Against All Odds - Angel's Story: Against All Odds (Destiny Series Book 4) (28 page)

Carrying her into the bedroom, I gently lay her on the bed. I look down at her and smile. I’m angry that she got so drunk tonight, but that’s only because I love her so much. It would kill me if anything ever happened to her.

I leave and walk out to the kitchen to get a glass of water and some tablets for the pending headache. She’s gonna fucking need it. In the whole time I’ve known her, she’s never been much of a drinker, so I’m sure she’s going to be feeling it in the morning.

Sitting down beside her on the bed, I gently shake her. “Angel.” It takes a few more tries before she opens her eyes. They’re red and glassy, but still beautiful. “I need you to drink this,” I say as I hold the glass up. Her lips slightly turn up at the corners.

“My head hurts,” she croaks.

“I bet it does,” I chuckle. “Take these.” I hold the tablets out to her.

“I love you,” she slurs as I help her sit up. When she’s done, I help her undress. Once she’s laying back down, I pull the comforter over her. “Thank you,” she whispers as her eyelids slowly close. I lean down and kiss her sweet lips. She smiles, but doesn’t open her eyes.

I walk into the bathroom and refill the glass, just in case she wakes during the night. By the time I climb into bed beside her, she’s already snoring again.

My little piss head.

I gently slide my hand under her neck and the other arm around her waist, pulling her towards me, so her back is flush with my front. “Good night, sweet-cheeks,” I whisper as I kiss the back of her head.

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Angel

“I’m never drinking again,” I moan, removing my beautiful new helmet from my head. What was I thinking? It seemed like a good idea at the time. This morning though, not so much.

“As cute as you were last night, sweet-cheeks, I don’t ever want to see you like that again, especially if you’re out without me. You were both off your faces. Anybody could’ve taken advantage of you,” he scolds.

“I guess it was pretty stupid. If it’s any consolation, I’m paying for it now.”

“No it’s not,” he says reaching out to help me off the bike. “I hate seeing you unwell.” He pulls me into his arms, wrapping them around my waist.

Chase has been wonderful since the moment I opened my eyes. He made me a cup of tea and some toast when I woke, but I brought it all back up within minutes. After running me a bath, he disappeared, returning a few minutes later with some juice and two more tablets for my pounding head.

He sat on the edge, waiting for me to finish. He stood, placing my glass on the basin before stripping off his clothes. “What are you doing?” I asked.

“Washing your back,” he smirked as he climbed in behind me. Surprisingly, that’s all he did. When he finished, he pulled me to him so my back was resting on his chest, while massaging my temples. It was sweet and felt wonderful. I love how he takes care of me.

••••

Chase pumps the fluids into me for the rest of the day. Even though I’m still feeling sick in the stomach, and the mere thought of eating has me dry retching, the way Chase has been looking after me today makes my insides all mushy. I’ve never been as happy as I am when I’m with him. I love him more and more with each passing minute.

Poor Dana texted me during the day; she’s not fairing much better. I don’t think either of us will do a repeat of last night in a hurry.

We call past Chase’s house on the way home from Uni, to collect some more of his clothes and spend some time with Pops.

I’m surprised when we pull into the driveway of my place an hour later, to find Dana sitting on my front steps. Rising, she crosses the lawn making her way to us.

“Shouldn’t you still be at work?” I ask, when Chase helps me off the bike.

“I need to tell you something, but I couldn’t do it over the phone.”

“What? Is everything okay?” It must be bad if she’s left work and come all the way over here to tell me something.

“It’s Riley. Apparently he’s woken from his coma.” I feel all the blood rush from my face and my knees buckle from underneath me.
Holy shit.
As much as I hate to admit it, I knew this perfect bubble I’ve been living in the last few weeks would burst sooner or later.

“Fuck,” I hear Chase say from behind me, as he wraps his hands around me for support. “Are you okay, sweet-cheeks?” I nod. I’m not sure if I can speak right now. All I can think about is Chase, and what this means for him.

