Hello! Hope everyone is doing great. Here is the next chapter. I'm hoping to put the next chapter up next week!

Please Be Advised. WARNING: This story has strong, bloody violence, strong language, contains material that some find disturbing, and contain scenes of sexual nature.

I do not have an editor so there are going to be blips and mistakes. Please be kind when reviewing. This is purely for entertainment and not real life.

As always all mistakes are mine. Enjoy!

CHAPTER TWENTY

CHRISTIAN

God, I forgot how good it is to beat the shit out of people when you're stressed. That's what it's been like for the nine few days. Ass whooping's were being handed out like popsicles on a hot summer day. It's been a good stress reliever for sure after everything that's happened. I'm doing my best to give Anastasia the space she needs and time to heal after what's been thrown at her. I know that her world has been shaken and it's going to take a while for her to find her footing again but damn I'm feeling lost without her.

I sneak in every night after she's gone to sleep to be near and hold her then I'm gone before she wakes. I don't think I could handle the rejection of her right now. Her and I not working out is not an option. Her not being by my side until we are old and gray on our rocking chairs is not even in the realm of thinking. We are meant to be together and come hell or high water we will be even if I have to chain her to the bed until she sees reason.

I'm an asshole for keeping the biggest part of my life from her but she was too innocent to handle this side of my life. Why taint her if there's no need to. Why dim the bright light of the most amazing human being God ever created. She sees the good in everyone believing even after everything she's been through that there is good in everyone. I'll make sure to gain her trust again and then we can continue on with our life. If she wants me to tell her every gory detail of my day or how many times I take a piss I'll do it. I'm not sure how she's going to feel about being here in Seattle instead of Cali but that's another bridge we'll cross when it comes to that. Pops wants me here to run things and it makes sense, but will that make Anastasia happy? Her happiness is all that matters to me, and I'll do anything to make sure she doesn't go a day without that gorgeous smile on her beautiful face. Her job is another bridge we'll have to cross when the time comes too. As much as I want her to be at home fulltime I know that she loves teaching. She has such a passion for those kids and even though I'm a bastard and want her all to myself, I love her even more that she wants to impact those tiny beings.

"You paying attention back there?" Ray's voice brings me out of my thoughts.

The last few days we've been on a mission to eradicate the prick who thinks he can come into our territory and push drugs and guns on our streets without any repercussions. Try again asshole. But this guy is smart I'll give him that. He's grown quite the army of followers. He goes by the name of Lorenzo 'Enzo' Perez. He's a slick young bastard who continues to slip through our fingers. And from the photos we have of him he looks the creepy part too.

"I'm here." I reply. "This fucker has some loyal assholes." I add.

We've been on a wild goose chase at every turn. Every tip we manage to punish out of a poor bastard from his crew has come up dry. The guy is like a ghost, but I know that he'll show himself soon.

Just as I we see a sign letting us know that we are now back in Seattle city limits all of our phones start buzzing and everyone seems to tense before answering. This is never a good sign.

"Yeah." I say to Sam. "Is everything alright?" I urge. He's out with Anastasia and Collins at lunch before she heads to the airport to head home to Cali.

"Sir, we have a situation…" He says and before I can question any further Ray is relaying what went down at lunch with my woman.

That little fucker thought he could show just how big his balls were by getting close to my wife. He already has a death wish but now I'll take pleasure in making it a slow death.

"Is he gone?" I demand.

"Yes sir…"

"What about Anastasia? Is she safe?" My thoughts are running wild. We just got things calm and she was doing so well with my Ma and Mia being around that I don't want her to regress after another incident.

"The package is secure."

"Did he touch her?"

"No sir he didn't. He got close but we managed to intercept before."

"How many did he have with him and what did they leave in?"

"There were six sir, and a black SUV."

"Text me the details and see if you can get me the camera footage of the surrounding businesses to see if we can get any other details that will lead us to the fucker." I pull at my hair wishing the car would magically place us with Anastasia and not on the other side of the city.

My nerves are severed at this point, and I don't care how I sound. "Hand my wife the phone."

"Hello?" I can hear how scared she is with the tremble in her voice. God why did this have to happen right now. I needed a little longer for her to adjust to this lifestyle before she had to deal with this shit.

"Baby…" I lower my voice to the gentle tone that she's used to hearing from me. The comforting side that only she gets.

"Oh God, Christian," Her voice cracks and I can hear her sob so hard. This right here is why I never wanted her to be introduced into this life. Why I tried to keep her separate from my family's lifestyle.

"It's going to be okay and I'm on my way right now. I'm forty minutes away but I'm coming. Nothing is going to happen to you I swear. Sam will kill anyone who looks at you. I need you to stay calm and don't leave his side. I'll be at the airport soon to pick you up after you see Collins off." I try to give her words of reassurance that everything will be fine and that I'm here for her and that nothing will happen to her. That prick Lorenzo will pay with flesh for every tear she shed today. I can hear the gasping and know that she's trying her hardest not to panic but it's not working. "Babygirl, I need you to talk to me so that I know you are okay. Sam has an inhaler in his jacket pocket and so does Todd if you need it. Tell me you understand."

"I…,"

"Take a deep breath in your nose then out your mouth." I mimic the actions over the phone, and it seems to helps with the sobs. "That's my good girl. I love you so much."

"Okay. I'm o-okay." She finally says.

"Good. Hand the phone back to Sam, baby." My hand is balled up ready to punch a hole through the car door.

My teeth clench and grind, "Get my wife out of there and safely in the SUV. We'll meet you at the airport soon. Make sure you watch for an asthma attack, and nothing better happen or else I'll kill the entire team!"

I hang up before he has time to respond because I'm hanging on by a thread at this point. My teeth are clenched so tight any more pressure and they might crack.

