CHAPTER-THREE

Link

Link was struggling to keep it together. And having a petrified, screaming female in his face was proving it difficult to hang on the last thread of his patience.

"YOU GUYS WERE SUPPOSED TO KEEP HER SAFE!" Lexie cried out, running her fingers through her long hair. Her usual beautiful exterior was tarnished as she continued pacing up and down the corridor, her eyes darting across all the men around her.

She stopped in front of Lucian. She pressed one finger into his chest, glaring up at the one male who seemed like he regretted everything. "You said he won't come close to her. He fucking shot her!"

Lucian's jaw clenched. The reminder of his failure was not sitting well with him, and having this female screaming it for the whole world to hear was akin to pushing hard on an open wound.

She stomped away from him, training her eyes on Link. "And where the fuck is the police?"

Lucian grabbed her arm and pulled her back. "Lexie we have it under control." He told her.

"Like hell you do!" She shrieked, furiously yanking her arm out of Lucian's grip. "She could have been killed! And where the hell is Joy, she must be scared shitless."

"She's okay. She's with-" Link started say.

"She's meant to be with her mum! Or me! She saw a gun for goodness sake, she is anything but okay!"

Link was close to yelling out that Joy was his by blood. His daughter.

"Lucian. Get a hold of your girl." He grated out instead.

"Fuck you, Link! This is all on you. Just like it was the last time."

Link's eyes turned into slits. "Don't you fucking dare."

Lexie taunted him with her hands. "It's the bloody truth! Ever since you came in her life, all this shit happened. Six years she was good." She held up her fingers. "Six years! And you weren't in her life."

Lucian reached for Lexie once again, but she sidestepped his attempt. "Lexie, calm down!"

She pointed a threatening finger at him. "Don't."

Lucian pushed her finger away. How he had the patience to deal with her was beyond Link. Link wanted to shove the biggest thing in her mouth and haul her ass out of this place. He needed to think. He needed to be next to his woman, praying she would wake up already.

"Lexie, come with me." Lucian said to her.

"No! My best friend got shot, I can't go anywhere."

"It's just a graze." Lucian told her. The lie.

"What difference!" She shrieked. "Where the hell is the police?" She asked the group of men that surrounded her. Link looked up at a stern looking Quan, his usual playful jabs stopped. Errol was standing next to him, but his eyes kept looking over everyone.

There were many failed attempts on Benji's behalf that Lexie didn't know off. Just then Link was chasing after one of Benji's other suppliers, cutting them off. Lucian himself had managed to get a few of Benji's man trapped, locked behind bars. So many attempts to get to Orianna, all trampled but this one.

How Benji managed to get one over them was troublesome. They knew when to hit the house. They knew where the guns were.

This was a more calculated attempt, the end goal clear to them and well rehearsed. They let us fall in all their carefully placed plans. If Link wasn't so driven with anger, or had even stopped for a moment to think... he could have caught on. But by the time they did, it was too late.

Severe damage had been done. A few casualties. All could have been spared if Link hadn't been led with his emotions.

Link stood up and punched the wall next to him. Lexie jumped back, falling into Lucian who instantly grabbed her. He seized this moment and dragged her away, out the ward.

"Relax yourself." Mace said behind him.

Link could see Errol from the corner of his eye. This wasn't the first time these two men stood beside him as his female laid in hospital.

Link clenched his hand. How many times will he fail Orianna? He raised his hand to punch the wall again but Mace grasped his elbow.

"The nurse is coming."

Link turned to the side and watched as the nurse came closer, a small smile on her face. "She's awake and asking for you."

Link followed after the nurse, his heart pounding loudly in his chest.

They had put her down for a little sleep to get the bullet out of her thigh and stitch her back up. He hadn't seen her since they took her in the theatre room. Link couldn't describe what he felt watching her on that bed, nurses and doctors surrounding her as they pulled her away.

Link's mind scattered back to when he found her.

"Link." Orianna breathed out when she caught him stumbling in the bathroom. She looked worse than he imagined. Tears streaked her face, her reddened eyes not leaving his face.

Link realised she did that to hold onto the last bit of consciousness she could. He glanced down at her blood soaked jeans and ran to her. He ripped his shirt, tying the long cloth around her wound to stabilise the bleeding.

How she was still awake after losing so much blood was beyond Link. He made quick work of the tying before he hoisted her into his arms. She slumped into him, dropping the weight of her head on his chest.

"Joy?" She asked weakly.

"She's safe."

Link walked her out the bathroom, out the bedroom and slowly walked down the stairs. He was glad Orianna's eyes were closed now so she didn't see the carnage outside. Link still didn't take any chances and moved to shield her from catching sight of anything.

There were men still shooting at each other, police sirens loud in everyone's ears as they closed in. Link knew a lot of Lucian's men had to leave before the police came but they still stayed, fighting of Benji's men who didn't care about getting caught.

Link kicked the back door open, knowing Mace was waiting for him past the garden and into the opposite house. There stood Mace and Errol, both of them having a gun raised up behind Link. He spotted the car by the driveway.

"Shooting..." Orianna muttered feebly.

Link sprinted the rest of the distance to the car.

