E.W.E.W - L.W.T.B.B Copyright © 2012-2017 xXMopelXx All Rights Reserved. 

 Current Chapter Posted - Saturday, September 9, 2017

** WARNING ** 

I'm not sure, but there may be some triggers in this one, so read at your own risk! 

Happy reading, queens. xo

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{ Chapter 38 } : When Barbie Girl fell in love with Beer Boy...It was for sempre

The first shot wasn't meant to harm.

It was, however, meant to scare. My throat dried. The heart-stopping sound bounced in the parking lot. The rustling noise emanating from the trees encasing the perimeter emphasized the sinister ambiance of the night. 

The second shot was meant to harm.

I was half-way to my lover, my body frozen in some sort of trance.

Sam ducked behind my car right on time, my side mirror taking the hit and shattering loudly. I screamed, my knees buckling and taking me to the ground. I tried to crawl towards Sam, but I only felt glass shards beneath my palms.

Connor threw his head back and laughed manically.

His dark eyes gleamed black, no doubt a reflection of the exact shade of his heart. "Oh, man." He waved the gun between us. "You should see the expressions on your faces. Priceless. Bunch of pvssies. Get up, motherfvckers!"

I must have been holding my breath; I felt lightheaded.

Sam was still crouched behind my car, slowly inching towards me. Even in the night, I could see the worry, horror and anger wrecking havoc on his face. The emotions mixed together, darkened his demeanor, and displayed the battle he was having with himself.

I was immobile, but my breathing was laboured.

Sam twitched, his fingers jerking in the air, as if to grab me.

I seized Sam on spot with my fearful glare, begging him to remain still when he made a move towards me. Connor was volatile. He'd always been impulsive back in my Joey days. Give him a shiny new toy – a fucking gun – and he was a walking-talking weapon for destruction.

Sam's face crumpled at my look, but he ground his jaw stubbornly. He understood that I was right. His zeal for revenge would have to wait, even as he continued making eyes at me.

I once whispered to him that you should never make permanent decisions based on temporary emotions.

"I'm sorry," I mouthed shakily, apologizing for one thing, but conveying a hundred feelings with my gaze.

I stayed rooted to my spot since Connor O'Malley was like a ticking bomb. Ready to go off at anything. My breathing wasn't getting any better.

The two men with him looked suspiciously like the same ones I'd seen with Nico at Chez Devil's. They were quiet and stern. They didn't look classy enough to be categorized as the Mob. These men were Henry Donald's personal thugs.

A sick thought had my stomach churning. Did they beat up my father?

One of them had a bloodcurdling grin spreading across his mouth. I couldn't fight the frisson of terror snaking down my spine.

Maybe tonight was going to be the night we'd all die. It sure as fuck felt like it.

Connor released a battle-cry, firing two more shots. "I said get up, motherfvckers!"

One shot hit my car. The other came hopelessly close to my hand.

I flinched, before screaming with all my lungs at the piercing sounds echoing in the dark of the night.

I was in hysterics and Connor wouldn't stop raining blows in the air.

Seeing my distress, Sam cursed under his breath, straightened, and came running to my side with a swift agility mirroring a panther's. He ignored my silent demands for him to stay away. Dammit, I needed him safe. 

My car had acted as a shield for him. Nothing would shield us now. 

The relief that should have washed me with Sam at my side never came. Instead, I freaked out, trying to push him back towards shelter. Push us. But Sam held on, hooking his thick forearm around my waist, plastering me to him.

Satisfied that Sam and I were huddled close, Connor grinned and it was spine-tingling.

Sam muscular chest bowed and collapsed in rapid succession. Fear pounded a rough rhythm against his ribcage and I could feel the fast fluttering under my palm.

The quietude and mischievousness that I'd always associated to Sam's mien had shattered, and in it's place was a type of agitation - agitation because he was helpless to do anything.

I'd never seen that look on his face, and it fucking titillated me.

This wasn't a fight in the octagon cage where Sam could use his fists. These men had guns on them.

One bullet and our world would stop turning, and Beer Boy and Barbie Girl would be a thing of dust.

