The plane was delayed for technical difficulties. We were supposed to be in the air by 6:00 pm, but that didn't happen. With no answers about when it would be up and running, I had to push my flight to the next morning. 

"That's what I get for having a private plane," muttering it to myself as I found her number in my phone.

It went straight to voicemail, but knowing Remi, it was probably because she worked another double and had forgotten to fully charge it before heading to work.

"Hey baby girl, I'm delayed. I wish I could see you tonight, but it can't be helped. As soon as the plane is ready, you can bet your ass I'll be on it and on my way home to you. I miss you like crazy," taking a deep breath before I wrapped up my message. She consumed my thoughts. "Who knows? Maybe I'll get out of here before the sun's up. Use the key you gave me and wake you up properly. In any case, I'll see you soon baby girl."

With no answer from Remi, I called Torez.

"Boss? Everything alright?"

"Yeah. Hey, are you still on Remi?"

"Yes, sir. She just got out of work. She walked, so I'm going to watch her from the parking lot before I head out. I don't want to freak her out by following her with the car."

"Just keep an eye on her and don't fall back too much."

"I will. Hendrix is my replacement tonight. He will watch her place overnight."

"Perfect. Thank you."

"Anything else you need, boss?"

"No, but my plane is delayed. I probably won't get in until the morning. If anything changes, I'll text you."

"Yes sir. Safe travels."

The call disconnected and I scrubbed my hands over my face. The time in Florida was productive. All hits were cleared. There were no more assassination orders against me or my family. The resolution of all of it came with added stress and some financial strain, but it wasn't anything we couldn't handle.

Nero and Luca had stepped back in and were running the club pretty efficiently, even though they had very different ways of operating. 

Smiling to myself as I replayed one of their arguments about the cocktail waitress' attire. How some girls didn't want to parade in strings and how it would be nice to have a little variety of sexy. Nero, of course arguing to let them all be naked, whereas Luca wanted to invest in corsets and skirts.

Typical... 

"Mr. Moretti," looking up from my seat, the pilot approached me. "We wanted to let you know that the necessary repairs have been completed. We would like to have you board so that we can get you home as soon as possible."  Captain Phillips was cool under pressure and had worked for the family for as long as I could remember.

Glancing at my watch, it was only 8:30 pm. "Good timing," I commented.

Kindly, Phillips collected my single bag and led me out to the tarmac. Settling into my seat, I turned off my phone and relaxed. 

A tap on my shoulder brought my attention to Phillips, "Excuse me, sir. Davis forgot to check all our levels. We are topping off and will take off within the next 45 minutes."

I nodded without a word and lay my head against the seat. 

The plane sat for another hour before taking off, but by then my eyes felt heavy and I was ready to fly home and nap. Two and a half hours later, we were in DC, again.

Defending the stairs to the plane, I switched my phone back on. It nearly flew out of my hand with the number of messages I'd missed. 

I smiled thinking about what the messages may say. Thinking about how Remi may have felt after getting my voicemail.

Looking down at my screen, my smile faded and my feet stopped.

15 messages from Torez and Hendrix.

"Shit!"

"Sir," the driver came to the bottom of the stairs, with a sense of urgency in his walk. "Sir, I've been instructed to take you straight to Georgetown Hospital. Please, sir, we should get you there as quickly as possible."

Skimming through the messages, I began to move towards the car. It wasn't until I was in the car and we were moving that I put together what they had sent me. 

Remi had been attacked. 

In her apartment. 

Critical condition.

It felt like my heart had been ripped out of my chest as I read that she was so hurt that they were labeling her condition critical.

Blindly, I dialed Torez. Straight to voice mail.

"Fuck!" Yelling it from my seat made the driver jump. 

Hendrix answered as calmly as he could manage,"Boss, she is okay."

"She is not fucking okay if she is there and not in her apartment, safe!"

 "I understand, sir."

"Where the fuck is Torez?"

"Here. His phone was smashed."

"Where is she?"

"She just went into surgery, sir. We have not left her since," 

"You better not have. Who did this to her?"

"I don't know him. He got away from us and took off in some noisy beater."

