Victor

"Victor!" Elena clung to me and I pressed her against the car, locking her between my knees. "You must go with Dominic, my love" she shook her head, tears forming lines, washing away the spatter of blood on her face. "You're hurt, I won't leave you alone!" fear made her eyes shine in a strange way and warmed my heart. No one had ever worried about me so much, no one had ever shed tears for me, no one had ever loved me so much that I wanted to die for them without regret.

"Listen to me,my love" my gun dangled from my finger as I cupped her face to lock her gaze on me. Bullets were flying around us, Dominic was just a few steps away waiting for a signal to take Elena to safety while me, Marcus and my men covered them. "I love you, Elena, I love you both" we both looked down at her belly, her hands were wrapping around it in a desperate attempt to protect our child.

"Victor..." her wailing voice was like honey, sweet and bitter at the same time, hanging over the sound of gunfire and the rush of adrenaline in my ears. "It's okay my love, I know what I'm doing, but I can't fight if I don't know you and the baby are safe, you understand?" I raised my eyebrows and leaned my head forward, resting my forehead against hers. Elena nodded and sobbed, her eyes locked on mine, but with each shot her body bounced trembling. "You have to go Elena, I need to know you're okay?" her gaze shifted to the side and I looked at Dominic, who was watching us, waiting for my sign.

"Look at me,my love" I ordered softly and her gaze returned to mine. "Damien is coming this way, Marcus is with me, we have the upper hand anyway, we spotted them in time, I'll be fine, but you have to go with Dom, right?" she took a sharp breath and I smiled, moving my hand to her stomach. As if to give me luck, a tiny foot kicked my palm and I smiled even wider. We just found out that we will have a son, the little one was growing at the speed of light and already tangible, even I felt his kicks.

I rubbed her side with my thumb, wiping away the spatters of blood that had stuck to her beautiful face. My shoulder hurt terribly, but it didn't seem to matter as I looked at Elena, covered in my blood, crying for me, clinging to my body, looking at me with love and trust and as if I was swallowing a super potion, giving me inhuman strength to fight.

"Okay" Elena muttered and I nodded to Dominic. He replied with a nod, got up from behind the car he was hiding behind and shouted to cover him, walking towards us. "Take care of my wife and my son Dom, without them I'm dead" Dominic looked at me and smirked. "We can't let that happen, can we, boss?" an idiot, but I know I can trust him, I trust him with the lives of the two I love more than myself and I know he won't betray me. "I love you, Elena, now go!" with two movements I straightened Elena up, pushed her into Dominic's arms and watched as the two of them walked away.

They ran to the nearest building, Dominic running behind Elena, giving her the protection of his body and I let out a breath as she walked through the doors. Dominic would lead her through the building, out the back entrance, away from the gunfight, and then take her home, where they would both be safe. He wouldn't leave her until I got home, and then if I didn't get out of here alive.

"Boss, Bennett's here!" Marcus' body hit the back of the car, bringing me back to my own situation. I unloaded the magazine on my gun and before it hit the ground I was loading a new one, scanning the street. Three cars burst into the middle of the firefight, screeching on their brakes so that the bullets no longer reached our side. The doors opened and about a dozen people, led by Damien, jumped out from our side and took positions, opening fire.

"Just in time" I loaded a bullet into the muzzle drum and Damien smirked. "I'm always on time" Damien chuckled smugly and pulled out his own gun, holding it with both hands in front of him. "You should have kept your wife at home, or am I wrong?" he looked around before returning his gaze to me. "It was for a checkup, I can't miss this" I explained and he raised his eyebrows. "Oh right" he huffed and I rolled my eyes.

"How many?" he eyed Marcus appraisingly. "Ten, maybe fifteen, some are still in the cars, shooting through the windows" he turned his head and tried to look across the street. "Who knew Elena had an exam today?" just the fact that Damian mentioned Elena's name made my blood boil with jealousy. We both made a truce to deal with the Italians before it escalated to the point where people we both didn't want to see would get involved.