***

Link sat on the chair next to Orianna's bed. It wasn't as close as he wanted it to be so he slowly dragged it further in, until he was right next to her.

She had her eyes open, staring at him since he walked in the room. And now she held his unwavering gaze with her own. "Where's Joy?" She asked, her voice barely a whisper.

"She's safe."

"Please," she breathed out. "I need to see her."

Link nodded. "But not like this. She will be scared for you. There's only so much I tell her so she won't have nightmares for the rest of her life."

Orianna understood what he meant. She had to recover as much as possible to show Joy there was nothing wrong with her.

She dropped her head back on the pillow, her eyes drifted up to the ceiling. Link saw water pool in her eyes. A shot of his own pain cut through him.

"He'll come back for us."

Link straightened out his chair and leaned into Orianna. As usual, his closeness overwhelmed her and she reverted her gaze back on him. Her lips were trembling.

Link leaned into her, cradling her head into his chest as a torrent of her tears soaked him. She heaved out heavily, fisting the back of Link's shirt. Her trembles were uncontrolled and all Link could do was run his hands through her hair.

Strangely, no words could come out of him.

After a few moments, Orianna seemed to have calmed down and finally let go of her tight grip. Link missed her hold as he too let her go, sinking back into his seat.

He grabbed her hand, intertwining his fingers with hers. There was a stark contrast between her clear skin and his inked one. He always wondered what she thought of his inks, always wanted to question her about it but never actually remembered to.

"After I'm healed, I'm going back to Brighton."

Link didn't want to say anything to rile her up. Not when she was in this state already. He leaned closer to her face, brushing away the hair that rested on her forehead.

He couldn't help but reach out and plant a soft kiss on her forehead. She closed her eyes, basking in his touch.

"I'm going wherever you're going."

Orianna shook her head. "Link, you can't drop your life here-"

He stopped her talking with a kiss on her parted lips. Her taste, her scent was exquisite. He long gave in to the drug she possessed on those lips. A drug created just to bring Link down to his knees.

"We'll talk later. For now, let your man take care of you like he should have."

***

One call from Lucian the following night had Link rushing out his apartment. It was way past midnight, and Orianna lay fast asleep in his bed with Joy cuddled in with her.

Link walked outside and met the cold air. He glanced around and saw a group of men loitering around the main gate. He walked up to them, his eyes trained on the leader who was standing in front of them all.

Link clasped his hand into the leader's extended one. "Thank you." Link said.

The man, of a Hispanic lineage gave Link a curt nod. Link had relied on securing protecting for Orianna alone. It had to be someone who was quick to come and had nothing to fear.

What better choice than one of London notorious gangs. The gang even Lucian didn't intervene with. But these men were indebted to Link. And now he called in to collect that debt.

"Shoot anyone to comes near her."

A curl of a smile appeared on the leader's grim face. But Link couldn't mistake the glint that crossed his eyes. These men lived for violence. "Consider all the bastards dead."

Link gave him one final nod before he got in his car. He drove to Lucian's designated hideout, created for the sole purpose of what he was doing right now.

Lucian had tried his best to keep everything legal as possible, allowing the few dabbles with criminals to go over his head whenever it suited him. But now, it was how Link first knew of Lucian's work.

Minutes later, Link walked into the interrogation room and saw three men sitting in the middle of the room. They were all on small, wooden stools, bound to their seat. And they were all tied by the wrist.

And one of the men was Benji himself.

Link flew across the room, swinging his fist just in time to hit him in the face before he got pulled away by Lucian.

"We do this my way." Lucian grated out. "Or else you're out."

Link sneered up at Lucian. "He fucking hurt my women. If I don't make him pay now, I don't know when I'll see him again.

Benji let out a chuckle. "You'll see me plenty."

He gave Link a cold look. That's when he saw the state of his face. Lucian had really crossed the line. And he wasn't even finished yet.

Lucian let go of Link and levelled his glare on Benji. "Who told you." Lucian asked Benji.

The other two men next to Benji were quiet, their heads bopping down. They were unconscious.

"Now now, Lucian. No point in asking questions you already know the answer to."

Lucian grabbed him by the collar. "Who." He gritted out.

Benji let out a chuckle. "You know I've always outsmarted you in this business."

"You blackmail people and won't fret to kill. Don't compare me to you." Lucian spat in his face.

"There's nothing to compare if we're the same. Admit it, Lucian. Playing good is boring. Just as this interrogation is." He flicked his head towards Link.

"I'm sure your little protégé can do better."

Link clenched his fists by his side. "I don't think you'd want me."

"No." Benji drew out, shooting Link a weird look. Could he see that he was holding onto his anger by the slightest thread?

Benji turned his face upwards to Lucian. His whole face was a mess. Blood was pouring out of his cut lip and one of his eyes were swollen shut. Yet he still looked like he had the fight in him. "Untie me, and lets finish this how we did in the old days." Benji rose from his chair. "Brother."

///

> it's always so difficult to end a story with characters I've grown to love.

> comment and vote guys! Your support means the most

> I will be officially starting Lucian's story when I'm done with Ending Link. Let's see some brotherly action over there lol ;) check it out on my profile!! <3