"That motherfucker!" I punch the back of the seat and jolt Luke forward. "When I get my hands on him…"

"Easy Christian now is not the time to lose your cool. We are headed to meet Anastasia and you'll see she's okay. Once we get home we'll regroup and take action." Ray says from the driver's seat. "Vinny found three abandoned buildings that Lorenzo has used recently. I say we hit them hard and draw him out."

"I want the town burned down and leveled."

Ray's hands are pure white from the grip he has on the steering wheel. His shoulders are tight, and his face shows one that I only see when he's about to kill someone. I know this must be hard on him not being able to speak to Anastasia but he's the one who boxed himself in. He had ample time to make that connection with her before all this.

We sit in silence the rest of the way until we're able to see the private airfield. My knee bounces with anticipation to see Anastasia. My phone buzzes and I almost send it to voicemail until I see that Dr. Fulton is calling.

"Hey Doc." I answer curious as to why he'd call me. I could use the distraction right now to let the time pass on our way to see my woman. Usually it's the other way around.

"Christian, my boy, I have some news that I think you should know. I've just spoken to Ana, and she didn't seem like herself."

Understatement of the year.

"Okay. Should I be worried? Is this about her bloodwork from the other day?" I ask and watch Ray's shoulders shoot back and tense. If he gets wound up any tighter I'm afraid his body my physically snap in half.

I know he's been struggling with wanting to speak with Anastasia but waiting for her to be the one to initiate the conversation. Ray has never been the type to set on his hands, so I know this is the biggest trial he's ever had to go through and wait.

"Not at all. First let me congratulate you."

"For what?"

I'm confused and with everything that has happened in the last forty minutes is starting to grate on my nerves.

He chuckles. "On becoming a dad, my boy! Congratulations."

There is a pause that seemed to go on for an hour before my brain catches up.

"I'm a what?" Did he just say what I think he did? "Are you… How?"

"Well, my boy, if I have to explain it then maybe we should meet up and I can give you an anatomy lesson."

It starts to sink in and my muscles in my face move on their own accord. Everyone in the SUV is watching me and I know that they think something big just happened. And it did.

"Holy shit! Really!"

"I'm so happy for you. But please let's hope the baby will take after his mama and not be so mischievous like his father was. I'm not sure if my old heart could manage it this round." His jovial voice has put my bad temper to rest and all I can think about is how Anastasia and I are going to be parents. A dad. I'm going to be a Papa! We've been trying for a while, though, I was trying since the first time we made love, but this will do just as well.

My chest feels firmer than it did a few days ago when everything seemed to shatter. This will bond us forever. She can't escape me now. I'm pretty sure the smile on my face just widened even further confusing the hell out of everyone in the car.

"No promises Doc but I'll see what I can do."

Just as I hang up the phone the silence in the car is deafening that you could hear a pin drop with anticipation.

"Well? What hell did Doc say?" Luke demands looking annoyed he couldn't listen when I leaned away when he tried to hear the conversation.

"I'm going to be a dad!"

The entire SUV cheered and gave me a congratulation. When I look over toward Ray I can see some moisture forming in the corners of his eyes from the rearview mirror. This is going to be hard for him if Anastasia wants nothing to do with him and he'll be an outsider looking in on his grandchild. I feel for him but whatever she says goes and I'm not about to get in the middle of it. Especially when I'm on shaky ground with her right now.

My phone ringing makes a cold sweat skim across my flesh.

"Yeah." I answer Sam.

"We lost her, sir."

I almost drop the phone in my hand.

"What the fuck do you mean you lost her? How in the fuck can you lose something when your eyes are to never leave her? She's five foot nothing you dipshit!"

We enter the private airfield and Ray seems to understand the conversation, so I place it on speaker.

"I needed to hit the head and told Alan to keep an eye out. When I got back she and Collins weren't there."

Ray skids to a halt and we all jump out rushing over to Sam and the team.

"Where the fuck is she?" I yell at the team and they each look just as troubled.

"Sir, we think she must've gotten on the plane with Collins. We wanted to give her some privacy because of what had happened at the restaurant. So we stayed back and kept a lookout."

I'm going to murder everyone on this team. My father was sending a handful of men down with Collins to check out my operation in Cali. I've got Carson here with me and wanted him to be the one finding leads on Lorenzo. I've got Doug down there running things and keeping everyone in their place while I'm gone for the time being.

"Call the pilot and have him return right now!" I scream at Sam.

"Sir, it's just taking off." Sam points at the jet as it zooms down the runway.

My heart sinks at the thought of Anastasia leaving. Leaving me. Leaving with my child. Does she think I won't find her? Especially now that we're having a baby together.

Just as the jet lifts up off the tarmac a loud boom blows us all back a step and the jet engulfs into flames, slamming down on the hard pavement. It's like in slow motion as we watch the jet skid to a stop. The entire jet has been blown to pieces and fire is covering every inch of it.

My ears are ringing and all I can think about is getting to her. To saving her and our baby. Several sets of hands come around me and I try with all my might to fight them off. I'm pushed down on the concrete and feel the weight of the world pressed against my chest. I hear screaming from a distance but find it only to be mine. After a moment my eyes never leave the ball of flames that held my family. I move to my knees and my hands go to my hair my heart starts to physically hurt in my chest and I try to rub it away. I'm having a hard time finding breaths as the fire trucks arrive and start pouring water onto the now destroyed aircraft.

My body gives out and I think my heart is slowly stopping. Both hands are now on my chest over my heart as an ache I've never experienced before takes over. The last thing I see before I welcome the darkness is Luke.

"Hold on brother." I can hear the sorrow in his voice, and it burns all the way to my soul. At least I'll be joining Anastasia soon.

A/N: Runs and hides! See you soon.

~Amber