And while Damien admitted to me that as much as he was impressed by Elena's looks, there was another woman in his life, and that his interest in Elena was purely financial, he admitted that he had tried to make a deal with Mascot, for annexing his casinos to his territory didn't change the fact that there was a point where he was willing to fight to take Elena from me. "Me, Marcus, Dominic and the doctor" I answered tightly and we both crouched down when several bullets managed to pass over the cars stopped across the middle.

"I've already had the doctor checked out" I finished and Damien nodded. "Okay, let's get you out of here before you get hurt more seriously" he looked over my shoulder and I looked down. "My people will take care" he nodded to the three cars. Mine and his had formed a barricade behind the three jeeps and bombarded the Italians, taking turns firing and reloading, leaving us a window to escape.

"Boss!" we both turned our heads at the same time. "What the..." Damien screamed, Marcus dragged us both, there was a whistle, the gunfire subsided, sirens went off and a deafening explosion followed. My head seemed to be in a bell and I could see three-dimensionally. I could barely hear the renewed shooting, I patted my leg, which had caught fire in the explosion of the car, and looked around. My gun was gone, Marcus lay unconscious half on top of me, pinning my other leg, and below him Damien was staring at the sky, blinking slowly.

I pulled my leg out from under Marcus and flipped him onto his back, his forehead was bleeding and there was a huge open wound on one temple. "Damien?" with my hand on Marcus' chest to check if he was breathing, I shook Damien with the other and he slowly turned his eyes to me. His pupils were dilated and his eyes darted like they couldn't focus on just one spot. "Are you okay, are you hurt?" I screamed, the ringing in my own ears preventing me from hearing my words, but my mind was working.

I didn't wait for an answer, I doubt a dazed Damian could give one, and I heard almost nothing, so I did the next useful thing. I looked around. Our people were still firing at each other, I could not see the Italians from the three cars in the middle of the road, but the one behind which we were hiding was lying meters away, upside down and burning. I looked up down the street. Seriously, a bazooka? The fuckers tried to kill us with an RPG!

A man, I assume one of Damien's people because I didn't know him, was running towards us saying something, twirling his finger in the air. I narrowed my eyes and tried to understand what he was saying on his lips and to connect the movement of his finger with what he was saying. The man looked where the bazooka shot had come from and I followed his gaze to see the blue lights appear. Cops!

I cursed and wrapped my arms around Marcus, picking him up and slung him over my shoulder. Shit, it's heavy, but I don't have time to worry about that, the man walked up to me and pointed between him and Marcus. I understood the words 'me' and 'help', shook my head and pointed at Damien. "Pick him up and come with me!" I ordered and the man nodded. I helped him lift Damien as best I could with the injured arm, Damien was my build and almost the same height, Marcus was smaller and wiry but not quite as much body mass. In my current state, I preferred to carry Marcus over Damien, who was swaying like a drunk.

The man put Damien's arm around his neck and wrapped an arm around his waist. I pointed to the building where Elena and Dominic had hid earlier and carried Marcus there, making sure the man was following me with Damien, as well as keeping an eye out for the approaching cops. The four of us entered the vast marble lobby. I didn't see a living soul, probably everyone was either hiding or had already fled because of the shootout in front of the building. I stopped and looked around. The man tapped me on the shoulder and pointed to my right, I looked and narrowed my eyes, it took me a while to notice the 'exit' sign pointing opposite the entrance through which we entered.

We walked there and I turned to see the name of the building, as well as to look at the entrance and the street in front. We went out on the stairs, which led us to an underground parking lot. The man pulled my sleeve and I stopped, I could barely breathe, it hurt and my ears were still ringing. Damien was rocking between us and Marcus was still unconscious. I got 'car' from the words of the man who pointed to Damien and then me. "Go!" the man nodded, carefully shifted Damien's weight onto my injured shoulder and ran to the nearest car.