Connor started clapping his hands together in a mocking-gesture. He was acting like it was the end of a spectacle. Sam and I were being hawked like animals in a circus.

There was a twinkle in Connor's eyes that was all craze as he neared us. "Look what we have here." He waved the gun between us again. "A fvcking joke. A disgrace. The golden fighter and his prized possession – the whxre of the town. I thought athletes were supposed to take care of their health? Stuffing your d!ck in the nearest available pvssy ain't the way to go about it. Lord knows what kind of diseases this bxtch is carrying."

The words, they still hurt.

Sam's entire body went taut with alert, but I clamped his hand to ease him down. We were outnumbered and had no weapons. I could deal with the name-calling. I'd been doing it for years.

Sam continued shaking with a restless energy. "Don't you ever call her a whore again, you fucking piece of shit," he spat as he got up.

I stood up with the force it took to drag him back. I hissed, "Sam. Please."

We needed to make it out of here in one piece. This wasn't going to be my end – our end.

Connor used the butt of his gun to push his long ash-blond strands behind one ear. He laughed a sound that was grating. It reminded me of fingernails running along a chalkboard. "How did you stumble upon this bxtch anyway? That's my question."

Sam rocked back on his heels for a split moment, before cocking his fist and stepping forward, ready to knock him out.

"Ah. Ah. Ah." Connor did it again, waving that gun like a taunt. I went eighteen years without seeing a gun, and now I'd had one aimed at my face twice this week.

"Come closer and I'll shoot her. I've got a reason for being here. Give us a recorded confirmation that you're taking the fight and you'll be left alone until then. You can go back to fucking your disease-ridden slut and doing whatever it is that you do in the cage."

Sam's fingers gripped mine with a painful exertion that nearly had me gasping. This was him holding on. My touch was what stopped him from delivering the blow. If there wasn't a gun, Sam would have knocked Connor out cold for talking to me the way he did. "I have a few days to make my decision."

"Henry's getting impatient. Especially the other men running the show. They don't got time to waste like you do. We need an answer. NOW."

It was Sam's turn to laugh as he pushed me behind him, as if his body was bulletproofed. "I'll give an answer as soon as you finish eating the barrel of your own gun, you Irish fvcking piece of shit."

Sam had done it – he'd put his defiance into words, disrespecting Connor in one sentence.

It was the wrong thing to say. Connor looked like a junkie needing a fix, his body visibly shaking from the withdrawal as he barked orders at the two men. It all happened so fast.

The men closed in on us.

I was kicked to the side until I fell flat on my face, the palms of my hands scraped.

Sam fought them uselessly. It didn't matter how strong he was; When the gun was pressed to the nape of his neck, he was forced to his knees in a fit of screaming rage. His arms were held like prisoners behind his back.

Sam panted, his face twisted ferally in something that promised carnage.

He was far too out of my reach. I was held down with a big foot to my lower back. My executioner grinned at me smugly, before pressing harder. I gasped, trying to escape without any possibility.

"You like to talk, eh? We all know that Italian blood coursing through your veins is fucking tainted." Connor walked towards him, and pushed a cellphone in his face. "Talk now, motherfucker. Say the words we want to hear. Give me the consent I need."

Sam wasn't giving in. He stared at him with bold disobedience.

Silent tears poured down my eyes...And a thought trickled in. What would it have been like if Sam and I met, and he'd never fought Bax and I'd never dated Joey?

I hated what our pasts were causing for our future.

Samuel spat in Connor's face with narrowed eyes, struggling to pry free his hands. "Listen to that, why don't you."

It only served to piss Connor off further.

No, Sam. My flesh pebbled as goosebumps broke out. I tried to get up, but I had the wind knocked out of me as the enforcer kicked me in the ribs.

I clutched my middle and grunted. I coughed and spat out a mouthful of saliva as my head spun.

"You're going to wish you hadn't done that," Connor said, void of any emotions, as he wiped away the spit. He turned his flat stare to the man looming over me and nodded. "Teach his bitch a lesson."

I tried scampering away. It was too late.

It only took his words. Next thing I knew, a meaty fist delved into my scalp and grasped my strands, tugging my head back at a sharp angle that had me crying out loudly.

