misery.
I’d have to remind her that writing them down in the journal would help. At least then I’d get a look inside her head. I was sure she would pass up the idea of talking to someone that would be able to help her. Writing it down would be a start in the right direction.
