Chapter 31 Thirty One
Annie stood there, a pistol in her right hand.
“I thought you were…”
“Dead? I can't be dead not after surviving six months at your place.” She scowled, tucking a few strands of hair behind her ears. “Anyways, that bastard's men will be here soon, I'll explain later.” Sound of footsteps approached the basement and Dylan's face lit up, he was in high spirits.
“Sure, milkweed.” They cocked their guns waiting for the men to come in.
Lucian's men rushed in charging at them. Annie backed the wall, killing anyone who came close. This was her first time, and she felt her heart race, aware of the sweat that trickled down her face, the way strands of hair clung to her skin and how her knuckles ached from pulling the trigger, but she couldn't make time to care. Amy was in danger— that was all that mattered.
“Fuck I'm out of magazines!” Annie hurled her pistol charging head on, her breathing grew rasp. Every second was occupied and there was no moment to rest. Soon, she lost balance, her head hitting the floor.
One of the men rushed at her, but couldn't get there in time as a bullet went past his head and into his brain.
Dylan hissed, walking to the already exhausted Annie. “You're not used to this,” he murmured. “Behind you.”
Swiftly, Dylan struck his elbow in the man's throat. “I know.”
He held her by the waist pulling her up. “Let's look for Lucian, the Winters are helping,” he urged.
Annie walked towards Amy, but stopped midway at the sound of a gunshot. The room went from warm to cold and the calm but sinister atmosphere changed to one more deadly. The sound of dragging shoes and as he appeared before them, he held up a pad.
“You don't need to look for me, I came just in time, brother.” Lucian said, making a failed attempt to humour them. “Stop this, you bastard!” Dylan raged.
“Remember the kid's here, no swear words, cousin.”
Dylan glanced over his shoulders at where Amy stood shivering in fear. “What are you up to?” He asked and the young man laughed menacingly. “What am I up to? Are you that dumb, Dylan Xavier or you're trying to play the victim-” he moved his gaze from his enemy to Amy, then continued. “-The only victim here is Amelia… oh, not yet, but soon.” Lucian pressed the button on the pad and the time bomb began counting down.
60…59…
“Right, she's the one you should be worried about, not me!” Lucian snickered ominously. Everything was going according to his plan, Dylan was helpless.
“Deal with your brother while I try to detonate the bomb!” Annie cried running towards Amy.
“Annie! Am I going to die?” She whimpered, tears rolling down her swollen eyes. “You're not, Amy. Let's be brave for daddy.” The little girl nodded, wiping her tears.
Dylan stared at his cousin, hatred and rage clouding his vision and judgments. He inserted his magazines and aimed at Lucian. “Come at me brother. Shoot the fucking gun!” He urged and threw his own pistol to the floor, walking close to him until the muzzle rested on his chest.
“You can't…” Dylan pulled the trigger ready to kill. With a swift move, Lucian hit the gun off his hands making the bullet hit the wall.
“Bastard!” He flung punches at Dylan but he dodged, giving him a smack down.
“The great Dylan Xavier fighting a mere man, what a pity!” Quickly, he rose from the floor and charged at him in an attempt to strike his jaw, but ended up giving him a blow on the neck.
Dylan fell to the floor breathing hard. He cracked his knuckles, blood trickling from his nose. This was one of the things he loved the most— the metallic smell of blood.
He lunged towards Lucian, throwing him off balance to the floor and locked his arm. “You… what did I ever do to you!” Lucian screamed and reached for Dylan's gun which was a few metres away from him. Not giving him any chance to think, Dylan punched him on the face till he was sure his nose was broken.
Lucian pushed him off his body with all his strength and made for the gun. “I should be the one asking you that goddamned question!” Dylan barked trying to control his raspy breathing, but doing that was hard in this situation.
The young man in the turtle neck cocked the gun and pointed it at him. “Fool!” Dylan cursed running directly towards him, but before his cousin could pull the trigger, he gave him an uppercut that sent him crashing to the floor.
Lucian sat up, his body shaking from the hits. He spat out, but instead of spit was bright red blood. “You could've accepted me, but you turned away from your family…” he looked up at Dylan who stood before him, ready to take his life.
“Then…” he coughed, blood staining his turtleneck. “… I decided that I would take everything from you! You were so happy with Anastasia and so I Killed her…” a throaty laugh escaped his lips. “... The look on your face in her death was so satisfying. I wanted to do it all over again. And now, even if I end up dying, your little princess will join me!” He bellowed in fury, his eyes covered in blood. He raised the pad and smashed it on the floor. Dylan screamed and attacked without thinking. Lucian smirked carrying a lighter from his pocket, he lit it burning his cousin's neck.
Dylan screamed, rage fully blinding him, he jabbed his jaw.
“Dylan! 12 seconds left” Annie yelled and panic settled in.
Lucian snickered evilly, his eyes fully red. “Your daughter won't survive!”
Punch.
“No matter the fuck you…”
Punch.