"Fuck, I know exactly who did this. I will be there in less than 10 and I expect a full debrief from you and Torez, so get your shit together and be ready. This should not have happened."

Throwing my phone on the seat next to me, I was pissed. No, pissed wasn't the right word. Enraged was closer. 

I needed to know how this had happened and why she wasn't protected. This was exactly why I made sure that my own men were assigned to her. 

If it was who I thought it was, he wasn't a professional hitman or assassin. Yet she was in the hospital because of him.

I'm not even sure if the car had fully stopped before I had opened the door and was stepping out. Torez and Hendrix were there. Waiting. Hands held in front of them, silent. 

Walking past them, I zeroed in on a conference room. Like dogs, they followed.

As soon as they were through, the door was closed. They waited for me. Daring them to speak, I stared them down. Neither man made eye contact with me. 

I took in the sight before me. Both of them were beaten to hell. Hendrix had a slash across his face and a bloodied lip and Torez was covered in dirt, blood coming from his hairline, and a nasty black eye forming.

With a sigh, I closed my eyes and ran my hands over my face. Composing myself, I folded my arms across my chest and addressed my men.

"Okay. What happened, and don't be children? Order of the events." I stood there, staring at the floor between the men. They knew they had messed up. Me staring them down wasn't going to help the situation.

"There were no problems with her walk home," Torez started. "She got home and I met Hendrix in the parking lot. He had just gotten there, parked towards the end of the lot. I went to debrief him on the day. A car parked on the street caught my eye. It looked like the car you said her ex drove, so I left him to investigate it."

"I headed up," Hendrix continued with fluidity, making their sides flow into each other. "I heard a scream and ran the stairs. As I got to her floor, her door was wide open. There was a man straddling her, taunting her. His arm was raised with a knife and I lunged at him. Unfortunately, the knife hit. Embedding in her stomach." My stomach rolled at the thought, but I'd seen and been through worse. I could feel my top lip curl in disgust as Hendrix continued, "Before going after him, I stopped to make sure she was ok, calling for Torez, and proceeding towards the dude. I thought he was unconscious, but he wasn't. He landed a good kick and pulled another knife on me." He paused to massage his jaw; apparent that that was where Ben's foot had landed.

"At that time, I was already inside and heading up. As soon as I confirmed that it was her ex's car, I ran back. I knew I'd fucked up by not following her in. To make sure she got in safe." Torez's guilt-ridden eyes met mine before he dropped his head.

I counted to ten in my head and took deep breaths. Feeling like my anxiety had wrapped barbed wire around me; hearing them talk eased the tightness.

"In my daze, he got past me and out of the apartment," Hendrix continued.

"I caught him on the stairwell and chased him. He is a fast fucker!  I tackled him on the hill to his car, he didn't have a knife by then. I'm not sure where it went but I am thankful he didn't have it. We tussled but he got the upper hand when he slid into his car. He slammed the door on my arm and was able to get a block away from the apartment before I let go." Torez didn't move, just stood there, like the soldier he had been. There was no indication that his arm was hurt, but looking at him again, his pants were ripped along the left side.

"You were dragged?" Watching Torez nod his head, I swore and turned away from them. They may have fucked up, but it seemed they did what they could.

"Sir, I stayed with Remi," Hendrix interjected.

"What is her condition?" It was the news I really wanted to hear. I could deal with Ben later. 

Neither answered right away, but when I turned, it was Hendrix who finally filled me in.

"Multiple stab wounds, concussion, broken nose, right ulna fracture with damage to her wrist, as well as three?" He looked over to Torez, where he was shaking his head.

"Four," Torez corrected.

"Four broken ribs. Dr. Forbes is here, so I took her in my car instead of calling the ambulance. We called on the way over and she was ready for us."

"Thank you." It was all I could manage. Until then, I hadn't noticed, but my vision had come and gone. Not blacking out, because I was still very aware of my surroundings and what my men were telling me, but something different. The rage that was building had a target. Ben.

Within an hour of arriving, the door to the conference room opened and the kind face of Dr. Forbes stepped through. 

"Micah," the petite doctor walked to me and wrapped her arms around me. "I am happy to see you but sad that such nasty business has brought you to me."

