Auto Mechanic for the Mafia

Chapter 29

Bex POV

I open my eyes and the pain hits me like a truck. I can't remember why though. Then the memories rush back.

The Mafia Ball. The drive home. The people in the SUV. I shot at them. Their car flipped. So did ours. Marco holding on to me. Marco. Marco. MARCO.

Shit. Where is he? I try to look around at my surroundings. The car is wrecked. I can see out the shattered front window of the car. All the windows around me are shattered, the dashboard completely destroyed, and the walls of the car look either caved in or smashed. My door is missing.

I try to turn my head, but it hurts and makes me dizzy. I probably have a concussion. I am sitting in the drivers seat. Wait. Wasn't Marco sitting here, and I was on top of him? I fight back the tears of pain and nausea and whip my head around more, searching for him.

I start to panic when I can't see him. Where is he? 

"Marco! MARCO! WHERE ARE YOU!"

I start hyperventilating. He is not in the car. My head is turning, I'm scrambling to get out of here. What if I didn't kill all the people in the SUV and they took him? What if he flew out the window on impact? What if he's dead?

I try to calm my breathing and get out of the car. I crawl out the side where my door should be, and attempt to stand up. I wince when I put my weight on my left leg, I think having my knees bent while straddling Marco on impact was not a good idea. My knee feels like it's dislocated, even though I can tell it's not. But the pain is almost unbearable.

I try to move around the car, to the road, when I hear voices.

"The guys that Bex shot out, they are Mexicans. Look at the tattoos."

"I was wondering why they didn't make an appearance at the Ball, they were probably waiting for you guys."

"This means war, they actually tried to kill you Marco. Attempting to assassinate a Mafia Don breaks the treaty, so even though we knew and they knew that we are at each others throats, it will now be official in the Mafia world, unless we can keep it quiet."

"Thank God for Bex. Killing some of Miguel's men will for sure send a message that we aren't here to play."

"That's my best friend, she a bad ass bitch!"

"You should have seen her Enzo. We were going full speed in a chase and she just got on top of me and started shooting out the window like my queen."

All the voices sound familiar, even though I can't place them. But the mention of Enzo, and that last voice for sure was Marco. I let out a sigh of relief, almost crying at the knowledge and ease I feel that Marco is alive and well enough to talk.

I stumble around the car. "Marco, are you there?" I say.

I look into the dark night, I must have not been passed out for too long, and I can see all the boys whip their heads to me at the sound of my voice. They start running towards me instantly. I collapse as soon as Marco gets to me first , he is trembling, as he cups my jaw lightly, looking me over for injuries. 

He kisses me, so lightly I could cry, and then sits behind me, to support my back so I can sit up. I notice that he doesn't let go, keeping contact with me the whole time.

"I'm so sorry. So sorry. I put you in danger and if something happened to you it would have been my fault. I'm so sorry Principessa." he exclaims, sounding so shaken.

The boys are now surrounding me too. I ask, "Why didn't anyone get me out of the car? What happened after we crashed?"

Enzo speaks up. "I was almost at the base when I saw that the emergency button in Marco's car had been hit. I raced back, following the GPS to find you guys. Bex, I was so worried. Anyways, I get there and 2 seconds later the rest of the guys showed up. All I could see was the SUV on fire, and the bullet holes peppering the sides and tires of the car."

Rosco continues. "We surrounded the car, but found all the men inside to be dead, if not, they must have fled before we got here. Then we started looking for you. It's very dark out here, and Marco's car is black so that didn't help. The GPS signal died, probably because the car is wrecked. We were in a panic because nobody could find you or Marco."

Gio adds on. "Finally, I saw the car is a ditch to the side. Marco had been flung out slightly, and was on the road beside the car. He was fine though. But when we tried to wake you up, you didn't stir, and we didn't want to move you in case you had a spinal injury. We were just about to call our medics."

I nod my head and think everything over. Marco is still silent. Clutching me like I am a 5 year old's teddy bear. I give the boys a look saying in my eyes to go give us some space. 

Angelo catches on and says, "Ok, we should go see if there are any weapons in the car that we can confiscate, and then we need to destroy the evidence. It's possible that the fire the SUV created when it exploded alerted people. The police could be on the way."

The boys walk away. Enzo looking back to shoot me a smile, his eyes however betray this smile as he looks wearily at Marco, who is not saying anything. 

I scoot around so now we are facing each other, knees touching, my left leg sticking out though to protect my knee from any more damage. Marco is looking down at the ground, his hands which are now in mine shaking. His curls are covering his eyes, and he won't look at me.

"Marco, baby, look at me. Are you hurt? Are you ok?" I say. I reach out and put my hand on his jaw, forcing his head to look up at me. The look in his eyes of unbearable sadness and utter defeat breaks my heart.

He manages to spit out, still avoiding eye contact. "I'm so selfish. So so so so damn selfish. What was I thinking to put you in this life? To not break off this relationship before someone would come after us. If you are with me, you are always in danger. Always. I can't do that to you. I don't deserve you. I am so so sorry. For everything."

He finally looks up at me, his eyes are red and filled with unshed tears. Before he can say another word I grab him and haul him into me. His face falls into the crook of his neck, and I can feel those wet tears finally falling. I rub his back and play with his hair. I kiss his forehead sigh.

"I am ok. Baby, I am ok. I am not gravely injured, just a little hurt. But I don't regret it at all. I don't regret us at all. I am not going to leave just because of the risks. I care about you and I need you, and we will fight together." I say.

We stay there holding on to each other so tight, until Marco stops trembling and my tears that I didn't even realize were falling have stopped. The boys come back over, telling us we should go back to the base in case the police show up. 

I nod and go to stand up, but my knee buckles almost immediately. Marco without hesitation lifts me into his arms, and carries me to Enzo's car. We get in and Marco doesn't let go, still holding on to me.

The car ride is in a comfortable silence. All of us just ok with basking in the fact that we survived a potentially life ending situation. We get to the base and the boys trudge in, obviously exhausted.

The pounding in my head is so strong I can't even open my eyes. Marco seems to sense this and once he carries me into the house, he brings me to our room, puts me on the bed and leaves. He comes back with some Advil, water, and an ice pack.

I say jokingly. "So are you still up for fucking against a wall?"

Marco laughs at me, a bright, real laugh, making me smile. He kisses my cheek and says, "Later Principessa."

I take the Advil and the water as Marco helps me get out of the dress and put on a shirt. We lie in bed together, holding each other, comforted with the other's presence. I find peace in his warmth and can finally fall asleep.