The Deliverance of Dilan (The Syndicate #4) (24 page)

“I’m not paralyzed then? She drugged me.” I feel like crying when all the memories surface. The things she said, the things she did.

“Yes, she did. With a muscle relaxant. You’re fine, Anna. Trust me.” His eyes speak the truth. I’m confused though.

“I don’t understand. How was I able to move and feel my upper body but not my lower half?” This doctor radiates confidence as he stands beside my bed, explaining in his doctoral verbiage how my legs were numb, but how the adrenaline pumping through my veins as well as my brain functions made me think I could feel things I possibly did not. It’s all so mystifying. All I know for sure is, as I wiggle my toes and bend my knees, I can feel them now.

I should be grateful she either knocked me out or I passed out on my own after she started cutting me, so I wasn’t able to watch or hear her when she diced me up more. I hope I never see a knife again in my entire life.

By the time he leaves, letting me know he will be sending someone to my room to help me try and walk, I feel like for the first time since I arrived in New York, I may have a chance at happiness, with Dilan. First though, I need answers before I can begin to think about anything else.

That chance is short-lived by the time I return back from a short walk up and down the floor of the hospital, my mom insisting on helping by pushing the IV alongside of me. We don’t have the chance to talk about any of this at all, because the minute I step back into my room, Calla and Stefano are waiting for me. By the looks on their faces, this isn’t a visit I’m going to like. Dilan isn’t here. I need to know where he is.

“You look great, Anna. Thank god everything turned out okay,” Calla tells me. Her eyes say something else though. Everything is not okay, especially with Stefano here. I mean, I know the man, but for him to show up with Calla means something is wrong.

“I feel great. I’ll feel even better once I get out of here. Where’s Dilan?” I ask, confused.

“We asked him to give us a little privacy. We need to talk about a few things with you. I apologize, Grace, but formalities and all, legally I need you to step out unless Anna confirms it’s all right for you to be here.” She’s in lawyer mode now. This is far from a friendly visit.

“Of course she can stay,” I tell her as I make my way back to the bed. My legs are weak and my stomach is tight. Once mom has me situated, I look to the two of them, prompting them with my eyes to let me know what the hell is going on.

“The police need to speak to you. I don’t know how much you know about your rescue, but hell, Anna, it wasn’t pretty.” Stefano brings two chairs next to my bed then sits in one, while Calla sits in the other. Mom is sitting on the other side.

“I have nothing to hide. Juan kidnapped me. Planned on taking me to Columbia. There’s not much I remember after getting on that plane, except for what happened with that bitch. Exactly what in the hell is going on? Is someone in trouble?” I keep my attention trained on Calla.

“Yes and no. Which is why we’re here. No one has been arrested yet, but with sixteen dead bodies, including Jazmin’s, and two families such as ours right in the middle of it, this has spread like crazy. The community wants answers, the cops want convictions, and until Juan wakes up—” I gasp when she says his name. I thought he was dead. Jazmin sure as hell made it sound like he was.

“He’s alive. Everyone thought he was dead that night. Unfortunately, he is not,” Stefano chimes in.

“I wish he were,” I call out. Calla leans in and places her hand over the top of mine. Her expression is full of hope, yet full of dread too.

“Yeah, well, we all do. But to save Ivan, Salvatore, Roan, Aidan, and Dilan’s asses from going to prison, we need him. He needs to confess to kidnapping you, Anna, or all five of them are in trouble. Big trouble. That’s why we told the cops who demanded to speak to you the minute you were cleared from the doctor to talk, that we would be here when they arrive. The vultures are here. Hell, they’ve been lurking around for days. They need your statement.”

“Bring them in. Those men came to save me, we all know this. I’ll tell them everything. Then they can go arrest the man who started it all.” It’s the least I can do to return the favor to my family and the man I love for saving my life. The best part of this entire situation is knowing that Dilan will finally be able to live his life with the satisfaction of putting the man behind bars who made his life hell. Nothing could please me more.

