Turn Towards the Sun: Book Three- Forever in Bloom (The Sunflower Trilogy) (28 page)

“Anna, you are not well. You need to get some help.”

“You’re right. I am not well. I’ve had to spend months chasing my own husband. You’ve got him so confused. He thinks you’re me and I need to fix that. There can only be one of us and that is me.”

I refuse to stand by and let her pull my own gun on me. I rush towards her and punch her face as hard as I can. She falls to the floor dropping the knife and my handbag with the gun. My handbag opens and the gun slides across the floor. We both see it and scramble towards it but she kicks me right in the stomach causing me to lose my breath. I fall back and attempt to regain my composure but by that time, Anna has already managed to get the gun. Pulling herself to her feet she stands in front of me and I know she plans to use it. She’s going to shoot me and we are so far away from the event no one will know. Even from in here I can hear the music playing. I’m going to die.

“You stupid bitch!” she yells at me. “You are going to hurt the baby!” She kneels down on the floor getting close to my face. “How does it feel to know I can give Enzo something you can’t? I can have his baby but you are worthless. You’re not even a woman.”

“Shut up, Anna. Just shut the fuck up!”

“No! You shut up!” she screams at me. “Thank you for the gun. That makes this much easier.” Anna stands and holds the gun at me, preparing it to fire. “I hate you and I’m going to make sure you never come between me and Enzo again. Say goodbye, Ava.”

I close my eyes and wait, knowing there is nothing I can do. Suddenly the door bursts open and Enzo rushes in. My Enzo is here!

“Put the gun down, Anna!” he yells.

Anna moves closer to me. “I’m glad you’re here. I’m going to kill this imposter and then we can be together. She’s been nothing but trouble and that ends tonight.” She pulls the hammer back and just as I think she’s about to shoot me Enzo throws himself on the floor and covers me, causing Anna to freeze.

I barely know what’s happening when I hear Dax’s voice coming from the doorway. “You crazy bitch, what the hell are you doing?”

“You get out of here!” she screams.

“No way. Give me the gun, Anna. You’ve gone too far with this.”

“Get out!” she screams again, looking frantically at Dax.

My thoughts are frantic. How the fuck does Dax know her name?! Enzo stands and pulls me to my feet but before I can stop him, he rushes Anna and in her panic she pulls the trigger.

The only sound I hear after that is my own scream as Enzo falls to the floor. Dax runs out of the room, leaving me alone with the madwoman and her gun. My Enzo lies on the floor, blood pouring out of him.

“Enzo! My God! You shot Enzo!” I scream. I look up at Anna who is clearly distraught over what she has done. I crawl across the floor and cradle Enzo’s head in my lap. “Enzo, baby, I’m here.”

“It’s not supposed to be Enzo! It was you. You are supposed to die not Enzo! Oh God! Oh God!”

She holds the gun up again and points it at me. “You shot Enzo, Anna!” I scream.

I hear a commotion in the hall and look up to see Dax, Danny, Grayson, and several police officers. When she sees them, Anna rushes to me and holds the gun straight to my head. I can’t summon the strength to be afraid. All I can do is stroke Enzo’s hair off his face and whisper to him how much I love him. I’m losing him.

“Drop your weapon!” The police shout and pull their own guns on Anna.

I attempt to scoot away from her but she grabs my hair and holds me in my spot. I try to reason with her. “Anna, please let them take Enzo. He needs help or he’ll die. You don’t want him to die do you?”

Anna looks down at Enzo’s unconscious body and shakes her head. “No. I don’t want him to die. They can take him. You come with me.” She pulls my hair and I stand up and back away from my husband, my blue dress now covered in his blood. Two policemen rush towards him and pull him from the room. Anna holds the gun to my head threatening to shoot me if the police don’t let her leave. They assure her they have no intention of letting her leave with me. The situation is getting tense and I realize I’m going to have to do something if I want to get out of here alive. I have to be here for Enzo.

There is so much yelling and screaming from Anna and the police. I close my eyes praying somehow this will end without someone else getting hurt. Anna pulls my hair and goes from aiming the gun at me to aiming it at herself. Opening my eyes, I can see that the police are trying to find a way to shoot her but every time I move she pulls me closer. My only hope is to get some distance between us both. I look at Danny who nods at me. Taking a deep breath I use my elbow to punch her in the stomach. She loosens her grip just enough for me to start to run away. In the chaos, I can see her confusion escalating and she points the gun in my direction.

“Drop the gun!” the police yell just as I drop to my knees. Several loud shots are fired as Danny pulls my arm and drags me from the room.

The next thing I know I’m lifted off my feet and carried from the building out a back entrance. The only coherent thought I have is that I need to find my husband. I need to know Enzo is okay.

“MRS. MILANO, YOUR husband is in surgery right now. The bullet hit near the subclavian artery on his left shoulder and he lost a lot of blood,” the doctor explains. “He also suffered a concussion. Fortunately, the assailant used a low caliber weapon which limited some of the damage. We expect it to be another forty-five minutes to an hour. We’ll let you know as soon as he stable in recovery.”

I nod my head, trying to understand his words. Grayson and Danny stand nearby me as I support my weight against a column. “Is he going to be okay?” I ask.

The doctor frowns. “I can’t answer that at this time. We need to do some tests to see if he suffered any other injuries. For now, we just need to get him safely through surgery. I think we should have a nurse check you out as well.”

I nod and take a step forward but feel unable to hold myself up. I call Enzo’s name right before everything fades away.

