Chapter 230 230

Chapter 230 230


She slammed both hands down hard over his ribs, desperately trying to seal the wound. The sickening warmth of his blood was already soaking through her fingers, staining the fabric of her gown, but she barely registered it.

“Lucas, open your eyes!”

Nothing. Not even a twitch.

“Lucas!” Her voice cracked, unspooling into a terrified sob. “Please...”

He lay completely still against the cold floor, the color draining from his face until he looked ghost-white under the harsh lights.

Blair reached up with one blood-stained hand and gently shook his shoulder. “Look at me. Look at me, Lucas!”

No response.

“Please, Lucas. Please, just open your eyes.”

Her hands were trembling so violently she could barely keep steady pressure on his side, her heart hammering wildly against her ribs as panic threatened to completely swallow her whole.

“MOMMY!”

Blair’s head whipped around toward the sound.

Mave was standing just a few feet away, clutching his little spaceship to his chest, his small body shaking with heavy, terrified sobs.

“Daddy!”

Tears streamed down the boy's flushed cheeks. “Daddy, wake up!”

Blair’s heart shattered into a thousand pieces. “Mave—”

She reached a hand out toward him on pure instinct, but she couldn't tear herself away from Lucas. She couldn't let go of his chest.

Before Mave could run any closer to the pool of blood, Alexander was there.

He dropped to his knees beside the boy, wrapping his arms around him and pulling him securely against his chest. “Come here, buddy.”

“No!” Mave writhed in his grip, his desperate eyes locked on the floor. “Daddy!”

“I know, Mave. I know.” Alexander held him firmly, shielding the boy’s line of sight with his own body. “Your daddy is going to be okay.”

Mave buried his face against Alexander's collar, sobbing hysterically. “But Daddy is bleeding!”

“I know,” Alexander said quietly. His voice stayed steady and grounded, even as his sharp eyes scanned Lucas's motionless form and the dark stain spreading across the marble. “That’s why the doctors are on their way right now.”

“I want Mommy!” Mave wailed into his shoulder.

Alexander glanced over at Blair. She was still on her knees, tears spilling silently down her face as she pressed both hands against Lucas’s side, completely consumed by the effort to keep him alive.

“I want Mommy!”

“Mommy is helping Daddy right now,” Alexander murmured, tightening his hold on the little boy and gently rubbing his back. “Let her help him.”

Mave just cried harder, his tiny fingers digging into Alexander’s jacket. “Daddy!”

The ballroom had descended into complete chaos.

Guests were crying, shouting, and scrambling away from the center of the room.

Alexander stood right in the middle of the madness, holding Mave tightly in his arms. His face had gone completely cold, all warmth draining into something else.
“Lock the ballroom down,” Alexander commanded.

One of his lead security detail immediately pressed his hand to his earpiece. “Yes, sir.”

“Close every single exit,” Alexander added, his voice cutting cleanly through the noise. “Nobody leaves this room.”

“On it, sir.”

Alexander’s eyes flashed upward, sharp as a blade. “The shooter was up on the second-level balcony.”

Two armed guards immediately bolted toward the central stairwell.

“Take the east corridor too,” Alexander barked after them. “Check every service entrance on that wing.”

They vanished up the steps.

Mave lifted his tear-streaked face from Alexander’s shoulder, his little chest heaving. “Uncle Alex…”

Alexander looked down at the boy, his expression softening just a fraction. “I’m right here, buddy.”

“Daddy…”

“I know, buddy.” He pulled Mave a little tighter against his chest. “Your daddy has doctors coming right now.”

\---

Upstairs, heavy footsteps thundered down the narrow hallway.

“Check every room!”

“Nothing in here!”

“Search the service hallway!”

The guards split off in pairs. One of them reached the open balcony overlook.

Empty.

The heavy velvet curtains were still swaying slightly, caught in a subtle breeze where the shooter had slipped through them moments before.

“Sir!”

Down below, Alexander’s attention snapped upward to the guard leaning over the rail.

“We found his position!”

Two security men carefully swept the balcony floor. Near the gilded railing, they found a discarded piece of dark fabric caught against a sharp metal edge. Right beside it, resting on the carpet, was a single spent shell casing.

Another guard crouched low, shining a tactical light over the floor. “There are footprints.” He pointed straight toward the dimly lit service corridor. “He came through here.”

They followed the trail with weapons drawn, moving quickly through the narrow staff passage at the back of the building.

They reached the final heavy door and shoved it open.

It led straight out into the night air.

Empty. The alley was silent, save for the hum of distant traffic.

“He’s gone,” the guard muttered into his shoulder mic. “Shooter escaped through the rear service exit.”

The sound of frantic, heavy footsteps echoed from the main entrance.

“Paramedics coming through!”

Two emergency responders rushed into the ballroom carrying heavy medical bags, their shoes squeaking against the polished floor.

Blair immediately snapped her head up. “Here! Over here!”

They dropped to their knees beside Lucas.

“Sir, can you hear me?” One of the paramedics pressed two fingers against Lucas’s neck to check for a pulse, while the other pulled a pair of trauma shears from his vest and began carefully cutting away the blood-soaked fabric of his shirt.

Blair’s hands remained clamped tight against his side, red liquid trickling over her knuckles.

“Ma’am, we need to take over now.”

“I can help,” she insisted instantly, her voice strained.

“Ma’am, we need room to work.”

“No.” Her voice trembled, raw with panic. “I’m staying.”

The paramedic glanced up at her, his tone firm. “Ma’am—”

“I’m not leaving him!” She refused to budge, her body shaking violently as hot tears spilled over her lashes.

“Blair.”

Alexander’s voice came softly from right behind her.

She flicked her tear-filled eyes back to him. He was still holding a trembling Mave tightly against his chest.

“He needs them to work,” Alexander said gently.

Blair looked back down at Lucas. He was so pale, his face completely slack under the bright lights.

The paramedic was already laying out sterile pads and prep kits. “We need to stabilize his breathing before we can move him to the rig.”

Blair slowly, painfully pulled her hands away.

Her palms were completely painted in his blood. She stared down at her trembling hands for a stunned second, a shudder running through her frame, before looking back into the paramedic’s eyes.

“Please,” she whispered, her voice cracking. “Please save him.”

“We’re doing everything we can, ma’am.”

The paramedics moved with practiced, rapid coordination.

“Keep direct pressure here.”

“Got it.”

“His blood pressure is dropping—we need an IV in now.”

“Prepare the stretcher! Let’s get him ready to transport!”

Blair’s heart hammered violently against her ribs. She stayed crouched on the floor just inches away, watching every desperate movement, unable to look away from Lucas's still face.

A few yards away, one of Alexander’s senior security officers hurried over, his face rigid.

“Sir.”

Alexander turned his attention away from the floor. “What is it?”

The guard stepped close, lowering his voice into a sharp whisper. “We just finished sweeping the balcony.”

Alexander’s eyes narrowed into a dangerous slit.

“The shooter's line of sight was angled,” the guard murmured, leaning in. “He was positioned directly above Miss Blair.”