Page 57 of Brutal Heir (Ruthless Heirs #3)

STILL FIGHTING

A lessandro

“Don’t you dare leave me, Rory…” I whisper, cradling her in my arms across the back seat of the car.

“Not now. Not ever.” She’s too cold. Her blood seeps through my shirt, soaking into my skin.

The SUV races across the country roads, skidding over gravel.

Muffled, frenzied voices blur in the background, but I can’t make them out. Rory is all that matters.

She’s too still, too quiet, those lively eyes closed off from the rest of the world.

I press my lips to her forehead. “You can’t do this to me,” I murmur against her icy skin.

“You’re the one that brought me back from the dead.

You made me want to live. You can’t just do that and then abandon me. Please, Red, stay with me.”

Isabella sits beside me, but I’m barely aware of her presence as she holds a scarf to Rory’s wound.

It’s soaked in blood, growing a deeper red by the second.

I don’t dare meet my cousin’s eyes because despite her impeccable bedside manner, she can’t hide the truth from me.

I’ve known her my entire life, and I can see the fear in her gaze.

She may be a remarkable medical student, but out here, in the middle of nowhere without the proper tools, there’s nothing she can do.

“We’ve got a doctor en route,” says Matteo, but it’s not until he squeezes my shoulder from the back seat that I realize he’s talking to me. “He’s Finlay Morrow’s guy, loyal and trustworthy. He’ll meet us with supplies on the way to the airport.”

“How long?” I mutter, my voice barely recognizable.

“Thirty minutes max.”

“Fuck,” I hiss. “She doesn’t have thirty minutes, Matty! She’s dying.” My throat closes around the last word, the pain so thick I can’t breathe. I scan the miles of farmlands and choke out a curse. “Isn’t there a damned hospital around here?”

Serena sits forward, gingerly reaching for my arm as if I might bite her hand off. “There is… but if Conall or any of his men survived, it’ll be the first place they look.”

“I don’t give a fuck, don’t you understand? If she dies, none of it matters.”

Because what am I without her? A hollow shell. A man too broken to be anything but a monster again.

“We’d be sitting ducks in there, Ale,” Antonio adds.

“No one has to go in but me.” I glance over my shoulder at my cousins, my family. “Drop us off and get the hell out of Belfast.”

“No.” Bella shakes her head. “We’re not leaving without you.”

“Or Rory,” Serena interjects.

“No, Antonio’s right.” I glance between my twin and the girls. “If the Quinlans or O’Sheas come for us at the hospital, we’ll be fucked. I can’t have that on my head.”

“Then we make sure they don’t catch us by surprise.” Raf pulls out his gun, cocking it. Antonio nods, his eyes darkening.

“We’ll cover all the entrances and make sure no one gets in,” Matteo growls. “If anyone has the balls to show up, we’ll make them regret it.”

Another wave of emotion tightens my throat as I glance between my cousins. We’ve gotten in a lot of shit over the years, but this… this could be the stupidest thing they’ve ever agreed to.

I don’t have a choice. It’s Rory. I’d run straight into the flames of hell to save her. “I can’t ask you guys to do this?—”

“You’re not asking,” Serena interjects, cutting me off. “We’re doing it and that’s final. Now, stop arguing and tell the driver to turn up ahead. The hospital is only a few miles that way.”

I nod, the tangle of emotions warring in my insides too chaotic to speak over.

As if Matteo understands, he shouts the new destination to the driver from the back seat.

The SUV careens to the right, and a surge of hope kindles deep behind my ribcage. I hold Rory tighter against me. “Hold on, amore , please. I can’t live without you.”

Minutes later, the driver fishtails the car into the hospital drop-off, brakes screeching loud enough to wake the dead. I’m out of the car before it stops moving with Rory cradled against my chest like she’s made of glass.

My cousins move around me in a wave.

“Help! I need a doctor!” My voice is guttural, shredded from anguish, but I don’t stop yelling. “She’s been shot.”