A pair of black eyes drilled into mine. A mirthless grin played upon the lips of this man, the same one who'd given a vague impression of recognizing me. And, I wondered. Oh, God. I wondered if this was the last thing my dad had seen before the bullet pierced through his flesh, knocking the life out of him.

The pain was too much. I thought I was going to blackout.

My eyes stung. My voice was hoarse.

Sam yelled out, but I couldn't see him. I heard his matching growl, and knew he'd been kicked, too.

"That's what happens when you test me!" Connor screamed and loud cries filled the air, until I realized they were coming from me. "Alfonzo, take the bxtch's clxthes off. Show them what should have been mine! Before she went ahead and recklessly gave it to Joey!"

God, No.

Trepidation exploded in my system like a firecracker. I yelled louder than before as I was shoved to my back. My legs kicked and my arms flailed. It was futile. I had no control.

I begged with pained whimpers. They laughed.

My body, despite everything I did to stay in good health, was no match for a two-hundred and fifty pound henchman.

Sam was thrashing, his body contorting wildly in hopes of getting free. "NO! NO! You fvcking leaver her alone!" His gravelly voice boomed in the night air, pleading, as he struggled to free his arms once again. The gun dug harder into his skin. "Don't you dare touch her. I'll do it. I'll fvcking do it. I'll take the fight just let her go. Please." His words ended on a whisper, but his eyes were ablaze. "Please. Just let her go."

Our gazes met hopelessly, closing the gaping distance between us.

I wasn't breathing. He breathed too much. I was seeing him. He wasn't seeing me.

The glazed quality of his eyes told me he'd already conjured up the worst.

Connor's grin was psychotic as he finished recording. "Brilliant. What a fvcking brilliant performance that was," he chuckled. "But, as cute as that was, you'll be taking the fight and watching your girlfriend getting it hard by a real man. Al, take it off."

Then my legs were shoved apart. I screamed again, managing to clock a solid one on my attackers' jaw. My jacket was ripped down my shoulders. I kicked again, as hard as I could muster in my weakened state.

The man above me grunted, before a menacing look inched upon his dark features.

A hard punch hit my jaw.

I could feel the metallic taste of blood as my teeth sliced my bottom lip.

Sam roared again as his eyes drank me in, panting viciously, like he was having an out-of-body experience, staring at me with something akin to horror.

Three consecutive gunshots rained in the air, destroying the stillness of the moment engulfing us.

My mouth opened on a soundless scream as I watched Sam slump down for cover.

The shots came from a new party. It wasn't Connor. Nor was it his men.

The man who'd been ready to defile me, folded over with a choked sound. A bullet wound adorned his head. His blood was on me in splatters. His body fell sideways, the asphalt soaking in the remains of his blood and brains.

I cried messily, chanting, "Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, God."

Connor's shout was blanketed by the white noise pounding a dreading beat in my ears.

My hazy eyes moved a mile a second, taking inventory of my surroundings.

The man who'd been holding Sam prisoner was dead, too.

Connor was clutching his hand, grunting out in pain.

Moving footsteps echoed, followed by something suspicious like Danny Ivanov's authoritative voice.

"Vas. Lac. Brat'ya, pick 'em up."

The dead man to my side was hauled up and dragged away from my body. The one near Sam was picked up by another guy working alongside Danny.

"Anna."

Sam.

The soft air drifted over me like a caress and I closed my eyes. I was unable to block out the bloody situation. I heard my name being whispered again, closer this time.

Sam was getting closer.

Two more gunshots ripped through the air. They belong to Connor. Danny followed suit with three of his own.

Sam had managed to crawl over me in a covering manner.

When I lifted my head, I felt the familiar contours of Sam's strong body denting mine, blocking any possibility of gunshots breaking through me. I clawed at him frantically, trying to be the one to save him, but to no avail. His forearms bracketed the sides of my head and his weight pressed against me more fully, molding our bodies together until we were one. One shaking hand pushed my hair away from my face, and then his forehead was coming down, pressing against mine in the way it usually did. I physically felt the tremors rocking through his body.

