Chapter 29

Carlos blinks at the chaos surrounding him. The table splintered, the couch ruined, almost all the kitchen appliances destroyed and several bullet holes dotted around. Oh...and the bodies. 

They had entered through the door of course, battered it down and barged in armed. 

At that point training had kicked in. Muscle memory combined with a spell of cold anger meant Carlos could barely remember his actions. The first four that came in were straight head shots but they'd managed to get their fair share of blindly splattering bullets around his apartment. The next four were smarter. One of them managed to get in a shoulder shot. It had brazed him, nothing of significance but it had been enough to shock him into recoiling giving the men enough of an opportunity to step through the threshold to his sanctuary. They'd fanned out, two slowly advancing towards him with trained weapons on him while the other two sunk towards the hallway...towards Lola. The ones advancing to Lola had been his first priority and taking them out meant leaving himself vulnerable for the other two. Surprisingly they hadn't take the kill shots, instead they'd twisted the gun from his hand.

"Hombre, we're just here for the girl."

In his state of mind, Carlos hadn't allowed himself to think but rather just...do. The killer, the dark part of himself that was born of Castellano blood and bred by Alberto had resurfaced and played the puppeteer.

 

It was a hand-to-hand combat in which Carlos was faintly aware of his own movements compared to theirs. All that had been niggling in his mind, stored away to analyse later was these were no immediate threat of death. Unfortunately, 'hombre' died. Well...as a matter of speaking. The other one, he'd managed to hold onto. Pinned to the floor and unconscious, Carlos had grabbed the only thing he could think of to restrain the man-the extension cord. It's not like he had rope lying around (he's not Christian Grey). And since nothing else would do in a pinch, the extension cord it had been. Call it paranoia or call it sadism but for added safety, Carlos dislocated the man's thumb and broke each finger to ensure that he wouldn't be leaving anytime soon even if he does manage to regain consciousness soon. Carlos had then stood and taken a minute to assess.

 


Leading back to the present where he blinks again at the damage, but it's all inconsequential since it's all just material things that can easily be replaced. The only thing of value to him sits locked up tight in the safe room behind his closet. Next his eyes scan over the men. They're kitted out in all black combat gear void of any logo. He checks the pockets of one of the men to find only ammunition and no forms of ID. Trained, he notes to his checklist. Trained and after Lola. Why on earth would they be after Lola? Him, he can understand. Him, he would guess it to be a assessment of his strength, a challenge for the position of the new Don of the town but Lola? Who the hell has anything to gain from taking out her? Who would even know of her attachment to him? Granted it's not exactly been concealed very well. Anyone with half a brain could figure it out. After all she did work at L'Anime which Joseph owns now and people could easily find Joseph and him were friends in college, leading to the conclusion he's involved with her. But as crude as it sounds, he's been involved with women before, both pre- and post- Valentina. Why would they assume Lola is anything special? Unless...she has some sort of secret in her past she hasn't shared and he couldn't find.

Either way he can't speculate right now. He needs to move and move fast. God knows if there are more of these hired goons coming. So first thing first, he needs to get Lola somewhere safe. Yeah. Protect. Clean up. Then...interrogate.

************************************

"Sweetheart? Lola? It's me, I'm coming in, okay? Don't shoot."

It sounds like Carlos. Oh God, it sounds so much like him. And the relief filling her body from hearing his low voice is instantaneous but she doesn't trust herself. What if it's not Carlos? After all, she thought she heard gun shots and that's just crazy. She thought she heard furniture being destroyed and that's simply ludicrous and after all that there was silence. Not silence in her mind because that's whizzing away at a nonsensical speed but silence everywhere else. Only why would there be silence? Unless everyone's dead and if-

"Lola, piccola, it's okay. It's okay cara. Let go of the gun for me now, I've got you."
The soft soothing whisper beside her knocks her off her balance. Her stiff fingers are pried away from the object they're holding and her entire frozen body is huddled into a warmer one. One promising safety and comfort.
"I'm sorry, sweetheart. I'm sorry but I can't have you falling apart now. I need you here with me. Do you understand? Lola?"