“I’m sorry to be the one to break it to you,” Dana adds as she reaches for my hand, giving it a comforting squeeze, “but I knew you’d rather hear it from me, than on the news or something. I overheard two officers in the coffee shop earlier. Apparently, from what I heard, it appears he can’t remember who attacked him. That’s a plus, I guess.”

That does make me feel slightly better, but it doesn’t mean he won’t remember what happened as the days progress. “Come, let’s get you inside,” Chase says, guiding me towards the house.

We don’t even make it to the front step, when a car comes screeching into my driveway. The three of us spin around, and what confronts me, almost has me throwing up.

“Get her inside,” Chase orders, turning to Dana and I, but I refuse to leave when she grabs hold of my arm. I’m not leaving Chase out here to face this on his own.

“Well isn’t this fucking convenient,” Riley’s father snarls as he leaps out of the car and makes his way towards us.

“Inside
now
!” Chase snaps when he turns to look at me.

“I’m not leaving you,” I say. He growls as he turns towards me, throws me over his shoulder and storms up the front steps.

“Don’t fucking move,” he says pointing his finger at me, before turning and walking back towards Riley’s dad.

He says something to Dana as he passes her, and she comes and stands beside me. We both watch on in horror as Chase walks right up to him, getting up in his face.

••••

Chase

“Get out of my face, Daniel’s,” he says as he pushes my chest.

“Not so tough now are you,
Benson
? You think it’s okay to leave marks on
my
woman? Why don’t you try that shit on me and see how far you get?” I almost say, ‘I’ll fuck you up like I did your son’, but thankfully I stop myself before letting that slip.

It’s not because I’m scared of this prick. He’s a fucking coward, just like his son. I gave sweet-cheeks my word that what happened between her and Riley would stay between us. I’m not going to break that promise.

“Do you know who you’re talking to, boy?” he says as he puffs out his chest.

“Yeah. A gutless piece of shit,” I spit as I get up in his face again. I don’t give a fuck if he thinks he’s above me because he’s the law. He’s as corrupt as they come, so he’ll get no fucking respect from me.

He grabs hold of my shirt, just as Pops pulls up behind
Benson’s
car. He jumps off his bike, tossing his helmet on the ground. “Get your filthy fuckin’ hands off my boy,” he screams as he barrels towards us. Fuck, this isn’t going to be pretty. I can already see the rage forming on my dad’s face. It’s the same look he gave my mum the day he showed up at the house and took me away from her.

Benson lets go of my shirt and shoves me back as he reaches under his jacket and retrieves a pistol from his holster. “Back the fuck off, Daniels,” he says to Pops as he raises his gun and points it in his direction.
Fuck.

“It’s gonna take more than a fuckin’ gun to stop me from gettin’ my hands on you, cocksucka. It’s about time someone taught you some fuckin’ manners.”

“Pops!” I hear Angel call out from the porch. She’d better keep her fucking arse up there, or so help me. Everything happens so fast, there’s no time to react. Benson lowers his gun slightly, and for a minute I think he’s going to put it away, but then he pulls the trigger, shooting Pops in the leg.

Lunging forward, I tackle him to the ground. “Chase,” Angel screams. I turn my head and see her break away from Dana’s hold, running towards me. Fucking hell. I don’t want her to be anywhere near this carnage.

Even though Pops has been shot, he’s still on his feet. He’s a tough fucking cookie that one. He reaches out for Angel as she approaches, placing her behind him, out of harm’s way. “Stay back, sweet-thing,” he says as he steps forward and stomps on the hand Benson’s holding the gun in.

“You just sealed your fate, fucker,” Pops growls as he leans forward putting all his weight on the foot that’s standing on
Benson’s wrist. He cries out in pain, but doesn’t let go of the gun. Blood is pissing out of Pops leg and running down his jeans. The murderous expression on his face is something I’ve never seen before.

“Take ya women and get in the fuckin’ house,” he says turning his attention to me. I’m still lying on top of Benson. If Pops thinks I’m going to get up and go inside, leaving him to face this on his own, he’s seriously mistaken.

