Vidal! (Snakes Henchmen MC 6)

I yanked Lydia's hand and pulled her behind me. She clung to my hips as if she were holding me from behind. Paul's mother held the bear in her gloved hand, staring from me to my stomach to Lydia. I could tell she was angry and confused about how I'd had two children that she nothing about, and how their father had taken me back so that I could be with them.

Julia didn't look much at Amber, but I remember how she stared at Lydia a little too long. She knew that she was looking at my child; there was no pretending because any idiot can see Lydia is mine. She may have dark hair and brown eyes like Vito, but she looks like me.

Julia handed the bear to Lydia, who pulled it close to her chest. ‘I hope you get everything you deserve in life…’ She said. ‘All of you.’ That smirk on her face... Jesus, she did this to me!

I don't know what she did, or how she did it, but I know she did it. She tried to kill me, tried to kill my unborn child – children, and for the first time in my life, I want someone dead! I want to kill her myself!

I don't know if I have that in me, but I do have the power to have my husband kill the bitch! I am a Mafia Donna, the Don's wife, the mother of his children, future leaders of the Vidal Famiglia. I may not have all the power, and it may have to go through my husband first, but I can demand his men kill for me, for the family.

I don't know what's happened to me, but I've woken up with a whole new outlook on life. I'm no longer scared of what being with Draven means. I'm no longer scared to think about all the ways in which he kills people – especially when they deserve it.

The world is full of evil people. Some say Draven is evil; I say they know nothing. My husband is a bad man, a crazy killer, a man who runs this place with an iron fist. Everyone is afraid of crossing him for fear of what he'll do to them. But you know what? There are worse things than a Mafia Don in this life. Trust me.

Yeah, not all crime bosses are like my husband, most are vile fucks who beat and rape the women who are sold to them on a regular basis. Most marry women they don't love just to get an heir to their empire and cheat on her every chance they get and don't even bother to hide it. They take the children she didn't really want with him away from her, some even allow other's to raise them in the way of the family. She then spends her life miserable in a marriage she wishes she could get out of, but you don't leave the Boss. Ever. Unless he kills you, of course.

Draven? Never would he do any of those things to me. Never would he beat me, cheat on me, steal my children, and keep me if I wasn't totally happy. Would he kill me? I don't believe he ever would. I would never give him a reason to think I was a traitor, and that would be the only reason he'd kill me. Well, if I cheated, but only an idiot would cheat on Draven Vidal, and I am no idiot.

I can't say what kind of husband he was to his ex-wife, but I've heard plenty of how he treated her. Draven was hardly nice to her, but then she was hardly the kind of woman a man could tame. I don't like to think about the two of them, and what might have happened, I've already put two and two together about how she died, and that's all I need to know.

I open my eyes and smile. Why the hell am I smiling? I feel a sick need inside of me like something has snapped and I'm a new person. I'm the woman who's going to stand by her husband’s side as he leads his men. I'm the woman who's going to raise his children because I know without a doubt, call it mothers intuition, that my sons will survive. They'll grow, they'll be loved endlessly, and one day, they'll run the family just as their father before them did.

As for my Lydia and Amber? I'm going to raise them to be just as strong as I am now, as strong as their father. Never will a man walk all over them, never will I allow any man to hurt either of them. This new me is a hundred times stronger than the Marine that collapsed on her bed three weeks ago.

Yes, Paul's mother will die, I'll make sure of it. Anyone crosses me, and they'll die. I don't care what kind of person that makes me. I am Marnie Vidal! God help the world because I have woken up a fucking monster!

Chapter Thirty-Two

Draven

I race through the door of Brooke and Hawk's, my heart racing at a mile a minute. “Where is she?” I'm out of breath, but I don't let it faze me.

“In here!” I hear Brooke's voice calling from the living room. I race down the hall and through the door. My baby girl is lying on the couch with a blanket over her little legs. She's red-faced and resting back on a pillow looking so fucking weak.

She holds her little hand out to me, “Daddy...”