Her eyes blink up at him, not taking in his face before that fogginess finally clears.
"Carlos? You're...here," she croaks out in a slight whisper.
"Yes. Yes I'm here and we need to go. Now."
This is obviously a lot for her. She is after all a well adjusted female and any normal person would freak out at this situation. He understands that. But none of that will help if she's dead.
Lola has a moment of frustrating confusion and unwarranted anger towards him before she shakes herself clear of it. It's not his fault. He's helping her. He's doing his best to be gentle with her and she needs to step it up. Allowing herself to feel all that fear, anger and confusion now will only drag them down and that may just get them killed. So she pushes it aside, locks up all the emotion into a dark steel cage and places it in the corner of her brain so she can become the mechanical being Carlos needs her to be right now.


 

"Good girl," he states encouragingly, "now, go to your room. Under the bed there's a suitcase. Pack a few pairs of clothes and essentials only. Don't think just move, okay sweetheart?"
She gives him a head nod.
"Alright, I'll be right there too. I need to grab a few things from here and my study."

Another head nod before she's hauled up to her feet.

With a kiss to her temple, Lola marches to her room, pointedly stopping herself from glancing over in the hallway to the living room.

*********************************

She's almost done by the time he joins her, his own bag slung over his shoulder. Zipping up the suitcase, he meets her eyes dead on.
"As much as I would like you to keep your eyes closed as we move through the living room I know you won't. So do not stop, got it? Don't stare, just keep moving."
Just how bad is it? His words do nothing to easy the terror she feels and for one second Lola is almost afraid of him. Yet however bad it is, Lola knows that everything he did, he did to protect them.

With him bringing up the rear carrying the bags, Lola has no option but to stalk through the living room, trying not to brace. She can't help but stalling though at the mess...at the bodies. Oh God, there's even one guy tied up in an extension cord and if everything else wasn't so horrific that may have been funny. Her stomach heaves as she switches her gaze to the slumped bodies, eyes drifting to one of them with his eyes still wide open and a hole through his throat. Oh God! Definitely going to throw up now.
"Eyes forward, keep moving Lola," snaps Carlos from behind her with a hand to her mid back, urging her forwards.

 Her feet stumble in that general direction before she takes a moment to tear her eyes away from Throat-Shot-Guy. Though her eyes may be solely planted on the splintered wood of what used to be the front door, beneath her eyelids the corpses are imprinted. Sure, she'd watched horror movies. Horror movies with far more gore and guts in them than this but...knowing that that's all theatrical, all for the camera, makes it somehow less real. It's easier to dissociate yourself from violence when it's behind a screen but to actually see it. Stand there and witness it? No words can describe that revolution and horror.

"It's okay, sweetheart. Come on, let's get out of here."
He shuts what's remaining of the unhinged door and pulls her beside him as they board the elevator out of the condo block.

Although it's not exactly ideal going out into the open to whistle for a cab, it's a hell of a lot better than taking his car. Who knows if the thing's been tampered with? Until he figures out who's hired the hit-men and how far they're willing to go to get the job done, he needs to play defensive. And that means assuming they know every single detail about him and Lola. He has the cab driver pull outside a supermarket store as Lola turns to him in confusion, which shows slightly more than the cab driver's.
"What are we doing here?" she asks.
"Come on," he simply states already dragging her down the block.
Upon turning the corner, he hails another cab, bringing about more confusion to her.
"Carlos, what is with this game?"
Oh God, has he really lost his mind? What if one of the men in their home managed to get a good knock on his head? Does he have a concussion? What if it's an internal bleed? What the hell is she going to do then? She doesn't know his health insurance-

 "Calm down, sweetheart. It's just for assurance. The condo's have security camera's around them so if anyone traced back to that other cab they'd have no idea where we're staying," he explains in a hushed whisper, wary of the cab driver.
Her tense shoulders lower a fraction as she exhales with a surprised 'oh'.
"Don't you worry. It'll be okay, piccola, it'll be okay."

*****************************************

Lola barely remembers riding the elevator all the way up to the hotel room. But with her face buried into Carlos's chest, the awareness of their situation slowly seeps in. Of course, she could never truly understand it like him but everything she's experienced in the past few hours is crazier than anything that's happened (including Carlos's sudden appearance) in her life. She inhales his scent tinged with perspiration and resets the cassette in her mind reminding her she's okay, she's alive, it's okay.

 "Sweetheart," lowly murmurs Carlos gently curving his upper body away as one hand cups her cheek.
"Go take a bath. It'll help you relax and process. Okay?"
It's not really a question but more of an instruction and in keeping with the theme of the morning, Lola complies.
"Are you...are you joining me?" she softly asks causing him to flash one of those beautiful amused grins at her.
"Not this time, piccola. I have some calls to make."