“AVA? AVA CAN you hear me?” I hear Gabby’s sweet voice calling my name. Opening my eyes, I see that I’m lying on a hospital bed. I’m confused for a moment until the night’s horrible events come rushing back to me. I sit up quickly but the room spins when I do.

“What’s going on?” I ask.

“You fainted but you’re okay. Grayson caught you before you hit the floor. How do you feel?” she asks.

“When did you get here?”

“Five minutes ago. Calvin brought me.” She strokes my hair from my face.

I look down at my bloodied dress and fresh tears start to flow. “They don’t know if Enzo is going to make it. She shot him, Gabby.”

“I know. Enzo is strong, Ava. He’ll pull through. I just know it.”

A nurse comes in the room and starts checking my vitals. “Mrs. Milano is there any chance you could be pregnant?” she asks.

“I suppose there is but I doubt it. I haven’t been able to get pregnant for months.”

“Well, let’s do a test anyway to be sure. We don’t want to run any x-rays or anything else until we know.”

“That’s fine.” Gabby helps me off the table while the nurse shows me to the bathroom where I provide a sample for her. Back out in the waiting room, I pace back and forth waiting for news about my husband.

One by one, our friends and loved ones show up. Francesca is the last to arrive, having managed to keep the crowd at the hotel calm in spite of all that’s happened. She’s clearly been crying and rushes to hug me. As soon as she sees my dress, she releases a loud sob. I do my best to comfort her even though we are all scared.

In all the chaos I realize I don’t even know what happened with Anna and I don’t care. The only thing I care about right now is Enzo. I’ll deal with her later.

Cassie holds my hand while Francesca holds the other. Gabby periodically gets water and coffee for all of us while the men take phone calls. Alex arrives and Grayson explains what happened. Alex goes into action preparing statements to release to the media. There is no way this information won’t get out.

Finally, a doctor approaches us. I stand and brace myself for the worst news. Please, God, let Enzo be okay.

The doctor smiles. “Mr. Milano is stable. He’s very strong and made it through surgery. He’s recovering now but still unconscious. You can see him, but only you. We need to limit his visitors for now.”

Nodding, I let the doctor lead me to Enzo’s room. I strain to hold back my tears when I see Enzo hooked up to machines, looking small in his hospital bed. As I approach his bed, my body starts to shake with fear. My wonderful, strong husband was almost taken from me by that crazed bitch. My heart hurts watching him lie there, struggling to pull through. I lift his hand and hold it against my cheek as my tears fall freely. Staring at him, I fear that he isn’t going to make it. What if he doesn’t make it?

“Please, Enzo, please come back to me. I’m here, my love. Your Ava is here and waiting for you. I love you so much.” My words choke on my tears. “Please, Enzo. Don’t let her win. Don’t let her take you from me. We have so much life to live. We have so much love.” I sob heavily now. “Please, don’t leave me.”

Bending down, I kiss his forehead, his nose, and his lips, hoping that he knows I’m here and that I love him. I sit next to him and softly begin to sing his favorite Italian song,
Se
. It was the first song I learned the meaning of the Italian words and it was even more beautiful after that.

I love how the words describe what it would feel like if he could be inside my heart for one day; if he could feel the love I feel when I look at him. If he could see himself through my eyes, he would know everything my heart feels without me saying a word. That song perfectly describes the love I have for Enzo and his love for me. I just need him to wake up.

I lay my head on his chest and am comforted by his soft breathing. Suddenly I feel his hand in my hair and I pop my head up to see his stunning blues eyes open and gazing at me. In spite of the pain he must feel, his face lights up and he smiles.

“I love you, Ava,” are the first words he whispers.

“Oh, God, Enzo. I love you too. I thought I lost you.”

“You will never lose me, amore,” he says slowly. “Are you hurt?”

I shake my head. “No, just shaken up.”

“You’re so strong, bella,” he whispers again.

“So are you, my prince.” I lean down and kiss his face a thousand times so thankful that he’s alive. My attention turns to the door when the nurse that helped me earlier comes in.

“There you are. I’ve been looking for you,” she says. “Your test results are back.” She looks down at her chart. “It seems your blood sugar is a little bit low which combined with the trauma you endured tonight may have caused you to faint. But the best news is that you are going to have a baby. Congratulations!”

“What did you just say?” I ask, in pure shock.

“I said you’re going to have a baby. You’re pregnant.”

I stare at the nurse for a moment before looking back at Enzo. “I’m pregnant? Oh my God, I’m pregnant!”

Enzo squeezes my hand and a tear falls down his cheek. Leaning in again, I kiss his lips and whisper, “We’re going to have a baby.”

“Yes, we are. It’s wonderful news.”

“Yes.”

A knock at the door breaks us away from our happy news and two police officers enter. “Hello. I’m Officer MacMullin and this is Officer Joanisse. We’re sorry to bother you but we need to discuss some things with you both.”

I nod and scoot up onto Enzo’s bed beside him, holding his hand in mine. Officer MacMullin pulls out a notebook.

“We were able to speak with your associate, Daxton Delaney, who provided additional details regarding Miss Pierce’s actions leading up to tonight. Apparently, she had contacted him and he thought she was harmless only seeking to cause you and Mr. Milano some embarrassment. To hear him tell it, he had no idea she was as dangerous as she turned out to be.”

I nod my head. Why am I not surprised that Dax was involved on some level? Still, he probably saved our lives by running for help.

“What condition is Miss Pierce in?” I ask.