Submitting to My Best Friend's Dad by Scarlett Rossi
Chapter 541 -

*Tallon*

Red.

Like the first sip of freshly poured wine I ever tasted, stolen from my dad's liquor cabinet and passed around until it was empty and just perfect for spinning on the wood floor.

Red like the very first stop sign I ran when I snuck out to head to a concert. I didn't even remember who played, but I remembered the color of my dad's face when I got brought home by two cops and a car I hadn't gotten permission to take that now sported a brand-new dent on the side.

Red like the color of her lips on our first date-such a pretty color that shined in the light. Her lips parted with every smile and giggle as she left marks in the shape of her lips on my collar.

Red was the color of how I felt about her, the color of her dress and my cheeks when I first saw her in it, the color of love and passion and everything good in the world.

But it was also now splattered all across my hands.

I stared blankly at them, lying sideways on the couch in the safe house, where I hadn't moved for the last six hours since we'd gotten here.

Someone had taken the time to throw a blanket over me. I hadn't even noticed until now that it was red just like my hands, like my shirt and my pants, and the blood as it trailed on the floor, leading to the pale face of the woman I loved as she bled all over, the red had poured out so quickly.

I didn't like the color red anymore.

The worst part about hospitals, which the safehouse was now, at least temporarily, was the waiting. I'd been through it more times than I could count, but this was different.

This was sheer agony.

My phone had been silent for the past few hours, and Vinny had promised to only call once he'd grabbed Ivan and Anton.

At this point, I didn't care if they were in a body bag or unrecognizable. The fact that that monster could do this to their own blood was enough to have signed his death warrant and over.

My mind kept racing back to that moment-the flash of silver from the gun pointed at Natalia's crumpled form on the ground.

I had tried to be fast enough. I thought I was fast enough. But the moment victory had coursed through my blood, the moment I'd finally remembered the woman I loved and searched for her, expecting to see her exhausted and bruised but alright and happy to see me like I was her, she'd been bleeding out against the goddamn wall, calling my name like it was the last thing she would ever utter.

I had failed to protect her.

And she was paying the price for my mistakes.

But finally, after hours and hours of endless waiting and wondering, I heard the door to the surgery room open. I jolted up from the couch, getting to my feet fast as lightning, and nearly fell from the whiplash.

The doctor bounded over to me in a few steps, grasping my arm to keep me steady and asking from under his medical mask, "Are you alright?"

I nodded shakily, noting with a grimace the blood on his blue scrubs. "Natalia?" I asked, my voice sounding like I hadn't spoken in over a year. Parched and raspy, I cleared my throat, asking the question a second time with better results. The doctor pulled off his mask, tucking it into the pocket of his scrubs as he gave me a hesitant smile.

"She'll be okay."

The relief that poured through every bone in my body was more than I could take, and I collapsed back onto the couch, holding my head in my hands as I breathed out, silently thanking everything in the universe that she was alive. The doctor patted me on the shoulder, giving me a moment to catch my breath, and once I looked up at him, giving me a shaky nod, he continued, "She lost a lot of blood, so she lost consciousness pretty quickly. But the injury was located in her shoulder, not vital at all. She's very lucky it wasn't in an area that would cause more serious injury."

"Thank you." I gave him the most grateful look I could muster when I hadn't slept the entire night and he nodded in appreciation, giving me a small smile.

"She's resting, but you can go see her. She'll need to be monitored for a few nights, whether here or at the hospital, but she'll make a full recovery soon enough."

"I'd like to keep her here, at least for now," I told him quietly. "I don't want to move her, not when the reason she's like this is still out there. Once we have this situation handled, we'll transfer her."

"That's perfectly fine," the doctor agreed easily. "Now, I believe you have someone waiting to see you. She'll be a bit groggy from the medication, but I know for a fact she'll want to see you."

I wasn't as confident about that as he sounded. I glanced at the room he had just come from, swallowing uncomfortably as I debated with myself. The doctor turned around to head to one of the other rooms, giving me some space. But before he could fully leave, I called out to him.

"How do you know she wants to see me?" I asked nervously. I'd failed her, after all. I was the reason she's like this.

The doctor smiled over his shoulder, a reassuring and confident one as he said quite bluntly, "Because your name was the first thing she said when she woke up."

