Nick's POV

"God, you look gorgeous," I mumbled into her neck as I left small kisses from her jaw line to her collarbone.

"Thank you, but we can't do this in the limo," she whispered.

"Who says we can't?"

"Nick," she moaned as I gently brushed my lips against her ear after whispering in her ear. "I don't want to mess up my dress."

I sighed and settled for pulling her close to me, quickly changing my thoughts to something boring to calm down the hard thing in my pants. Once I was ready, I looked back down to her to see that little crease between her eyebrows that always appeared when she was worried.

"You okay?" I asked after gently pecking her forehead.

She nodded and then sighed. "I was just thinking."

"About what?"

"Us."

That caught me off guard. I was expecting the restaurant, Alex's party, or who's after her, but I wasn't expecting us. And what was even worse was the way she said it. That little sad drop in her voice instantly told me this wasn't going to be good. "What about us?"

"Just...I'm scared," she whispered after a moment.

I brought her up to sit in my lap instead and wrapped my arms around her to try to soothe all of her worries. I'm not going to let anything happen to us, to her most importantly. If she stays close by and follows me, I won't let anything happen to her, just like when I led us out of that house. Martinez's house.

I have kept Martinez in a cell for a while just in case I need information, and it turns out I did. He was the one who hired Chris to make a move on Amelia and trash her restaurant because I'm assuming Lorenzo is planning something. He's testing the waters to figure just what my weakness is, or should I say who?

When I went to apologize for getting Amelia into this mess and tell her I should have never let her help me steal the contract, she told me that there was something weird between their interaction that she didn't mention. She said he seemed like he knew who she was, but she wasn't sure if it was just how mafia men were or if he did in fact know who she was. But to be on the safe side, I'm assuming the latter just in case he's doing something.

I looked back down at the beautiful girl in my arms, who had fear written in her eyes, and asked, "why scared?"

She took a breath in before speaking again, "I love you."

Every time I heard those three words, my heart skips a beat, and this time was no different. What was different was different was the unpleasant feeling in my chest due to the negative connotation she put on those words, as if it was a bad thing to love me. "I love you too. Does that scare you that much?"

"I'm scared of losing this," she whispered.

"Don't be. I'll always be there for you. You don't need to worry about that," I tried to reassure her.

"But how do you know you'll always be there? What if something happens to you? W-What if one day I'm waiting to you to come home and—"

I cut her off my placing a kiss to her lips. Her eyes were starting to water, and her breathing was starting to pick up. I didn't want her to worry about my safety ever. I knew it was hard to not wonder about the dangers of my job, but if it meant coming home to her, living a long happy life with her, it was important for me to also try to stay alive.

"You don't need to worry about that. I promise you that I will think of my own life too, but remember I will always sacrifice my life for yours."

"Don't say that," she whispered.

"I know it sounds scary, but don't think about it too much, okay?"

I could see the hesitancy in her eyes as she took a moment to nod. I knew she was worried about me because her heart is so kind that she didn't want to hurt anyone. If I got hurt because I protected her, I'm sure she would think it was all her fault, but I knew it was better for her to be alive with all her family and friends supporting her than me.

Once we pulled up to the venue, I took her hand in mine and helped her out of the car. We walked together in silence to the entrance. I was worried about her honestly. I didn't want her to constantly be thinking about safety in general. Now, what I thought would end up being fear about her own safety, was fear about my safety.

I decided to wrap my arm around her waist instead and pull her closer to me. I kissed the side of her forehead before whispering in her ear, "just try to enjoy yourself tonight. You know I love that smile of yours."

She looked up into my eyes but didn't look any happier. "Come on," I rubbed small circles on her waist. "Smile. Pleeeeease," I begged, giving her the best puppy dog eyes I could.

I saw that little flinch in the corner of her lips. "Oh! I saw it! Don't try to hide it," I teased before she a full toothy smile broke out on her face. A smile of my own matched hers, and I felt the familiar flutter in my heart, which was very common when she was around.

"You're such a dork," she teased, shaking her head while keeping that beautiful smile plastered on her face.

I chuckled at her cuteness. I still can't believe she's my girl. She will never understand how truly lucky I am to have her.

~*~

"So, how old are you turning?" Amelia asked in English.

"Thirty-One," Alex replied.

"Now it makes sense," she mumbled.

"What does?"

"You're six years older,"

"You didn't believe when I said your father didn't cheat?"

"Not really," She chuckled.

"Well, thank you Amelia, and Nick, for wishing me a happy birthday. I saved two seats right next to me and my fiancée for you two,"

We walked through the crowd of most mafia men and their significant others to a table occupied by a dozen or so people. A woman immediately stood up as Amelia's brother walked closer, revealing her large belly. Amelia never mentioned this. I glanced down at her to see shock clearly written in her eyes, telling me she had no clue either. I looked back up to see Alex giving her a quick peck and wrapping and arm around her waist.

"Gabrielle, this is my sister Amelia and her boyfriend Nick," Alex introduced. "And Amelia and Nick, this is my fiancée Gabrielle."

Amelia and I shook her hand, and we all sat down after the 'nice to meet yous'.

"Alex didn't mention you were pregnant," Amelia started.

"He wanted it to be a surprise," Gabrielle replied.

"How far along are you?"

"Seven months. We've been preparing like crazy,"

"Really?"

"Yeah, he's been trying to find a good school and sports for the little man to play, and I've been shopping for all the baby stuff," she went on.