"What...where..." Damien was slowly coming to his senses, I turned from the passenger seat and looked at him. Marcus was still unconscious, his whole left side was covered in blood and I could see it still oozing from his temple, and his face was unnaturally pale. "Can you hear me?" I asked, unsure of exactly how loud my voice was, my ears still ringing from the blast, but Damien nodded, waving his hand in the air for an 'up-down' sign. "Are you hurt?" his eyebrows lowered and he began to grope his body, stopping when he reached the back of his head. "Swelling, not serious" he answered slowly and I nodded.

His gaze shifted to Marcus, then to the man driving. "We're going to our place, I need a doctor to examine you and make sure that Elena and the baby are okay" his eyes darted to me, suddenly he frantically started rummaging through his pockets and pulled out his phone. The screen lit up and Damien leaned back with a small smile. "They're fine, Ophelia is with them" my eyebrows shot up and he flipped the screen. My eyes ran over the message "D, where are you, are you okay, I'm with Elena, if you don't bring Victor home, I'm breaking up with you!" and then by the name of the sender - Ophelia. "Ophelia, as Ophelia, Elena's friend?" I asked in surprise and Damien shrugged, putting his phone away and pointing to his ears.

I shook my head and looked ahead. Elena wasn't going to take that well, at all. She didn't trust Damien anyway, neither did I, but until now he'd shown genuine concern, and yet, for years we'd been enemies. Damien being with Ophelia, for whatever reason, whatever happened between them, combined with my wife's already nervousness, her pregnancy, and the fact that we hadn't had a single day of rest in recent weeks, was not going to end good.      

Elena

"Ellie, you need to rest" Ophelia stood in front of me and grabbed my shoulders. "I can't, Ophelia, not until Victor comes home" I shook my head and grimaced, feeling my son's feet digging into my already restless bladder. "He's fine Ellie, he's with Damien" the hairs on my neck stood up and I narrowed my eyes. "With Damien, how do you know?" something in her tone put me on edge, even more so when her gaze bounced around like a tennis ball. "Ophelia?" I didn't have the strength for new surprises, if Damien did something to her, I swear, I will take advantage of everything Victor learned about shooting and make the bastard a grater!

"Elena, it's a long story, there's nothing to worry about, so please sit down, you're as pale as a mortal, for God's sake!" she tried to pull me to the sofa, but I anchored myself firmly and grabbed her hands. "Ophelia, my husband is out there somewhere, wounded and in the middle of a firefight, the cause of which is my own father. If you're right, he's with a man who, until a few weeks ago, would have done anything to kill him. If you have anything to say to me,if Damien has done anything to you, please, from the bottom of my heart, tell me now, before I die of worry!" Ophelia chewed her inner cheek and studied my face.

"Okay, okay, but first sit down, okay?" my gaze flew to the sofa, then fell on our entwined hands, the stains of blood still stuck to my fingers and my heart broke into even smaller pieces, but I nodded and Ophelia wrapped her arm around my shoulders, leading me to the sofa. "Damien won't hurt Victor, Ellie, not if he loves me" there it is, the punch, who.....loves? "Again?" Ophelia hissed and tried to pull her hands from mine. My nails only dug deeper into the backs of her hands. I don't know which was worse, my anxiety about Victor, or the fact that I just found out that Ophelia was talking about love with one of my husband's enemies.

"Look, I know you're surprised and maybe you'll hate me, but things just happened" she tried to pull her hands out of my grip again with a soft 'ouch' and I let her go, trying not to go crazy. "Damien broke into my house, he was looking for information about you and...well I don't know what happened, it's messed up for me too. I tried to push him away, to stay away from him, but for some reason he kept coming back and i just...we are....together" she breathed out and my head spun. "You and Damien Bennett...?" Ophelia nodded and her face turned red. "I know, I know, Ellie, but I swear, he doesn't hate Victor, he wouldn't hurt him, on the contrary, he likes him, he likes that Victor doesn't give in to him, he only feels a healthy rivalry towards him, I swear!" she passionately grabbed me and pressed me against her.