That's all it took for the waterworks to begin. I started crying that deep, ugly, starting-from-your-core cry. The kind that consumed you and forced you to drain out your emotions into one heaping mess of tears.

My arms wrapped around his neck and I cried against his cheek. I felt possessed by a force that I didn't recognize. Everything felt so surreal, except for the guy who always held me like I was the reason his world spun.

"Shh. Shh, Anna." Sam choked, his own eyes shining with tears. His fingers raked through my scalp, a soothing balm to the other touch. "I've got you. I'm here for you." His nose touched mine and he breathed my air through my open mouth, giving it back to me little by little in small panting breaths. "Cristo, I can't believe that happened. Merda, I would never let anything happen to you. You know that, Tesoro. Over mia vita. You're safe now. Please, stop crying. Breaks my heart. I've got you. Always. Sempre."

I cried harder for the guy who felt so much for me, who was ready to risk it all to keep me safe.

My tears streamed down my cheeks, staining my lips. Sam didn't seem to care as he kissed my mouth with a fierce urgency, rooted longing, and a yearning touch that had me whimpering into our lip lock. The kiss tasted of saltiness mixed from tears, of newborn love, and everything that was us.

His lone tear mingled with mine as he murmured my name with reverence. "Jodanna."

As I lay beneath his body, amidst the chaos around us, projecting my fears and needs and wants into the way I held him to me, kissing his mouth like he was the lifeline I needed, staring into his eyes for him to see me – my soul – and what should have always been his, the love residing in the confinements of my melted heart, my ground collapsed and I fell into a sinking realization.

I had completely fallen in love with Samuel Rafael Adams.

* * *

Danny had shot Connor in the kneecaps.

I clung to Sam as he continued to smother my face, wiping away the wet evidence with his mouth, one kiss at a time. He shifted us so I was sitting astride him.

The shockwaves running through my system subsided, but even Samuel's touch couldn't tamper down the heavy dose of dread swirling in the pit of my stomach.

We were shaking together.

I love him. I gazed into his eyes and grasped his cold stubbly cheeks.

There were two dead bodies around us.

Connor was sprawled on the ground, ten feet away from us. He was holding his right hand with his left, and nursing two broken legs.

Danny stepped out of the shadows and into the spotlight, a ring created by the light casted from the lampposts. Lurking above us, he looked like a dark hero ready to save the day. Or, maybe, he was the villain ready to bring more chaos.

It was the thunder in his eyes that didn't have me fooled.

Danny came towards us with confident strides. His clipped tone as he said, "Are you guys okay?"

I couldn't even manage a mere nod. Sam did the speaking for us, his voice gruff from all the begging and screaming he'd done on my behalf. "What are you going to do?"

Seeming aloof and without a care, Danny clicked his gun into place. His glacial-blue eyes were cold and dead to the world. "What does it look like?"

Sam tensed and got up from the ground. "He's mine, Danny," Sam seethed. "I should be the one to hurt the motherfucker. He threatened me and almost..." The words couldn't leave his mouth. "Anna..."

Danny's gaze riveted to me on the ground. He saw the blood splattered on my top. There were speckles on Sam's shirt and jeans, too. "You two need to go back inside and change into something else, then give your clothes to Vas - he's going to burn them. We don't need the cops to find any evidence."

Danny walked towards a writhing Connor and picked him up like he was a ragdoll, gripping his flannel collar and putting him in a sitting position. Connor tried reaching for his gun, but Danny kicked it aside. He stepped on his uninjured hand so hard I could have sworn I heard bones cracking. Connor screamed like he'd made me scream. "Did you like that, O'Malley?"

"Fvck you, Ivanov!" Connor spat in his face – or, at least tried, too – and burned a bright shade of red. "You fvcking shot me!"

"And I'll do it all over again if you dare spit at me again." Danny threatened with the most soft, soothing voice. Like a murderous lullaby. "Maybe I'll even cut your tongue off. Henry would love that one. One of my guys just told me. He's big on that, right? Cutting people's tongues."

"Henry will kill you once he finds out. The cops will be all over you, you fucking gangbanger."

