Chapter 45 Ethan's pov
Chapter 45 Ethan's pov
I sat restless in the flower shop close to the café where Alex and his scumbag of an uncle were scheduled to meet. The thought of Alex meeting his uncle alone in a building filled with armed men made everything worse.
“I swear, if anything goes wrong, which I know it wouldn’t, I’ll hold you responsible,” I told Noah when we went through the plan one last time at the safe house.
He just nodded.
I could hear everything Alex and his uncle were saying through the earpiece. Every word. But the moment I heard the first gunshot, my heart nearly stopped. It took everything in me not to storm into the building and rip his uncle’s throat open with my bare hands.
Not long after the first shot, another rang out.And I heard Alex groan in pain.
I didn’t stop to think. I just stood up.
“Don’t you dare!” Noah’s voice came sharply through the earpiece. We had been communicating from the start of the meeting.
Joe Blackwood would definitely breathe his last if he hurt even a strand of hair on Alex’s head.
“Watch me,” I replied to Noah.
I left the flower shop and headed for the café immediately.
The guards,or rather, Joe’s lackeys, about four of them, pointed their guns in my direction the moment they spotted me.
“Hands in the air!” one of them shouted.
I hesitated, but for Alex, I complied.
When I got closer, another guy rushed forward and restrained me.
“Keep them up where I can see them,” he ordered.
“What’s all the fuss about? You already know I’m unarmed. What’s there to be scared of?” I asked, a smirk tugging at my lips.
“Shut it,” was the only response I got.
One of them ran inside quickly and returned moments later, whispering something to his fellow lackey. They dragged me into the café with my hands still raised.
Joe nodded in my direction, and Alex turned around to look at me. He wore a confused expression. I knew he was wondering why I was there,why I wasn’t waiting until things were truly out of control.
I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself if something happened to him.
Joe started rambling about how I was Alex’s weakness, using it to pressure him into signing the papers. One of the men placed a gun against my temple.
“Don’t… please don’t,” Alex pleaded. His voice was filled with fear.
Joe did not have the right to make Alex beg. That was the moment I made up my mind. Joe Blackwood would die by my hands, and I would take my time doing it.
Alex was about to sign the damn papers when suddenly the glass wall of the café shattered inward, and the man who had held a gun to my head dropped dead.
“Perfect timing, Rico,” I muttered to myself.
Rico was an ex-sniper from the military. We had served together. He retired early due to an incident that injured his legs, and I later brought him into my security team.
The body collapsed, dragging me down with it. And everything went to shit.
I cut my restraints with a shard of glass, slicing my palm in the process. I didn’t feel it. Not really, I just needed to get Alex out of this place.
The moment I freed myself I got to him, helped him up, and we fought our way out through the back door of the café only to come face-to-face with three armed men.
My men were faster.
They took them out.
We made it back to the penthouse, and I led Alex straight to the bathroom, peeling his bloody clothes off. I sent a quick text to Noah in the process.
“Safe and unharmed.”
I needed him to know.
While unbuttoning Alex’s shirt, he caught my hand and stared at the cut on my palm, worry and guilt written all over his face.
“Does this hurt? You don’t have to answer—I know it hurts. I’m sorry. You got hurt because of me.”
How was he still this adorable, even now?
“No, I did not. I got hurt because of that monster that calls himself your uncle.”
I needed him to understand that none of this was his fault.
I pressed my lips to his gently, tasting him. My tongue slipped into his mouth, slow and deliberate, like I was trying to memorize him, like I needed proof he was still here.
The doorbell rang.
Again, and again.
“Wait here. I’ll be back,” I told him and left.
I grabbed my gun from the couch and opened the door carefully, ready to attack whoever had the audacity to interrupt us.
Instead, I found Dr. Karl standing there with her medical kit, smiling.
“Are you going to shoot, or drop the gun and invite me in?” she asked sarcastically.
“Shit. Come in. I forgot I texted you.”
“Ouch.” She placed a hand over her chest dramatically. “That hurts. But I forgive you anyway. Double my pay this month, and I’ll add the ‘forgot’ part to the forgiveness.”
She pulled me into a brief hug and walked past me.
Dr. Karl was my personal doctor. Over the years, we had become friends.
“I’m guessing you’re the patient,” she said.
I turned to see Alex leaning against the wall.
“Yeah, obviously,” he replied, his voice low and uninterested.
"Come sit." She said
“I thought I told you to wait inside?” I said, but he glared at me before following her to the couch.
I sat opposite them as she tended to his wounds.
“Done. Try not to get this wet,especially this one,” she said, pointing at the cut made by the gun. Then she turned to me. “You want me to check that out?”
Her gaze went from mine to my palm.
“Yes.”
She cleaned the cut carefully. When I looked up, I caught Alex staring at her like he was about to tear her apart.
Is my pretty boy jealous right now?
I smiled.
When he noticed, he looked away instantly.
To say I enjoyed it was an understatement.
Dr. Karl finished up and headed for the door. As I walked her out, she leaned closer and whispered, “I like him. I hope he’s worth all the trouble.”
“He is,” I replied softly.
I closed the door and turned back around.
Alex was standing with his arms crossed, jaw tight.
“You seemed very comfortable with her,” he said.
“She’s my doctor.”
“And she was touching you.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Jealous?”
He scoffed. “Don’t flatter yourself.”
I stepped closer anyway.
“Oh really.”
He hesitated, then looked at me fully.
“Why didn’t you tell me you had shares in Blackwood Empire?”
I wasn't expecting that. The question hit me like a gunshot.
I froze.