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I never knew I could fall in love with a city so much. Venice is exquisite in its radiant beauty as the sun set on the horizon. The city lights sparkled in the night and a soft breeze blew strands of my hair. I smiled to myself. The afternoon was an intense workout of the wicked,passionate nature with my Vamp Boss. He is behaving like an obedient boy right now, which is unexpected but good. After I showed him what seduction games I have been capable of he has been blushing and stammering. I feel so proud of myself for winning this round. But knowing my husband he has something planned out only time will tell. Right now we are taking a stroll by the pier after we had traditional Italian coffee at a café near our hotel. Mr. Ho has given us a tourist map which shows all the important places and from the internet I have made a checklist of places I want to visit. Vamp Boss is busy taking pictures of everything around us.

I pinch Darren as he is being a wuss and it's already nightfall. We slowly make our way to the city centre where the carnival is taking place. There are men and women in colorful masks and costumes, flamethrowers, clowns, snake charmers, gypsy fortune tellers and many more. As we move through the crowd we see a magician performing magic tricks and we stand there to watch till the show ends. Then we buy two ice creams and seat on a bench to enjoy it. After finishing his ice cream, Darren surprises me when he returns after a while with a hand crafted wooden charm bracelet and a smile lits up my face. It's so sweet of him. He smiles at me and kisses my cheek. Next I buy him a wooden boy doll. I know it's creepy and we laugh about it. Somehow it looks eerily similar to Darren so I bought it. Suddenly we hear gun shots out of nowhere and that's our que to run. This day couldn't get any worse. When everything is going fine something has to go wrong.

We grab our gifts and make a mad dash for the hotel. The chase is on, I can feel the bullets hitting the pavement behind us. Ugh! It's raining bullets again. But this time there is no escaping them and one hits Darren's left leg. I help him stand but I know he is in a lot of pain. Thank God we found a woman with a row boat who is willing to help us cross the canal and take us to our hotel. After we settle down on the boat, the woman sees my husband's condition and gives me her scarf. The bullet has hit below his knee on his left leg and is bleeding a lot. I tightly tie the scarf on his wound and put both my hands to put pressure and stop the excess blood flow. The woman whispers something I couldn't understand but her eyes are sympathetic. She wildly gestures with her hand something but I am too busy tending to Darren that I don't bother with what she is saying.
It seems like forever till we reach the hotel. I hand some money to the woman and she smiles. Then I call out to the guards who are at the hotel entrance and they help Darren climb the stairs. I don't know what happened next or how we reached our room. The guards have left hours ago and called a local doctor. Darren is resting right now and the doctor has successfully removed the bullet. I had ordered our dinner through room service and we had it an hour ago. We were supposed to attend the Masquerade Ball in the ballroom but I spoke with Chin and explained our situation. He has shown great understanding and explained that Darren was going to talk about business tomorrow morning. I assured him that since I am also his personal assistant I can help Chin with the business matter and now I am making an important WhatsApp call. I hope the call connects and the person on the other line is awake.

The call finally connects.

"Daddy, I-I it's a terrible situation here", I say sobbing.

I wish my father was here to help me deal with this situation. I feel so alone and scared seeing Darren in so much pain. It breaks my heart everytime I recall what happened a few hours ago. I pour my heart out to my father from the moment we landed till now.

"It's all my fault", I say as another wave of sobs burst out then I continue, "if I hadn't insisted Darren that we go on our honeymoon none of this would have happened and now he has been shot. I-I am to blame for everything that has happened."

I hiccup the last words and the rest of the conversation becomes one way as my father assures me everything will be alright.

"Listen pumpkin, you are not to blame for anything and Darren would not want you to feel guilty or sad. You need to be strong for both of you. Be his support system. And I will board private plane tonight and hopefully by tomorrow evening I will get there. Stay safe and goodnight."

As the call ends my mind becomes peaceful and I see a light at the end of the tunnel which seemed dark hours ago.

"Zoya?", Darren calls me from the bed.

I get up from the chair at the corner of the room and sit beside him. He is delirious with the pain medication and sleep.

"Give me some water?", he whispers.

I help him sit up and bring the water glass close to his lips. He sips his water and lies down. Then his eyes find mine in the darkness. They are an intense shade of blue and I wonder what he is thinking right now. I would do anything to help relieve his pain. He winces a bit as he moves his left leg to a comfortable position. His eyes are still on me. I busy myself arranging his pillow and cover him properly with a blanket all the while avoiding his proving eyes.

"Who were you talking to on the phone? Were you crying?", he asks in a concerned voice.

I ruffle his hair and kiss his forehead before answering.

"It was my father and yes I was crying."

I look away after this feeling vulnerable with the way he is looking at me.

"It's a small wound Zoya nothing to cry about and no reason to worry your father."

I stare at him dumbfounded and finally find the right words to say.

"You got shot Darren! Offcourse any person would be worried! We are miles away from home in a foreign city. Only someone insane and totally out of his mind would not worry and I love you so damn much that the thought of loosing you makes me sad. So I cried like any rational, reasonable person. There is nothing wrong in asking for my father's help. Jasmine and Elijah are busy with their lives. Sheetal is in Chicago and Alisha is pregnant. So the obvious option was my father. Besides I don't think Chin Ho was convinced I could secure the business deal."

As I finish explaining everything a few tears fall from my eyes and Darren wiped them away.

"I am sorry for making you worry. I love you too and can't see you sad. I am glad you called your father. Now come here and cuddle with me."

I slide inside the blanket and Darren wraps his arm around me. With the exhaustion of the day taking toll on me sleep steals me to another land. Hopefully tomorrow morning would be a bright and beautiful day.