Danny laughed humourlessly and stepped harder on his hand, until Connor's whimpers sliced through the air. "He's got officers on payroll? I've got news for you; he doesn't run the city." Danny put his cheek near Connor's and dropped his voice to a low rumbling whisper. "In fact, I think I know people who do."

The two men from earlier joined Danny and circled Connor like predators.

One of Danny's friends with a slight Russian accent turned to the other blond guy. "Lac, why don't you shove something in his mouth to get him to shut the fuck up."

The blond one - Lac - laughed maniacally and did just that. Before leaning down towards Connor menacingly. "You like making videos, O'Malley? How would your boss like to receive one of his own?"

They shared a mutual laugh, except for Danny who continued with his apathetic expression. Gone was the guy who'd held a civilized discussion with us in his office. This was savageness. This was fear. I understood what all that ruthless energy was. It was barely contained beneath the cool façade he carried.

Daniel Ivanov wore masks.

He was capable of things – bloodshed, torture, and all that's unholy under the sun – that I could never even dream of in my wildest dreams.

"Get him in the car. Let's take him for a ride," Danny murmured, like he was discussing Sunday afternoon tea and not a possible murder. "Show him how I get when someone fvcks with my family."

Connor wailed like a little bitch, muffled, before Lac clocked a solid one against his jaw.

Danny turned his dead gaze to us. "Take her inside, brat. Do what I told you. Only leave the place when you get my text."

"You're going to kill him," Sam spoke hauntingly, and I realized that it may have something to do with him seeing someone he cared for about to commit murder. 

"Things have gotten too messy. He sent a video of your confirmation to Henry and his men. You need to take the fight, Sam. But we set the tone, Sam. Not the other way around."

"Danny, I said I wanted to...But, you..."

"...Are the only one capable of delivering that promise." Danny used Connor's shirt to polish his gun. "He was going to have your girl raped right to your face, Sam. I nearly watched it happen from the sidelines. Who says your mom isn't next? Who's to say that Henry won't send more men after everyone you care about. It's what they do best, these kinds of guys. You said it yourself. They taunt. But this was foolish of them and they were sloppy tonight. It's the only reason those bullets managed to penetrate their stupid skulls. You aren't capable of killing, Sam. Not the way I am. So let it be."

"I fight for those who I care about, Danny." Sam picked me up so I was plastered to his chest. "But this..."

The two guys piled a fainted Connor into the backseat of a conspicuous looking black sedan. They disposed of the dead bodies, too.

It was comical, how everything unfolded so casually.

"Fighting and killing aren't the same things, kiddo. Go inside and join the party. If you hear police sirens, don't freak out. Vas will be here with you."

His friend Vas strolled towards us and plucked a grey duffel bag from the ground.

"Danny," Sam pressed. "There's got to be another way..."

"Let me do this." Danny looked over his shoulder one final. "You don't want this lingering over your head, Sam."

"And you do?"

Danny opened the passenger side of the vehicle. His other friend was already seated in the driver's side and waiting for him.

"I've got many sins, Rafael. This one is nothing. You be sure to remember that."

The car sped away with screeching tires the second Danny slammed his door.

* * *

Vasily could only be described as craggy and scary. 

He led us through the back exit of Danny's Grill, making sure to check over his shoulder every few seconds to see if we were still following.

"We're going downstairs," he informed us. 

Vas opened an emergency door behind the bathrooms that lead to a row of stairs. The more we descended, the stuffier and darker it got. When it was pitch black and Vas was forced to open the flashlight on his phone, that's when Sam cut in.

"Where are you fucking taking us?"

Vas maintained his cool, and spoke to us like we weren't worth the breath. "You fight for Richie, no? This is the underground passage. Connects the bar to the gym's basement. It's a secret. So do yourself a favor, kid, and don't tell anyone."

Richie's gym was hidden in the back alleyway behind Danny's Grill.

Once we entered the basement, Vas made us climb up another row of staircase, before we entered the dimly lit main floor.

It was eerily quiet.

