Chapter 77

~KYOMI~

I was breathing hard, paralyzed by fear. Dante's eyes were glued on the man's hold on my body. His stance told me that he was preparing for a fight. That frightened me, I didn't want him to get hurt for me. At this exact moment I wished that I somehow knew how to fight, I wished that I had spent my life learning how to defend myself and not be as helpless as I felt right now. 

"Stay back Dante." The one holding me said as he pointed a gun towards him. 

Dante's eyes were focused on something. I didn't know what he was thinking about doing but it scared me. Without warning Dante ran forward and kicked the gun out of the man's hand at the exact same time I heard the pull of the trigger and a loud gunshot echoing throughout the forest. 

He grabbed me and pulled me into his arms while pointing the gun at the men. 

"Let us go." He hissed. 

The men looked at us and chuckled. "You're outnumbered, do you really think we will just let you go like that?" 

Dante pulled me closer into his body as they took a step closer to us. 

"Come on Dante, if you want us to kill you so badly we will grant your wishes." 

I stiffened at his words and gazed up at Dante. I didn't want him to lose his life over me. 

"I'll go with you." I told them as I tried to pull away from Dante's strong hold on me. 

"Kyomi." He growled. "What do you think you're doing?" He demanded. 

"I'm not going to let you get yourself killed for me." I cried. "Please just let me go."

"Awww, such a beautiful couple." One of the men commented. "Too bad you couldn't last." 

"Grab her!" 

I trembled in fear as they pointed their guns towards us. Before any of them could pull a trigger however another gunshot echoed throughout the quiet forest. I turned to see where it came from and felt my body overcome with waves of relief at who I saw. 

Dante's brothers ran up with their guns suddenly. They shot at the kidnappers before they even had a chance to realize what was happening. I watched as they all dropped to the ground bleeding and clutching at their wounds in pain. 

"Are you guys okay?" Mateo asked as he joined us. 

"Fuck." He hissed as he saw something. "Guys Dante has been shot, we have to get him out of here." 

I stiffened, my body going into a state of shock at his words. I followed his gaze and only then did I see the wound and blood on Dante's shoulder. He must have gotten it while trying to take me back from that disgusting pig! 

"D-Dante. . ." I stuttered trying to catch myself as I reached forward with trembling hands to touch his wound. 

Before I knew it I was screaming and crying, my hands on Dante's wound. Desperately trying to stop the flow of blood. 

"Kyomi." Dante whispered. "It's okay, this is nothing." He tried to ȧssure me. 

I shook my head. "There's so much blood." 

"She isn't used to these kind of things, she's going into a state of shock." I heard Mateo behind of us. "We need to get them both out of here as we finish up dealing with these pests." 

"Kyomi?" I heard Dante call in a panicked voice. I wanted to respond but I couldn't, my head was swirling and before I knew it I completely blacked out. 

..............

~DANTE~

I leaned down and ġrȯȧnėd as the doctor finished patching up my shoulder. 

"Doctor." I said. "How is Kyomi?" I asked as I gazed down on her sleeping body on the bed. She'd fainted after finding out I'd been shot and we'd been able to revive her for a few minutes before she fell back asleep completely exhausted. 

"She was in a state of shock. I'm guessing she's not used to your world and the things your family deal with. To avoid this again, you should keep her away from events like this or slowly teach her about you world. That way she could easily get used to it." He explained. "Other than that, she's okay. She just needs sometime to rest and she should be back to normal in a couple days." 

He smiled. "Anytime, now take care of yourself and don't put any strain on that hand. You also need to rest plenty."

"I will." I ȧssured him. 

As soon as he exited the room I leaned down besides Kyomi on the bed and gently brushed the hair away from her face. I couldn't remember the last time I'd been so scared about losing someone. Usually I wasn't scared about much but today all I could think about was protecting Kyomi. I wasn't even concerned about my own life, it was all about her. The second I realized that her life could be in danger, everything inside of my body had rewired and was just focused mainly on her. 

I didn't know what it was about this woman, all I knew was that I couldn't imagine my life without her in it anymore. I wanted her safe and in my arms at all times. I just didn't know how to do it anymore, I'd been trying to get her to talk to me. To give me a chance to apologize and make up for what I'd done to her. But she understandably kept turning me down. 

I didn't know how much more of it I could take. I was restless and impatient. All because I wanted to be with her all the time and shower her with all that I could give to her. I wanted to kiss her and show her off to friends and family. . . Even enemies. 

I wanted everyone to know that she was mine.

I took a deep breath and leaned down before resting my lips on her forehead. It lingered there for a while as I inhaled her sweet scent. 

I sighed and raised back up as I heard my room down open. 

"How is she doing?" Hugo asked. 

He nodded. "That's good. How are you feeling?" 

"I'm good. You know I'm used to these things. I'm just worried about Kyomi's safety. I can't let something my like this happen again. We need to increase our security from now on." 

"There is something you need to know." Hugo said as I sat on the edge of the bed next to a sleeping Kyomi. 

By the tone of his voice I could already tell that it wasn't something I would be pleased about hearing.

"What is it?" I asked. 

He rubbed his face and squeezed his temples like he wasn't sure whether or not he should tell me this bit of information. "Someone has returned to town." 

My brows lifted in confusion. "Who?" I asked. "And why do you sound like that? Just tell me who it is."

He sighed. "Elizabeth. . . She's back."

I felt a sudden sharp pain at his words. 

The same Elizabeth that I was in love with? The woman I'd initially wanted to spend the rest of my life with? The woman that had completely shattered my heart like I'd meant absolutely nothing to her and left me with a broken heart? 

She'd been gone for over two years.

Two fuċkɨnġ years! Why would she be back now and what the hell could she possibly want?