“Yes, Boss,” he replied quickly before giving us a nod and walking away.
Turning to Phoenix, I nodded at him. “Let the main families know that we will be visiting. I want to talk to them personally.”
He nodded in response and quickly fished his phone from his pocket. After typing furiously for a few seconds, he placed it back into his pocket. “Done,” Phoenix said.
If Alberto really thought he could overpower me and take my Empire, then he was highly mistaken. I had built this empire with my bare fucking hands for almost ten years. Half of my life dedicated to make it the strongest mafia family. I wasn’t giving up now and I sure as hell wasn’t losing to that fucker.
We were walking down the stairs when a sudden scream stopped us in our tracks.
Nikolay already had his gun out and I saw Phoenix and Viktor reaching for theirs.
My eyes widened when I heard my name. Reaching behind my back, I took out my gun too.
“That’s Maddie’s voice,” Phoenix hissed, but I was already running back up, taking two stairs at the time.
When I reached the top of the stairs, I paused, looking left and right as I tried to figure out where she was. I heard her scream again, and with my heart pounding hard in my chest, I turned toward her voice.
“Shit,” I whispered. It was coming from Ayla’s room.
The door was open. Pointing my gun forward, I pushed the door wider with my other hand. I glanced over my shoulder and saw that my men were in a similar position.
I gave them a sharp nod before moving inside. They followed close behind. Walking further inside the room, I tensed when I didn’t see anything.
The room was empty, except someone was sobbing.
Turning to the side, I saw the door of the washroom open and the lights were on. Before I could move, Phoenix walked over to the door and pushed it open.
“Oh, shit! Shit! Fuck!” He panicked and rushed inside.
My heart was wild and my stomach dropped at Maddie’s cry. I followed Phoenix, but when I got closer, the smell of blood hit me. My eyes went wide in alarm and I ran inside.
The sight almost brought me to my knees.
Maddie looked up at me with tearful eyes and sobbed. “Ayla. She…”
Ayla was covered in blood. Her eyes were closed and she looked deathly pale. A look I never wanted to see on her. Rushing forward, I sank down to my knees beside Maddie.
“Here,” I heard Viktor say beside me. I glanced up and saw that he was handing me some towels. “We need to put pressure on her wounds to stop the bleeding.”
He was right. We had to stop the bleeding.
“Call Sam!” I ordered harshly, without tearing my eyes from Ayla’s face. Taking the towels from Viktor, I placed them on the cuts and pressed down gently. She didn’t move. Not even a flinch. Maddie was still crying silently, her chest heaving with each quiet sob.
Leaning forward, I took Ayla from her arms and pulled her closer to my chest, not caring one bit that I was getting blood all over me.
I brought a hand up and palmed her cold, pale cheek. “Ayla?” I whispered, my voice sounding hoarse and strange even to my own ears.
She didn’t respond. Instead she laid limp and still in my arms. But she was breathing. It was faint, but it was there. Ayla was alive and I forced my brain to accept that fact even though it felt like my heart was being split into two. The pressure building there was unbearable and my stomach cramped almost painfully.
The last time I felt that way was when I witnessed my mother’s death.
I sucked a painful breath at the thought and shook my head. No. This wasn’t happening again. I won’t let it.
Wrapping my arms tightly around Ayla, I stood up. I kept my eyes on her as I walked out of the bathroom and made my way to her bed. Gently placing her on the mattress, I sat down beside her and pulled her arms forward so that I could continue putting pressure on the wounds.
With her eyes closed, her face so pale, and her black hair cascading on the pillow, she looked so fragile. Vulnerable. And so broken.
The sight made my heart ache, and I closed my eyes at the flash of pain.
I shouldn’t have been feeling this way, but it hurt seeing Ayla in this state. And I couldn’t understand why she would do something like that. She seemed happy.
Opening my eyes, I stared at her arms. Why would she try to kill herself?
Even though I asked the question a hundred times in my head, I could guess the answer. But I wanted to know the real truth. I didn’t want to assume anymore.