Vas took us to the locker rooms. He pulled out fresh clothes from the duffel bag, two uniforms with Danny's Grill stamped on the logo. He handed Sam a black t-shirt and blue jeans and gave me a matching black t-shirt and a shorter-than-sin skirt jeans skirt - exactly the kind their waitresses wore.

He left us to change.

"Jodanna," Sam stared at me quietly, grasping his new clothes in bunched fists.

I know what he saw. A wrecked and bruised face, and a girl wearing her heart on her sleeve.

"Turn around, please."

He complied, silently changing into his own clothes.

I was barely keeping it together.

I fell onto a wooden bench after changing and broke down.

All. Fucking. Over. Again.

* * *

Sam was crouching at my feet in an instance, framing my face with his rough hands. "Anna. Talk to me."

I sniffled and sucked in a breath, searching for my words. I glanced around him, taking in the room.

The last time I was here, I found out Sam fought illegally and that Crystal was his supposed girlfriend. The second time around, I knew that I was in love with Sam and that Danny was probably going to kill Connor O'Malley.

So many nights I used to lie awake in bed, high on drugs, praying that this mess would end. Praying that Joey Donald and his friends would just die. Leave me alone.

Careful what you wish for. Part of my prayer was finally coming true, and I didn't know how I felt.

"I just want this nightmare to be over, you know?" I whispered numbly, unable to meet his eyes. "I'm so tired of this mess. I never asked for this. You didn't either. Why...Why can't we just be us?"

"I know, baby. And we will be us - we are us. It'll be over soon."

"How?" My hoarse voice cracked. "How does this end? With you dying? You just fucking took a fight you never wanted to, Sam. How does this end!"

His face scrunched up in fury, even as he tenderly wiped away my tears. "And what was the alternative? Stay on my knees, bound and helpless... Watching some fucking bastard rape you? I watched him fucking hit you and I couldn't do anything about it."

I pushed his hands away and put my face in my own. My head was spinning and nothing was making sense.

"I saw red. I wanted to kill. I'd kill for you. Don't ever doubt that," Sam spoke dangerously low, and those threats made my heart pick up speed.

What he was saying was fucked up, but I got it. Love made you do crazy things and, although there was a sliver of doubt, I was sure of Sam's feelings. Almost as sure as mine.

When I stayed quiet, Sam growled.

"You don't know what that did to me. I felt fucking possessed watching him throw you down. Hurt you. Lay hands on you. I've never felt that much anger in my life. Not when I heard about my sister. Not when I saw that little girl in the alleyway. You do that to me, Anna." He stood up, ripping his warmth away from me and glaring down at my expression. As if trying to convey the depths of his feelings, when I already knew how deep they ran. "You have no fucking idea what went through me when he touched you."

I sucked in another breath.

"I wanted to kill them all, Anna. Had they not been holding me down, I would have done it. You fvcking know it, too. You want to know how this end? It ends with a fight. The only answer I have for you is that I'm going to fight. Okay? For you. For me. For us. For whatever it is. Get it, babe?"

"Always," I replied shakily.

He shook a hand through his mussed hair and pulled at the strands in an all-too-familiar fashion. "We need to get these clothes to Vas. I need to get you some ice for your jaw. Maybe a shower. And then I need to hold you. Okay, Anna?"

"Okay, Sam." I needed him to hold me, too.

When his fingers grazed my chin lovingly, and the anger left his face, I saw the despair hidden beneath. It resurfaced, but it was a shade less than what I'd seen in the parking lot. "I want to break his hands for touching you. I never want you to hurt. It kills me that you're probably aching all over with pain."

God, I love him.

With unstable knees, I stood up to wrap my arms around his waist. He kissed my forehead and rocked us back and forth. "You've turned my vita upside down, Tesoro, and I couldn't imagine it without you in it."

His phone buzzed with a text message between us.

It was from Danny.

Sam cussed softly when I peered over to look at it.

Connor ate the barrel of his gun. -D

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A/N's: SO MUCH HAPPENED?! Questions: Thoughts of Danny? Sam and Anna - Sam helpless and Anna almost getting rxped? Sam taking the fight? ANNA IN LOVE WITH SAM? Connor FINALLY DYING?!