"I love him, Elena, please, please, don't hate me!" I closed my eyes and rested my head on her shoulder. There's no way to mess up a bigger one, right? My life went from the gray calm of an idle life of a student in an all-girls school, to an absolute whirlwind of emotions and unexpected events. I don't know yet how much I can take, how much I can bear, but I can't turn my back on my best friend either. "I don't hate you Offie, I'm just....surprised, not to say shocked" I sighed against her neck and raised my head to look at her.

"I know, me too...I'm still getting used to it" she looked down at her knees. "But Damien...You remember how I didn't like Victor at first, all my suspicions and when you revealed to us what he was like and how I...It just happened, Elena, and now I understand you better" her eyes pierced mine, full of tears and hope and my heart sank for her. "They love differently, don't they?" I smiled for the first time in hours and took a deep breath. "To put it mildly" Ophelia snorted and I smiled. "And you're sure Victor is with Damien and he's okay?" I raised my eyebrows and Ophelia nodded vigorously.

"I told him if he didn't bring him home, I'd break up with him" my eyebrows shot up. "You threatened Damien Bennett?" Ophelia shrugged. "I think he's getting used to it..." suddenly she jumped to her feet, there was a commotion behind us and I stood up abruptly, turning around to find myself face to face with a grinning Victor. "My love" he spread his arms and I felt like I got kicked in the gut. Like a floodgate suddenly released, all my anxiety, the shock of the news of Ophelia and Damien's relationship, my fear of Victor, burst forth and clouded my vision.

I sobbed and tried to walk towards him, sink into his arms, feel with my hands that I wasn't hallucinating, but instead, he spun around me like a three-dimensional whirlwind. "Elena!" his shout seemed to pierce the spinning of the room and set my legs moving, my heart pounding and I flew forward.

It was warm, soft and cozy. So calm, as if the comfort surrounding me stood between me and reality like a wall that protects me from the truth, from my father's betrayal, from the memory that I mean nothing to him, from all the dangers of life, from the memory that Victor is injured because of me, because of the guilt that in order to protect my baby, I had to leave my husband in the middle of the street, covered in blood and in the middle of a shootout. In that warm softness, I didn't have to remember Ophelia's pleas not to hate her for falling in love with Victor's enemy, or former enemy, or ally, or whatever Damien Bennet is now.

But something was pulling me back to this reality, something touching my forehead, caressing my stomach and urging me to return. "Hey, my love, good morning" Victor's warm, deep voice cut through the blanket of warmth that enveloped me, inviting me to respond and I slowly opened my eyes and looked around. "You're fine, it's just that your emotions got too much and you fainted" I raised my hand and placed it on his cheek, tracing with my fingertips his cheekbones, his nose, the sharp line of his jaw, the scruff of his slightly stubbled beard.

"What happened?" I sounded like a choked vacuum cleaner and Victor turned away, leaving my hand hanging in the air. "Can you stand up a bit?" he looked at me again and I looked down at the glass of water he was holding. I nodded and helped myself with my hands to sit up, gratefully accepting the water. "Maybe we should go?" my gaze snapped to Ophelia's voice. My best friend, the woman who had always brought sanity into my life, my pillar of sure logic and cool judgment, stood at the sides of the bottom end of the bed, enveloped by a dark, brooding giant who watched me like a curious predator, uncertain what kind of prey am I.

My gaze drifted over the two of them. Is that what Victor and I looked like from the side? Damien was a head taller than Ophelia, his broad shoulders looking comfortable to lean on, or at least Ophelia made it look that way given the back slope of her body. His arms wrapped around her shoulders and stomach and hers hung on his forearm under her chin. They looked like one of those factory pictures that manufacturers put in frames to entice you to buy one. Both with light brown hair, Damien's eyes two shades darker hazel than Ophelia's, the hard features of his face a stark contrast to the soft porcelain of hers, but when she looked uncertainly up and back at him, the glint in Damien's eyes couldn't be confused and it brought me peace, at least in that respect.

