N. Something that is both chaotic and joyful at the same time.

Callum MacBrady

It was the most vivid dreams I'd had in years. I saw her. Molly. She was so beautiful and innocent. I couldn't look away when Remy and Amon came into view. It was like a movie I'd seen over and over again, but I still rooted for a different outcome each time. I didn't want her to die, but she would. She had to. It was like a loop playing in my mind.

I was fighting in the ring, but I could still see everything in the alley behind the arena. It was so clear and the details made me want to vomit. Her beautiful Irish skin was red with blood. Amon and Remy stood over her in high spirits that made me want to tear them apart, but I couldn't.

I was a prisoner in my own mind, forced to watch the butchering of my beloved on repeat. It was a blessing when I finally felt the visions fade and heard a soft voice echoing beyond my sight.

"Mr. MacBrady?" The woman called gently and tapped my arm. "Mr. MacBrady?"

It took me a few seconds to realize I had been asleep and slowly opened my eyes. A nurse stood over me in a pair of blue scrubs. She was a pretty, young, woman with red lips that smiled down at me. "Where am I?" I asked the first question to pop into my mind. It was obvious that I was at a hospital. An IV was stuck in my arm and there were wires taped all over my body.

"You're at Saint Joseph's Hospital. I need to call the doctor now that you're awake." She left my bedside, but I grabbed her wrist. Pain shot through my arm the second I moved it and I had to let go. I sucked in a breath and laid back down.

"Careful!" She said and helped me reposition myself. "Your body has been through some trauma in the last twenty hours. You need to rest. Let me go get Dr. Baker and he can talk you through everything." She tried to calm me down and smoothed the blankets over me before rushing out of the room.

I tried to sit up and gather my thoughts but a sharp pain went from my left shoulder down to my chest and I couldn't help but suck in a breath to hold it together. I winced and lowered myself gently back down on the generic hospital bed just as the doctor knocked on my open door and came in.

"Good evening Mr. MacBrady, I'm Dr. Baker. Glad to see you're awake." He placed his hand on the foot of my bed and smiled.

"Doc, why am I here?" I rubbed my temples in frustration.

"Do you remember anything after your fight, Mr. MacBrady?" He asked with concern lacing his voice.

I thought about it for a minute. I remembered kicking Remy Perceval's ass in front of thousands of people, I remembered Luna's speech, I remembered getting up to give mine and then nothing. "I was giving a speech. Did I...did I pass out?" I tried to think of why I'd be in a hospital. I didn't sustain any serious injuries during the fight that I knew of.

"No." He grabbed a clipboard that was snapped on the end of the bed. "Mr. MacBrady, during your speech you were shot once in the chest, just above your heart. You were airlifted here and we were able to get you into surgery right away and successfully removed the bullet. You have internal and external stitches to close the wound that will take a little time to heal, but I expect that you'll make a full recovery. You should be back in the ring in three to six months."

I tried to absorb the information as it was given but I was in too much of a fog. "I was shot? By who?" I already knew who. Fucking Perceval. I was going to kill him myself when I got out, the whole lot of them.

"You were shot by Luna's personal assistant." My brows shot up. Luna's assistant? I barely even remembered what she looked like.

"Why?" I said more to myself, but the doctor decided to answer.

"Unfortunately we won't be able to ask her. She was killed in the massacre along with most of the others in attendance. We don't know if you were the target or just the first to get hit."

I just stared at my feet in shock. "Doc, I need you to go back to the beginning. What the fuck do you mean a massacre?"

Dr. Baker offered a sympathetic smile. He pulled a wheeled chair from across the room and took a seat next to me. "Mr. MacBrady, I can't tell you the full story since I wasn't there. What I can tell you is that you're going to be just fine. I oversaw your surgery myself and I can tell you straight that it was done proper. I'd be surprised if you even see a scar under your tattoo. It was very clean and quick." He patted my arm. "I'll print you out an aftercare sheet that you can take with you when you leave. I'd like to keep you another day for observation at least."