I’m drained by the time I’ve talked to the cops. My mom sits quietly beside me, crying when she hears the things I remember. The entire time they questioned me, I felt like I was on trial. The instant I answered one question, they would turn around and ask another. Thank god both Calla and Stefano were here. It didn’t matter how many times I told them I had no damn clue what happened when all hell broke loose, or if I witnessed Jazmin being shot, they kept coming at me. Finally, Calla said ‘enough’. They knew good and well I was drugged, and cut up, and out of it. I’m not dumb, they were looking for any hole in my story they could find to arrest our men. To put them behind bars. There isn’t one, and they damn well know it. Well, there is, they murdered a hell of a lot of people. But the bottom line is, they did it to save me. Every last one of those men and Jazmin can rot in hell.

I remember praying to god that Juan would die. And now, as I sit here, waiting for Dilan after my mom helped clean me up, all I want to do is sleep. I’m exhausted. More out of worry for everyone than anything else. Finally, after arguing with my mom to leave, let me have time with Dilan, she left.

The door creaks open. The moment I see him, my insides flip. Dilan looks as tired as I feel. His brown eyes are fatigued. He looks so worn out.

“Are you going to stand there all night?” A heavy ache grows in my chest, until he finally speaks.

“You look beautiful. I can stand here all night just looking at you, unless there’s room in that bed for the both of us.” I sure hope he isn’t imagining right now what I’m thinking. My body may be battered, but my pussy is aching for him.

His brows quirk up and his lips twitch.

“I would love nothing more than to sink inside of you, Anna. But not here. Not when we have to talk. What I mean by talk is, I want you to come home with me. I need to be the one to take care of you. Plus,” his eyes never leave mine when he shuts the door and strides to the side of the bed. I lean into his touch when he places his hand on my cheek, then slopes down to where our mouths are almost touching. “I love you.” His expression is tender, warm, and even though we’re in a hospital, it’s appropriate. Call me a dreamer, because yes, I’ve dreamed of this moment with Dilan. Many times. And over the course of this entire situation, I began to fear I would never hear him say it, that I wouldn’t be able to return it. To tell him we have such a long way to go. So much to learn about each other.

But when fate literally makes two people collide, no matter what the circumstances are, no matter how much time passes by, your heart telling you you’ve fallen in love takes precedence over
everything
. Some may guard it, some may throw caution to the wind and live carelessly, go with the flow. Dilan and I haven’t had the chance to explore anything outside of being trapped in one place or another. I know with every breath I take, with every fight I’ve fought, that we were meant to be together.

“I love you too, Dilan.” When his lips touch mine, this kiss means so much. It’s another first kiss, sending spine-tingling shivers from my neck to my toes. It’s deep, emotional, and promising that there is more to come. My hands slide up and around his neck, towing him in closer. I shove the need to cry from an emotional overload deep into the recesses of my mind. I’m done crying.

We deserve to be happy. All of us do. By the time we pull away from each other, our breathing is irrational. My lips are tingling. God, I love kissing him. I will never be tired of it, but really, there is so much we need to talk about. I need to know how he found me, and if the reason behind why he looks so run down has more to do with his worry for me or the fact that the police have been interrogating the hell out of him. Or both.

I adjust my body in the bed and slide over as far as I can go, then roll over on my side. They’ve reduced my pain meds slightly. Therefore, I hold in the struggle to be comfortable. If he notices, he doesn’t say anything as he glides in beside me. Carefully.

“Thank you for finding me. And for killing her,” I whisper. “You don’t need to thank me. It’s my job to protect you and not because I’m being paid to do it. I’m not living my life without you, Anna. No goddamn way. However, it wasn’t me who killed her. It was Roan.” “Well, at least the bitch is dead,” I say. I’m not sure how she died, and I really don’t care. Not now anyway. As long as she’s gone. That’s all I give a shit about.

“What’s happening with the police? I told them everything I could. They’re persistent.” I lean in closer to lay my head on his chest. I need to be close to him.

“They are. They’ll do everything they can to try and put as many of us away. Unfortunately, the man who started it all is battling for his life. They could arrest any us of at any time, but with all of us telling the truth, there’s not much they can do until he wakes up. We just have to pray he fucking tells the truth himself. He has enough against him by kidnapping all of you to put him away for the rest of his life. The fucker needs to confess. I’m not sure how much more evidence they need. You would think with what happened to you, with the shit they found on that plane, the drugs, and all kinds of shit with Jazmin, they had proof enough we did what we had to do to save you. But we’re a crime family, baby, so they’ll look for any reason to take us down,” he expresses as if he doesn’t believe they’ll come out unscathed. That they will be arrested. He has doubt. I sense it.