“Die!” Dylan cried, hitting him with all his strength.
“Ten Dylan! Do something”
Leaving an unconscious Lucian, he hurried to the pad and stared at it. The pad was half broken, black ink staining the screen, but luckily the buttons were not damaged. There were so many buttons that he got confused.
“Eight!” Annie wept. Dylan wasn't going to give up. “Just hope I press the right…”
He felt a sharp pain in his sides. He turned to see Lucian, a devious smile crawled its way to his lips. Blood gushed from his sides, Lucian had stabbed him.
“Die!”
Dylan with haste took out the pocket knife from his trousers and struck his own cousin in the heart.
“Two!” He carried the pad and pressed the green button.
One.
He shut his eyes waiting for the worst, but as Annie screamed, he knew he had clicked the right button. He stood wincing in pain, The bastard of a cousin stabbed him on the waist and it was bleeding. Dylan removed his shirt and tied the wound to stop the bleeding. His pain didn't matter, his concern was his daughter.
Lucian lay on the floor covered in blood, his suit jacket turning a darker colour and his face pale and lifeless.
Dylan stared fixedly at his cousin, his eyes watered, but there was no time to cry because Annie shouted his name.
“Daddy!” Amy yelled elated while running to him. She hugged him and he winced.
“Dylan's injured, Amy, take it easy,” Annie cautioned but didn't pull her away from him.
Annie watched them, they seemed so happy together and that was what she wanted. She shifted her gaze to the lifeless body of Lucian and wondered how one could go this far slightly commending his patience and determination.
“What are you thinking?” Dylan asked, calling her back to reality. Annie shrugged, “You fought so well, Mr Xavier” she joked and he laughed. “How about we tell each other all that happened since you know… after I …” Annie kissed him to stop him from stuttering.
“You go first,” she said and it was his turn to shrug. “Amy stopped speaking with me and I felt so bad, milkweed, I didn't shower for days and basically fasted too, but in sorrow. Blaming myself felt so easy…anyone could blame themselves. What I felt was overwhelming until I was informed of Amy's abduction.”
The two said nothing for a while till Annie sighed deeply. “I really thought you were dead, milkweed, I couldn't forgive myself and guess what?” He didn't wait for her to respond, he continued, “they put peas in my food!” Annie laughed. “I thought you liked them”
“But you don't and I became used to eating without them!”
Annie breathed out, rubbing the bridge of her nose. “It wasn't your fault, Dylan. You were devastated. When I was in the hospital, I thought of so many reasons why you would want me dead and I found none, your mother was a moron and trust me, you handled her well,” she said, hoping to light him up a little. She did.
Dylan grinned, his smile reached his dark eyes as his pupils dilated.
“Tell me about you? How did my woman know I was in danger?” he inquired, touching her lips, they were still soft.
Her heart skipped at the words, she could never get tired of this man. He was dangerous but yet had a soft heart.
Annie observed Amy, the young girl was examining the bullets on the floor and as she opened her mouth to object, she realized this was the life they lived; all guns and love.
“The doctor said I could've died, you know, but I guess it wasn't my time yet. The surgery somehow was successful -” she explained tapping her chest area. “But I needed to heal and take some time away from you to reason all that happened. I kept thinking about what happened and even planned to leave even though I knew that if I did, I would be wanted by the police…”
“I'm running an investigation underground, you don't need to worry,” Dylan cut her short, making an attempt to assure her. Annie shrugged and continued.
“Sophia told me about your quarrel with your mother, how she brought up your childhood and blamed you for everything including your father's death— well, she kept me updated about you, and that's how I found out about Amy's abduction.” Annie glanced over Dylan's shoulders where Amy now stood, this time feeling the detonated timebomb on the floor. “Wait, Sophia told you all that?” He asked and she grinned. “Yes and about how much of a crybaby you are.”
“I'll deal with her when we get home,” he said playfully and pulled her in for a hug, he grimaced from pain, but didn't stop hugging her.
“Let's go home, beautiful.”
The gates to Xavier's estate finally opened to the world and Dylan reconnected with his former allies. Mr Winters left immediately after the fight to take care of things in Paris.
Dylan came out from the shower, water droplets clung to his disheveled hair. He assessed Annie who lay on the bed, eyes closed. Her face seemed so innocent and after what she went through, he swore never to hurt her.
She yawned and opened her eyes. “Are you done?” She asked sleepily. “You're tired,” he said but it came out more like a question than a statement. Annie sat up, unaware that her gown hugged her breast. Dylan stared at it, his lips curled into a mischievous grin.
“What are you smiling at?” She inquired tracing his eyes to her breast. “Pervert!”
He laughed, going to her, he held her chin and put his lips on hers. She didn't object— that was how much she loved this man.
The temperature was warmer than usual as stars dotted the night sky. The serenity of the night felt a lot more peaceful and Annie hoped it would last forever. In less than a year, they had gone through hell and heaven and nothing was going to destroy the life they had created.
From a distance, a dog howled at the full moon.