Christina is with Simon, Ophelia with Damien, as if the pieces of my life were arranged like a puzzle, which promised me a family, something I never dreamed of. My two best friends were happy with the men they met, because I married Victor and that somewhat eased the pain of losing my father. "Stay!" they both looked at me, Ophelia's eyes filled with tears again and I looked up at Victor. "Will you help me up?" he nodded and got off the bed, holding out both of his hands to me. "I'm proud of you,my love" Victor whispered against my forehead and I nodded with a small smile.

I took a deep breath and stood with my back to Victor, leaning on his chest like Ophelia and Damien. Suddenly the bed seemed huge to me, as if we were not separated by a piece of furniture, but by a mountain of unspoken thoughts and feelings. "I'm sure you have a good reason not to tell me about...that" my words were directed at Ophelia and from her look, from the blush on her face, I knew she knew I was talking to her. "But I wish you would trust me more and tell me the truth, let me be happy that you finally found a man who makes you happy, instead of hiding in the shadows like criminals" she started to say something , but I interrupted her by raising my hand.

"You've always been there for me, Ophelia, my forever grumpy friend. Day after day, through good and bad, you've been my sanity, my logic and stability, when Oscar and Chris just wanted to cheer me up. You're the only one who knows all my secrets because I know you're safer than a safe and would sacrifice anything before you hurt and betray me" I freed myself from Victor's arms with a soft smile at him and he nodded in understanding. I walked over to Ophelia and couldn't help but notice how Damien wisely stepped back, giving us space just the two of us.

"I'm sorry,Offie" I grabbed her hands and smiled wider at her confusion. "For what?" she asked in a trembling crying voice and I sighed. "Forgive me for every time I shared my suspicions about Damien with you, for every time I called him a liar, a traitor and what not. I'm sure it was hard for you to listen to your girlfriend say terrible things about the man you love because I felt the same way when you were talking about Victor in the beginning" she sobbed my name and we both hugged each other crying.

"I'm sorry, Elena, I'm so sorry!" Ophelia cooed and I shook my head on her shoulder. "I'm sorry too, Offie, but I reserve the right to send Victor after him if he hurts you" I muttered sniffling and Ophelia laughed. "We don't have the right to vote, do we?" I heard Damien say and Victor's clucking 'absolutely not' behind me and we both pulled away from each other. "I love you,Elena" Ophelia sobbed and I cupped her face. "I more, Offie, much more, and now enough tears, my husband is injured and yours is impatient to hold you in his arms" I felt Victor's presence behind me even before his arms slid around me to embrace my belly.

"The doctor who examined you already bandaged me, my love" he whispered in my ear and I looked up in surprise. "How long have I been unconscious?" I asked in shock and Victor shrugged against mine. "A little over an hour, we decided to let you rest, you need it with this little thug" he stroked my belly and in response, received a jealous kick from our son. "I also ordered something to be prepared for you to eat while we waited for you to wake up" he added and I raised my face, begging for a kiss, hoping Victor would accept it as a reward for his efforts.

"It's time to go, angel" all eyes turned to Damien, who had once again taken his position behind Ophelia, wrapping his arms around her protectively. "Are you crazy!" she squealed and Victor and I burst out laughing. "I have so much to say to Elena I don't know where to start and I don't care if you agree or not!" she snorted and Damien rolled his eyes. "Man, what did I do to deserve such treatment" he sighed and Victor kissed my forehead. "Come on, we'll have a drink while our wives chat, maybe even take a nap" jokingly, Victor pulled away from me and walked around me, putting a hand on Damien's shoulder. "I really need to" the desperation on Damien's face was no match for the pride in his eyes and smile as he followed my husband out of the bedroom, leaving me alone with Ophelia.