Doors crash open. Bright lights blind me.

Cold air slaps my face. Voices shout over one another, nurses, doctors, monitors beeping like alarms in a war zone .

The ER floods with motion. A nurse rushes forward, shouting something into a walkie, and a gurney rolls in from somewhere behind the sliding glass doors.

“She’s not breathing!” I shout, the air non-existent in my own lungs.

“Mister—excuse me, we need to take her?—”

“No!” My grip tightens, panic blinding. “She can’t—she’s not?—”

“Alessandro!” Isabella is suddenly at my side, her hands on my arms, eyes steady and fierce. “You have to let her go. Let them help her. Please.”

I look down at Rory. Pale. Limp. Blood painting her chest like a fucking masterpiece in horror. Please, live. Dio , please don’t let it be too late.

I don’t remember releasing her. One moment she’s in my arms, and the next, she’s being wheeled away by a dozen hands. Her blood coats my jacket. It’s on my fingers. In my mouth. Fills my nostrils.

They take her behind the swinging doors, and I try to follow, only to be blocked by a nurse with a hand to my chest. “You can’t go in there, mister.”

“The fuck I can’t—” I loom over the woman, ready to shove her out of the way if that’s what it takes.

“You want her to live?” Her eyes lock onto mine, as green as cut emeralds and fierce as fire, and for a second, she reminds me of my Rory. “Let us do our job.”

I stagger back like I’ve been punched. The doors slam shut in my face.

Silence.

Except it’s not silent. Not really. I can hear every rasp of my breath, every racing heartbeat in my skull.

Isabella holds my arm and offers a reassuring smile. “She’s going to be okay, Ale. She must be strong as hell if she’s put up with you all these months.”

I can’t decide if I want to smile or cry. Isabella’s not wrong, but Dio , Rory didn’t seem strong a second ago. She looked so pale, so weak, so small…

Damn that fucker, Conall Quinlan.

Before I leave Ireland, I’ll ensure his entire operation is burned to the ground. Nothing but ashes will remain of the great Butcher of Belfast’s empire.

I blink, focusing on the closed door. Rory’s on the other side of it bleeding out.

Serena’s pacing. Raf and Matteo are out of sight, likely stationed at one of the other entrances. Antonio’s watching the front door like a wolf waiting for a threat.

But I’m the only one who might break. Because I’ve never felt this powerless in my life.

Seconds stretch. Minutes, maybe. Time warps in a hospital hallway like that. Then the alarms start.

A long, sharp monotone that drills through the quiet like a blade.

Flatline.

“No…” I whisper, frozen. “No, no, no?—”

Then I’m moving, slamming into the door. It doesn’t budge. I hit it again and again. The hinges wine, then a sharp crack.

Doctors are shouting as I race in. “She’s in v-fib. Get the paddles?—”

My knees nearly give out.

She’s dying.

No. She can’t die. Not after all this. Not after I finally found her.

“Fight, Rory. Please,” I beg, voice cracking. “Come back to me, amore . Come back?—”

“Clear!” someone shouts beside her limp form.

A flash of electricity. Nothing. Again. “Clear!”

The beep returns. Soft and slow. Then another, until it settles into a steady rhythm.

Oh, thank Dio .

My back hits the wall as I collapse onto the floor, a sob wrenching from deep in my gut. I don’t care who hears. Let the whole world see me fall apart. The only thing that matters is that stable, stuttering beep.

She’s alive. Barely.

“Get him out of here!” a doctor shouts.

I’m escorted out of the room, my legs on autopilot. I sink into a seat in the waiting room and Isabella sits beside me, wordless, her hand sliding into mine.

No one says anything. Because they all know it, too. This isn’t over. But for the first time since I saw her crumple to the ground, I let myself breathe. Because she’s still fighting.

And I’ll be right here, waiting when she wakes up.

I make a silent vow to her on the spot. No one will ever touch her again. Not while I’m breathing.