“Dilan. Calla told me how many dead men they found. Surely, they have to see this was all plotted by her. I won’t allow them to make this look like a war between families that you started. The evidence is everywhere. We had to stay in a damn hotel, for god’s sake, because they threatened us. Roan and Alina didn’t go on their honeymoon. Juan has too much against him.” I lift my head and tilt it upward to look into his eyes. It’s dark, but the glow from the light in the hallway gives off enough for me to see his smile reach all the way to his eyes.

“You amaze me. You know that?” he says with sincerity. “Yeah, well, you amaze me too. We’ve all been through hell. It’s about damn time we bury that hole to hell and start living. I’m sick of it. We deserve to be happy. I’m not about to let Juan or the cops take you or anyone else away from me.” I mean it. They may be criminals, but this family does not go out and start a war with others. For the past few years, it’s been one thing or another. I’m sure there will be more. It’s true what they say about love conquering all. There is so much love in this family. Every single one of us would do whatever it takes to save each other. One way or another, if Juan does pull through this, he better do the right thing. Like Dilan said, he’s going down anyway. He started this war; he should be the one to end it. I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure he does.

“No one is taking me away from you, or you away from me. Not tonight or ever again,” I tell him. If that bastard doesn’t tell the truth, I’ll find a way to make sure he dies even if I have to kill him myself.

DILAN

Anna is a strong woman. She’s positive in a way that makes me love her more, if that’s possible. In spite of all she has been through, she lies here, snug in my arms, driven to not let her past interfere with our future. She’s mentally tough. A believer. Which is more than I can say for myself right now.

The fucking cops have done all but arrest us. They’ve been trying to play everyone’s testimony against each other. Our stories don’t line up. He said this. He said that. It’s bullshit and they know it, the way they’re trying to break us down, to put all the blame on me. My past record shows I had contact with Juan and his goddamn savages. I couldn’t care less if the fucker dies. It sucks hardcore that I need the prick to live. I know him. He will fight this. Lie through his damn teeth. Make up some shit story to try and weasel his fucking way out of this.

I’m so damn tired. Tired of it all.

“Visiting hours are over, Mr. Levy.” A nurse opens the door to the room, peeking her head inside.

“I’m not leaving. I just got her back. You may as well shut that door and pretend I’m not in here,” I whisper, careful not to wake Anna, who is lying in the crook of my arm.

“Only if you promise to let her rest. She’s not completely healed.”
Well, no shit, lady
, I want to say. I don’t. Instead, I nod and wait for her to shut the damn door.

“She’s a fighter and lucky to have you,” she says while smiling down at the two of us cramped together in this tiny little hospital bed before shutting the door.

She’s right about the fighter part, but wrong about who’s lucky. It’s me who’s the lucky one.

She stirs slightly, her eyes blinking open. God, I want to drown in her. The way she feels up against me, with her sweet smell, there isn’t a damn thing I wouldn’t do for her.

“Did we wake you?” My fingers start to stroke her hair.

“It’s all right. I’d much rather be awake than sleep when I’m with you,” she says through a yawn.

“You need to rest, and hell, me sleeping in this bed has to be uncomfortable as hell for you,” I tell her but make no attempt to move.

“This is the most comfortable I’ve been since the last time we slept together. Don’t even think about moving. Besides, you heard the doctor. Most of those cuts are almost healed. And I have something else on my mind.” I arch a brow when she shifts her leg over mine. Her hand traces down my stomach, past the waistband of my jeans, and cups my dick.

“Anna,” I warn. “Dilan. You’ve spoiled me with this masterpiece. I’m ruined for life. I may be in a sex-starved coma. Now, shut up and let me take care of you. Trust me, I’ll let you reciprocate.” Fuck me. She slides her hand up and shoves it inside of my pants. My dick is already as hard as frozen cement. The minute her fingers wrap around him, causing him to strain in the confines of my jeans, I reach down and undo the button, lowering the zipper to give her all the room she needs. I’m not going to deny a hand job from her. I couldn’t care less where we are.