"You said there was a massacre. Like a mass shooting?" I pressed for details.

"Yes. I believe, from what I've been told, there were only three identified shooters." He answered.

My mind was racing with questions. "Luna." I suddenly felt an overwhelming panic course through my veins. "Is Luna okay?"

The doctor's brows knit together. "I'm not sure, I just oversaw your surgery and one other patient that was brought in with heavy bleeding from the shooting." He shrugged his shoulders and pushed away from the bed. "I'm going to have the nurse come back in to check your vitals and then I have someone that's been waiting to see you."

My heart sped up. There was someone who was waiting to see me. It didn't sound like it could be Luna based on how confused the doctor was when I brought her up. He slapped the clipboard on the bed once and got up to leave.

I pondered the events that put me in the hospital for what seemed like half an hour, but in no time the nurse from before came back in. "Feeling better?" She smiled politely and came over to wrap the blood pressure band around my arm.

My heart rate beeped normally beside us on the monitor. "I guess." I grumbled. "Do you know anything about the shooting?" I asked hopefully.

She gave me a sad look. "No, sorry. I was finishing up my shift when it all happened." She unwrapped my arm again and noted the results beside the monitor. "You and one other woman were the only ones to be airlifted here because of the critical condition. Most of the other injured were taken to the local hospital."

"Do you know if it's Luna James?" It made sense to fly the celebrities to the high end hospital rather than local one. It's just how the world worked. "The other woman here?" I clarified.

"No. The woman brought in was pregnant. I don't recognize her at all." She listened to my heart quietly and then folded up her tools and tucked them into her shirt pocket.

I felt a pull at my soul. "A pregnant woman was shot?" Disgust filled my body, replacing all other emotions.

The nurse nodded solemnly. "Yes. Did you know anyone there that was pregnant?"

I thought hard on it. I wasn't sure I even saw anyone pregnant there. But then again my attention was on Remy and occasionally Luna. "No."

"Well, she's okay. We managed to save you both." She smiled reassuringly at her me.

I did my best to smile back at her. "Now, before I send anyone in, are you up for visitors?"

I shrugged. "Sure."

The nurse nodded. Only a few moments passed by when a black woman swayed into the room. Her shoulders were back and she looked every bit confident. I don't know what it was about her but I instantly disliked the woman.

"Evening, Mr. MacBrady." She greeted and took a seat in the green armchair in the corner of the room.

"Who are you?" She looked official.

"My name is Anna Warner. I work for the Federal Bureau of Investigation." Now I knew why she swaggered in like she owned the place. I just stared at her, trying to gauge her intentions. "I understand that you've been through a lot in the past twenty-four hours, but I need to ask you some questions."

"Ask away." I rested deeper into the pillow, hoping the interrogation would be quick.

"What is the last thing that you remember from last night?" She began easy, readying her pen and notepad.

"Giving my victory speech."

She nodded, "You don't recall being shot?"

I shook my head. "To be honest detective, I didn't know about that until a little while ago. I've asked already and no one seems to have any news or can tell me what happened."

She smiled coyly and leaned in. "Mr. MacBrady, I'd be happy to walk you through what happened if you can help me out a little by answering a few questions. Sound fair?" She arched a dark, thin brow.

"Alright then, let's hear it." I urged her to get on with it. My chest itched where the stitches were and I had to put all my energy into resisting.

Detective Warner leaned back in her chair and scratched her neck with her pen. "First off, I'd like to know what you would label your relationship with the Perceval family."

I scowled at her question. "They can all go fuck themselves and you can write that down in your report." I spat out and was surprised to see her smiling back at me.

"So there's no friendship there?" She pressed.

"Never has been. The only reason that I was ever in the same room as them was because I was contractually obligated to do so." I answered honestly. I hated the whole lot of them. The father was no better than the sons. In fact, I could see how they ended up like the little shits that they were with such a man as a father.