"Please tell me, how is she?" My heart was hurting, constricted, and suffocating. Being away from Remi was hard enough, but she had been hurt. She had been seriously hurt and I wasn't there for her.

Pulling back, she gave me a sad smile. "She means a lot to you, this one?"

"Everything."

"She is stable," she took my hand and led me to a seat. "We monitored her closely during surgery, but Micah," she paused, "she is damn lucky. There was minimal internal bleeding, but the stab wound to her back was the worst, nicking her lung and slowly filling it with blood. The puncture to her lung was small, so it was easy to fix, but she is going to need to stay here for at least the next 24 hours."

"May I see her?" By then, the men had given us privacy and had left the room. With them gone, my voice sounded desperate, to my own ears.

"She hadn't woken up from the anastisia, but yes. I also want to give you a heads up." She peered out the windows of the conference room, into the waiting area. "When Mr. Hendrix said she was your girl, I made sure to put you on the form as family. You are listed as her husband so that you can stay with her."

On impulse I puller her to me and kissed her forehead. 

"That's not all you should know. Dr. Tanner was on staff when she came in tonight." I didn't understand the connection. It must have been clearly written on my face because she rolled her eyes up to the ceiling before finishing. "Expect that he called his daughters. I'm sure Makenzi and Alexis will be calling you." She exaggerated their names so it sunk in.

She patted my shoulder and opened the door. Swinging her arm to tell me she was ready to show me to Remi's room, I followed.

My heart lurched when we reached her room. Seeing her like this was not how I wanted to see her. Her satin skin was stained with black, blue, and purple marks. I could see stitches in her hairline above her bandaged nose. Her right arm was in a soft cast, while her left had the IV. The metronome of beeps from her monitors told me she was stable, but looking at her, I didn't feel like she was okay.

"It's okay. She will probably stay asleep for a while. This took a lot out of her. The concussion is not major, but someone will be in every hour to check on her. She may not be awake long, but we need to make sure it doesn't get worse." She gave my arm a squeeze, "Is there anything I can get for you?"

"No. No, I am okay."

"I'll go grab you a blanket and an extra pillow. The seat in the corner can pull out into something that resembles a cot. It isn't very comfortable, but you need your rest too." Without another word, she disappeared into the hall. 

Remi's room was private and spacious. There were no patients in the rooms next to hers or across from. I wondered if the guys had requested that or if Dr. Forbes had known.

Pulling the chair to her bedside, I took her hand in mine. 

"I'm so sorry, baby girl." She didn't stir. Didn't move except for the steady rise and fall of her chest. 

A soft knock at the door had me alert and defensive. 

"Sir?"

"Yes, Torez?"

"Sir, you left your phone in the car and you have several missed calls from a 'Lexi.'"

"Call her back, tell her I will talk to her in the morning." I turned back to Remi.

"Um, sir?"

"What is it Torez?"

"She just sent a message," he stopped.

"What does it say Torez?" I snapped.

"It says she is coming, sir. Here. She is flying out and bringing Nero." His voice was shy and almost embarrassed.

"Are you fucking kidding me? Give me the phone."

Hastily, he entered the room and handed me my phone. Reading the message, I wasn't as upset. I knew there was no stopping her when she put her mind to something. 

Lexi:

Dad just called..
where are you?

Lexi:

Is Remi with you?

Lexi:

WTF is going on?

Lexi:

Where is Remi?

Lexi:

DAMNIT ANSWER ME!

Lexi:

You asshole! I told
you if you hurt her,
I'm chopping your
fucking dick off!

Lexi:

I'm flying out. 

Lexi:

Nero is coming with
me. Be there in the
morning.

Shit...

***

A/N: AAAH! I have been wanting to write this scene since I started writing this book! I have an alternate scene that I may post at the very end of the book, like a 'deleted scene' section... What do you think? Would you want to see a different way of Micah finding out about Remi's attack?

(Update- alternate scene posted at the end of the book 7/26/2019)

As usual, leave me some love!!! Vote on the chapter, comment your opinion or side note, and always enjoy it! <3