With that, he left into the other rooms, already moving on like he hadn't just shaken up my entire worldview and saved the life of the woman I loved in just a few hours.

I glanced from the door where I knew she was just behind and then at the phone which had yet to ring. Now that I knew she was safe, there was one thing I needed to do before I went in there and lost my composure entirely.

I grabbed my phone, already speed-dialing and luckily, he picked up on the first ring.

"Hey," Vinny answered. "How is she?"

"Alive," I answered. "What about Ivan?"

"Well, hear for yourself." I could almost hear his smirk as there was a beep like he'd pushed a button and I suddenly heard a very loud and angry string of Russians being yelled out at the top of their lungs.

I could only make out a few words, mainly swears but from the sound of skin connecting to skin, loud and sounding very much like it hurt, I could generally tell what was happening.

"Punch him in the face for me," I growled.

"With pleasure." Vinny gave a short bark of laughter, absolutely merciless as he followed through immediately. I heard the blow as if I was really there, the crack of his neck as it swung to the side, even the blunt force of the knuckles across what I assumed was the cheek.

"Fucking-"

I couldn't tell what the rest of it was, only the loud slurs and curses in Russian pouring out from a very angry Russian with what I suspected was now a bruised jaw and missing one or two teeth.

I smirked, actually cheering up a little bit at hearing the bastard's misery. After what he did, everything he caused, he deserved every piece of pain we could dish out.

"Alessandro's having a field day," Vinny said rather matter-of-factly. "I'm just here to make sure he doesn't kill them. Ivan and Anton are not having a pleasant day, if that makes you feel any better."

"A little bit," I admitted, smiling for the first time in days.

There was a reason Vinny was my best friend, and it wasn't just his sense of humor, even if that was most of his personality. He was the most loyal bastard I'd ever had the pleasure of meeting.

"Well, Ivan's claiming he wants to take that deal now so whenever you're ready, I think we can finally solve this bullshit and bury it in the ground where it belongs," Vinny told me casually. "But you'd better stay with your girl, at least for a bit. Getting shot can be pretty painful, and she looks rather-" He paused, hesitating over his next word.

I raised an eyebrow, wondering if he was going to say it outright.

"Delicate," Vinny finished lamely.

"Nice save," I smirked. "I'll be there soon. After I see Natalia, I'll head over."

"Ooh, goody. We get to have a little more fun with them," Vinny said cheerfully.

"Don't go too crazy," I warned him, grinning as I immediately heard another smack across the phone and more strings of Russian, this time from both of the Russian men.

"No promises," Vinny replied, and then the phone call went dead just like I expected.

I chuckled to myself, tucking my phone into my pocket as I took a deep breath and got to my feet.

I was more nervous than I expected as I faced the door, but despite how utterly terrified I was, I needed to see her more. Gently, I pushed open the door, trying to remain quiet as I slipped inside, shutting it behind me.

There was a white curtain surrounding a hospital bed, various machines, and an IV hooked up on either side, and from the doorway, all I could see was the lump of her feet tucked under blankets and the hint of her arm, the wires and tubes shockingly present against her pale skin.

I stepped around the curtain, my heart lurching as I saw more and more of what her uncle had done to her. There were bruises around her wrists and up and down her arms, even more so a very red and angry-looking one across her jawline. Her entire upper torso was wrapped in bandages, double padding around her shoulder where the wound was but I could already see hints of red peeking through the white. I approached slowly and carefully, watching her stable heart rate and the fall and rise of her chest just to make sure she was still alive and breathing.

That this wasn't a dream and I was still cradling her limp body, red pouring out all over the floor.

"Tallon."

The murmur was so soft I almost didn't hear it and my eyes widened, stuck on her feet as her eyes softly fluttered open, like she had sensed my presence and reacted without knowing. She turned her head to the side, her blue eyes more foggy than normal but I could see she was still aware.

She smiled, soft and small but it was enough.

I grabbed her hand, leaning over the bed as I brushed back her long hair and placed a tender kiss on the middle of her forehead.

"I love you," I murmured to her skin, finally getting the words I had longed to say out and in the air. I heard her give a small giggle, beaming like she wasn't stuck in a hospital room and had been shot by her asshole uncle.

My heart grew warm as she whispered back exactly what I had needed to hear.

"I love you, too."