She nodded and jotted down my statement. "And how about Miss James? No friendship there either?"

My heart leaped at the sound of her name. "Luna? I have no hatred for her whatsoever. I would say that she is a good friend as of right now, but nothing serious yet."

"Yet?" Anna chimed. "Do you see yourself and Miss James being an item at some point?"

I narrowed my eyes at her tone she chose with such a personal question, but I had no reason not to answer it. "I never said that. Just that I saw her as a good friend right now."

Anna hummed in thought. "I see."

"Is she alright?" I asked. "Luna." I clarified to which she responded with a smile that I didn't like. Almost as if she was proud.

"Oh, she's just fine. I had some of my men parked in front of her manor all night to make sure of that." She eyed me up and down. Her southern accent gave off a cocky tone.

"So she is home? She wasn't hurt in the shooting?" I had to confirm so I could relax.

"Oh no, Mr. MacBrady." Her eyes shined as she shot me that smug look again. "Mr. Perceval made sure of that. You see, Amon carried her out of that hellhole all by himself. Even snapped the neck of the woman who shot you." I sneered at the thought of him playing the hero. There was no doubt in my mind that it was their doing. They were always eager for violence. They killed Molly, they killed countless others, yet somehow the little bastards always got away with it.

"How sweet." The words came out poor and dry. "I'm glad she was able to go home safely." I finished honestly.

"She was very much safe. John Perceval gave her a ride home." She was baiting me, I knew it, but I was too angry to care.

"Did he now?" I gritted.

"He did. My men tell me that he didn't stay, just walked her to the door. But Amon on the other hand..." She trailed off and looked at me from beneath her short black lashes, waiting for my reaction.

"What about Amon?" I fell right into her trap.

"He was nice enough to show up during the middle of the night to check on her. He was very chivalrous in his efforts to comfort her. I don't believe he left until close to ten in the morning." She took a long swig from her paper coffee cup, her eyes never leaving my own.

I clenched my jaw as I tried to conceal any emotion I was having. "I'm happy thay she had someone to keep an eye on her." I lied.

"Are you?" She hummed and shrugged her shoulders. "Moving on then." She shuffled a stack of papers that she'd brought in with her. "I'm curious as to what your opinion is. Why do you think that the Perceval family was of the few that were completely unscathed in this mass shooting? Aside from Luna and the boy that Amon rescued." She clarified.

I scowled at her for reminding me. "Because they organized it. Just check their records. They're stained red from all the blood on their hands."

"But why?" She continued, not even slightly put off by what I was saying. "What would be the point?"

"Couldn't tell you. I know that little fucker has been trying to get into Luna's pants." I made a fist at the thought of him staying the night there with her alone.

"Mission accomplished." She said quietly to herself, but I heard it clear as day.

"Excuse me?" I sat up angrily, pain ripped through my arm and chest at the abrupt movement.

For a moment she looked surprised that I had heard her comment, but she quickly covered it with a snide smile. "Interesting." Her tone was curious. "That's all for today. I'll be in touch." She handed me a card with her name and number on it.

"That's it?" It felt like absolutely nothing had been accomplished. The night Molly died I had been interrogated for hours.

"For now." She stood and shook my hand roughly. "Have a good recovery Mr. MacBrady." Anna rudely rushed out of the room without the slightest glance back.

"Bitch." I mumbled and nestled back into the pillow. Thoughts of Luna being terrified while I lay motionless and useless echoed in my mind. Amon's smug face as he whisked her to safety made me want to punch a hole in the wall. That little fucking weasel had the balls to spend the night with her. I cringed, imagining them fucking. She must have looked beautiful without the layer of tight clothes she always wore. Jealousy flooded through me that I never got that. I had been the one to take her out and be a gentleman. It should have been me. I put a claim on her the second I saw her.

She smelled so sweet.