For the night, Amelia and Gabrielle were chatting about her baby and some other tv shows I didn't watch while Alex and I were talking about sports and video games. The whole night was filled with laughter, great food, and just overall a lot of fun. It was nice to be around Amelia's family to see her eyes light up with excitement. It even made me a little envious of the family she had to connect with.

Towards the end of the night, the guests started to leave, and Gabrielle headed up to bed while Alex invited us to stay for a few more drinks because he wanted to I quote 'get to know his baby sister more.'

"I'm so glad I found you. Any family I can get, I will take," Alex said after ordering drinks.

"I am, too. I kind of like having a brother," She replied.

"It was worth it to look for so long and hire people to do so,"

"What do you mean hire?"

"I had one of my friend search for you too. He's actually the one who told me he found you in America with Nick."

For some reason, that didn't sit well with me. Someone else knew that we were together from a different mafia family. I'm not sure why I have this feeling it's not from a family I'm friendly with.

"Who's this friend?"

"Oh, there he is now!" Alex said before waving someone over. I checked behind me to see Lorenzo. Instantly, my blood ran cold. He knew Amelia when he met her. He knew who she was, and he thinks I destroyed the peace treaty. I saw that quick flinch towards his belt and knew what was coming next.

"Get down!" I yelled before flipping a table in front of us. Gun shots echoed off the walls of this room and people started screaming and running. I checked over to see Amelia scooting closer to me, which I pulled her next to my body, and Alex hold his gun and trying to talk to Lorenzo.

"What are you doing?!" Alex yelled.

"Something I should have done a long time ago. No one messes with me, but I decided to let you see your pretty little sister first," he replied and then started shooting the table. The tables were bullet proof at all mafia functions, but we couldn't stay here.

I got up quickly to fire a few shots and then ducked back down. We kept that up for a bit before he was getting too close. We had to moved, but it was hard to judge where. Alex noticed the same and suggested, "we could get behind the bar." He nodded over to the bar that stretched quite a bit around the room, the entrance of which was a few feet past the table.

I agreed and I grabbed Amelia's hand and told her the plan. She nodded and I decided now was a good time. We moved the table along with us and got behind the bar with no injuries. The inside of the bar counter was lined with one way glass.

"Smart," I commented to Alex.

"I know," he chuckled.

We would look out the one way glass to take aim, so our shot became much more accurate and we had more time to plan. One shot after the other we were slowly making some progress as we moved down the length of the bar. At one point, however, Amelia came up behind me as well.

"Nick!" She yelled as she pushed me over and a gun shot that wasn't mine rang in my ears.

"Fuck, are you okay?" I quickly rushed out as she got off me.

She quickly nodded. "Yeah, I'm good. Let's just get out of here alive."

I trusted her words and kept going with the plan. Alex and I were almost to the exit of the house. I knew there was a car parked right outside with my driver, and my top priority was getting Amelia in that car. Alex and I could then wait for back up and finish this off. I made sure to FaceTime the driver, so I could see for myself that he was alive and it was in fact his car.

When we were at the end of the bar counter, I pulled Amelia behind me and stood up to open the door and push her out of the house. None of the guns went off until she was out, so I let out a sigh of relief. Now, all that was left was keep them busy.

~*~

Once back up finally came, we had the matter sorted and Alex was going to hold Lorenzo for me at a warehouse until I was ready to deal with him. It was about 15 minutes since Amelia left to the car, and I was dying to see her. I opened the door, and she smiled at me.

I rushed in and pulled her into a hug. "I'm so glad you're okay," she whispered.

"I'm glad you're okay," I replied.

I pulled back and was about to kiss her, but instead, I quickly noticed the faint smile on her lips. "Are you okay?" I instantly asked, worry filling my mind.

"I'm okay," she mumbled.

I looked over her body to notice a hand clutched over her abdomen. Red blood seeping between her fingers.

"Nick," she whispered before her eyes closed as her head fell to the side.

"Amelia?...Amelia!" I yelled, hoping to get her attention, to bring her out of unconsciousness.

My blood ran cold as I realized she's dying.

"Pierre! We need to go to the hospital now!" I yelled to the driver as I took off my jacket and pressed it to her wound, trying to stop the bleeding. I pulled her in my arms whispering how much I loved her and how sorry I was in her ear.

Pierre raced to the hospital, driving way above the speed limit and running the red lights. It didn't even matter if he was breaking the law. No one was going to stop us. No one could do anything to me anyway or my people anyway. Even in this country, they knew who not to mess with.

Once he slammed the brakes, I opened the door and ran into the hospital, carrying the most precious thing in my arms. My heart was beating out of my chest from the fear of losing her. She was the one who protected me. She put herself in danger to protect me, and no matter what I knew I couldn't live with myself if she died.

"Doctor!" I yelled running through the hospital hallways.

"You're going to be alright. You have to be alright, Amelia," I whispered in her ear.

"I need a doctor!" I kept running.

"You're going to be okay," I kept whispering.

"Doctor!" I yelled again.

"You have to be okay." I was more trying to convince myself at this point.

I noticed some men and women in scrubs running down with a stretcher and kept running toward them.

"You're going to be alright, Amelia," I whispered again.

I laid her down on the stretcher and watched as the doctors started assessing.

"You have to save her," I told them.

"We're going to do our best," one of the doctors with a thick French accent said before rolling her away down a different hallway. I was about to follow when a man told me I couldn't and then followed the other doctors.

I took a breath, which failed to calm me down, and ran a ran through my dark hair.

"You have to be okay," I whispered one last time.