I sit beside her, her hand in mine, and I kiss her burning forehead. “What's going on, princess?”

“My head and tummy hurt.”

“It's gonna be okay, sweetheart, Daddy's here now.” She nods and closes her bloodshot eyes. “How longs she been like this?” I ask Brooke, but it's Hawk who answers me.

“On and off since you left her with us. It knocked off last week for a couple days, but it seems to have come back with a vengeance.”

“Has she done anything unusual? Anything that would cause this?” I already know what's caused this, I just need to figure out how that old bag did this, and why it's still making her ill after three weeks.

“Daddy,” I turn my eyes back to Lydia. “Uncle Hawk made Mr. Brown die!” Massive tears fall from her eyes as her mouth locks open in a silent sob. She's devastated about that old teddy bear. “He put him in the fire!” Her voice raises and breaks.

“It's okay, sweetheart. Let me talk to Hawk, and I'll be right back.”

“You gonna box his nose, Daddy?”

I chuckle and nod. “Yes, baby.” I kiss her head and tell her that I'll be right back before tipping my head for Hawk to follow me out of the room. He closes the door behind him and folds his arms around his big body. “What the hell is she talkin' about?”

“I'll cut this story short because it's been a long enough day as it is. I started to notice that she only got sick when she had that old bear. One minute she was fine, the next, she'd hug the bear, and her temp would skyrocket. I couldn't get it away from her though, every time I hid it, she'd find it, and that's when she'd get sick again. I knew I had to do something to find out once and for all what the hell was wrong. So, I took it from her this morning and had Wrench take it to be tested. He made sure we got the results back within a couple hours.”

“And?”

“The bear was laced in a liquid form of Hemlock.”

“Excuse me?” What in the world? Oh my god, what the hell went on the day Marnie was attacked? Hemlock? That fucking old bitch really did poison my little girl!

Hawk nods his head. “I burned the damn thing because I knew it was the only way to stop her reaching for it. I called in a specialist, Rod, he came by and checked Lydia over. Draven, if she'd been exposed to it just one more day...” He doesn't need to say anymore. Lydia would have died; I know that.

I close my eyes, shaking my head. I don't even want to think about what could have happened. After everything I've done today to fix what that woman did to my wife and son's, and all the time my daughter was suffering, slowly fucking dying and I had no damn clue!

“Don't, Draven, this wasn't your fault. You've been doing what you had to do to fix this.”

“I should have been here for her. I should have known!”

“You know now.”

I shake my head. “I should have taken your calls. I should...”

“We handled it, Draven. There have been more good days than bad.”

“No excuse, Hawk.”

He nods his head. “Lydia needs you right now.” I know that she does.

“I should get her to the hospital. I need to make sure she's gonna be okay.”

“Rod's a good doctor, Draven; he knows his stuff. He gave her a complete examination. He also gave her an injection that will help counteract the effects of the poison. Lydia just needs to drink plenty and lots of rest. I've already checked everything she brought with her to make sure nothing else was laced in the stuff. It wasn't. Just t

he bear.” Won't stop me having every damn thing at home burned and replaced. I'm taking no chances.

“I also had Amber checked over, just in case, mostly because she'd been clinging to Lydia those first few days. As Hammer picked her up days later because she was confused and crying for him, if she was affected, it's gone from her system. She's fine now.” Thank fuck for that!

Right now, I'm so glad Amber loves my brother so much. I'm thankful he came and took her home with him. Not that he'd have had much choice, the girl sobs for him every time Marnie and I aren't around.

Goddammit, if that old cunt weren't already dead, I'd tear the bitch apart!

I sit with Lydia for a while, stroking her hair while she sleeps. What kind of life is this little girl going to have with me as her father? What kind of life will Amber have? My son's? I don't know, but I can't let them go, no matter how selfish that sounds. They're mine, their mother is mine, and I'll do whatever I have to do to keep them safe from now on. I swear it on everything I hold dear.

My phone is buzzing in my pocket. I sigh. It's like nobody wants to give me a damn break today. I don't recognize the number. “Hello?”