“Not fucking happening,” I reply, looking up at him. He growls at me. I’ve never seen him so fired up.

“Get in the fuckin’ house, boy,” he screams. I’ve never defied him like this before. There’s no telling what he’s going to do. He raises his boot off Benson’s wrist and stomps back down, hard. The fucker cries out like the gutless prick he is.

This time he lets go of the gun, and Pops bends down to retrieve it off the ground, throwing it across the yard. “Now fuckin’ go,” he says through gritted teeth as his eyes narrow at me, daring me to defy him again.

When I still don’t move, he reaches down and grabs hold of my shirt. As he goes to pull me up off Benson he suddenly lets go, his hands come up clutching his chest. He’s gasping for air. My heart drops into the pit of my stomach when I see the tortured look on his face. Something is wrong, seriously wrong.

“Pops,” I call out as I quickly get to my feet. Just as I do, he collapses. Reaching out, I grab hold of him before he hits the ground. “Call an ambulance,” I scream to no one in particular.

After laying him down as gently as I can, I fall to my knees. This is my worst nightmare. “Pops,” I say in a panic, but he’s unresponsive. I don’t know what to do. I need to do something though; I can’t lose him. He’s all the family I have.

“Pops,” Angel cries softly, as she crouches down beside him. Her head moves down towards his, as she places her ear near his mouth. “Oh god, he’s not breathing.” My head starts to spin when she says that. Honestly, I feel like I’m going to pass out.

“Help me get him onto his back,” she says, but I can’t move. I’m frozen with fear. “Chase,” she screams, bringing me out of my haze. “Please, we need to get him on his back.” Tearing my eyes away from him, I seek out hers. “Please,” she begs. “I can help him, but I need you to help me roll him over.” The pleading look in her eyes has me doing what she’s asked.

Her words give me comfort. I’m so desperate for any kind of reassurance right now. I can’t lose him, I just can’t. I watch her hand go to the side of his neck as she feels for a pulse. Her head darts to the right, her eyes falling on the gunshot wound on his upper thigh.

“Give me your shirt.” I don’t hesitate when she asks. I pull it over my head. “Bunch it up, and press it over the wound. You need to stop the bleeding.” I do what she asks. Once that’s done, my eyes seek out hers again. I feel like I’m about to fall apart, but she remains calm. She seems to know exactly what she’s doing.

Thank fuck for that.

Opening his mouth, she looks inside, before pinching the bridge of his nose and placing her mouth over his. She blows two full breaths into him, before sitting back on her haunches and moving her hands to his chest. I watch as she places the heel of her palm on his breast bone, placing her other hand on top.

“One, two, three,” she counts softly. As she continues, she calls out, “Dana call an ambulance.” Not once do her eyes leave him.

“They’re on the way,” Dana says from behind me.

“Thirteen, fourteen, fifteen,” Angel continues to count until she gets to thirty, then she stops and moves to his mouth again, repeating the two breaths.

“He has a gunshot wound to the leg,” I hear Dana say. “Yes my friend’s giving him CPR now.” I presume she’s still on the phone with the paramedics, but I tune the rest of her conversation out as I watch my girl work on my dad.

She’s amazing.

“Twenty-four, twenty-five, twenty-six.” Out the corner of my eye I see Benson’s car back out of the driveway. Fucking coward. He’s running while he still has the chance. He’ll keep. Right now, he’s the least of my worries.

It seems like eternity passes before the ambulance arrives. More than likely it’s only been minutes, but Pops still isn’t moving. I listen as Angel explains what happened, and what she’s been doing.

“You did great, miss,” one of the paramedics say. “We’ll take over from here.” She moves to the side, giving them room to continue working on him. I watch as she gently brushes Pops hair back off his face.

“Don’t leave us,” she whispers as tears slide down her pretty face. What little resolve I have left almost crumbles. I’ll never forget what she did for my Pops today.
Fucking never.
Is it even possible for me to love my Angel any more than I already do?