Shame really. Carlos certainly has several images of Lola in the bath, and several memories they've made together however lust will have to wait for her benefit. She needs this alone time. The quiet will help her settle and then after once she's come more to grips with her own emotions they can talk and hopefully....hopefully she'll see sense.

As much as she hates to admit that he may know more about her needs than herself, in this instance he is right. The hot bath is exactly what her shot nerves and tense muscles need. Apart from the faint murmuring she can hear from behind the shut door, it's beautifully quiet. Silence like...like when she was holding a gun in her hand praying to God she wouldn't have to use it. Lola's body tenses momentarily as she relives those moments stuck in that room, body jumping every time a gun fired, ears prickling at the sounds of a scuffle. And the fear. Fear she'd never felt before. Fat, hot tears roll casually down her cheeks and momentarily Lola allows herself to feel sorry for her experience. That pathetic emotion is soon swiped away as the steel resolution and anger sets in. What the hell was she doing? God! All that training and she turned into a pathetic wilting buttercup as soon as the weather changed slightly. Fucking ridiculous. Jet would kill her with crunches and punches if he'd seen her. All that bravado talk about fighting with Carlos, standing up with him and she'd done none of that. She'd just turned into a fucking vegetable and cowered in a protective room while he fought to keep her alive.

No more. No doubt there'll be more to come in the future, possibly worse things and she won't balk next time. She won't let him down and she won't let herself down.

He's only male. Of course his eyes first trace over all those curves on display in a small white towel. Dewy, moist skin fresh from the bath draw him in visually while a feminine flowery scent tantalise his sense of smell.
"Fuck," he exhales, hands instantly tugging the tie that holds back those wild curls.
One hand delving into them, his mouth claims hers primitively. Maybe it's the adrenaline from it all that's still not completely worn off, maybe it's the knowledge that like a caveman he protected his woman from multiple threats, or maybe it's simply just his very attractive woman simply in a towel that has his arousal shooting from 1 to 100%.

Tearing himself off those soft, pliant lips he moves to turn their positions horizontal when he notices something...off in her. Eyes search her face unsure and he almost dismisses the concern when he notices the hardness in her eyes. NO. No, that can't be right. Lola's...Lola's soft, sweet, everything he craves.
"Lola?" he questions, heart thundering for a different reason now.
He can't bear to be the one who placed that hardness in her. He's done a lot to her. He's...he's made her sad, made her mad but it's never broken her. It's never made her cold and unfeeling. Yet this glint in her feels like the beginnings of exactly that.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry for...for being so useless today."

He exhales in relief. Thank God. Is that all? If that's the only reason that she's trying to harden herself then it's fixable.
"You weren't useless. You trusted me, you did everything I asked. Sweetheart, you were so brave today.-"
"No I wasn't! I wasn't! I-I cowered like an idiot! I was screaming and trembling and-"

"Shhh," he whispers stroking away those lone tears, "it wasn't an easy situation. Nothing could have prepared you for something like that and you did great, piccola.-"
"But I should have helped you-"

"No!" he sharply states before making an effort to soften the harsh tone, "you do not put yourself in danger, do you understand? You may have that training but that's defensive. It's to defend yourself if you ever need to and I'm not there. But otherwise, I take care of it and you stay back. That's never up for debate, got it?"

One part of her, the extremely primitive part wants to get on the bed and offer herself up for his protection. The other part of her, a very small part of her is offended that he thinks she's so weak she can't even fight alongside him.

"That's hardly fair. I can fight too you know. And why the heck is it okay for you to put yourself in danger but I can't?" she snaps back, cheeks turning red from anger.

She prepares herself to give him hell if he answers with something like his life doesn't matter. Because it sure as fuck matters to her.

"Because I have experience you will never have, that I'll never allow for you to have. Because I can protect us better than you can. Because I don't need the distraction of having to worry about you while keeping us safe. Because you're mine and I sure as hell am not letting some fucker hurt you!"
His voice escalates with each declaration and by the end he's snarling it out.

Lola tries desperately to control her breathing as sharp, embarrassing arousal burns between her bare legs.

"Carlos?"
"Yes Lola?"
"I love you."

A/n I know, I know, I am so mean. Chapter after chapter cliffhangers. Haha, well at least this one's not as bad. 
This chapter doesn't have a recap at the top since it's been less than 2 weeks since my last update. Anything over 2 weeks will have a short recap at the top. 
Thanks for all your patience as usual and sorry for any editing errors in this chapter (limited time as usual). 

Have a great weekend :)