Marrying my high school bully

Dexter

“You need to come back home now, sir, Leonardo is threatening to shoot the madam.” Mary, my nanny, whispered with a note of urgency as if she was being restricted from talking.

At the mention of his name, my heart skipped a beat and my palms became clammy with sweat. Not because I was scared of him, but with him in our house, my wife’s safety wasn’t guaranteed.

I’d gotten her message so there was no need for us to keep talking. I dropped the call and put Inspector James on the line.

As the minutes passed, my anxiety skyrocketed, threatening to hit the roof. My previously distracted mind was transcending into a state of frenzy and I couldn’t do anything about it.

He picked up after what seemed like an eternity, and if he wasn’t a noble police officer, I’d have thrown a punch at him.

“Hi, Mr Hemingway. How are-”

I cut through the pleasantries with clenched teeth. “I’m not fine, Inspector James, Leonardo is in my house right now.”

“What? How is that even possible? How did he get in?” He threw question after question, fueling my anger further.

“This isn’t the appropriate time to ask such a question. What we should be thinking of is how to save my pregnant wife, inspector. Get your men out of the station, right now!” I ordered, ignoring the fact that he held an enviable position. “All roads lead to my house,” I added.

He wasn’t able to reply because I hung up on him immediately and sprang to my feet. The documents the sales department wanted me to sign were left abandoned on the table, as I stormed out of my office.

I wondered how I got home without running into an accident since I drove like a man on a wild goose chase. As I navigated through the busy road, my thoughts were clouded by just one woman.

I imagined the kind of pain she could be going through with Leonardo directing his anger, after all, we put him on the run.

The gate opened in the blink of an eye and I dashed in, hurrying to save Lorraine from him when I met a sight that caused me to halt on my steps.

Lilly was visibly shivering, her nose runny as she wailed loudly. My eyes darted to Leonardo who had a sinister smirk plastered on his face, his grip on Lilly’s neck as he pointed a gun to the side of her head.

“Let go of my daughter, Leonardo,” I demanded, my voice authoritative.

“Why should I do that? She’s my granddaughter as well.” He snickered.

I glanced at Lorraine whose face was covered with some black substances, her clothes were burnt as well. Then I gazed at the house which was already in flames, the smoke circulating in the facade.

“No sane grandfather would think of hurting his grandchild.”

He rolled his eyes and shoved the front sight closer to her head, letting out a chuckle. “Lorraine has called me that already and I showed her what it meant to be mentally unstable. Do you want proof of my insanity?”

Glints of rage ran down my spine and I made to move forward, but a strong grip on my arm prohibited me from carrying out my intention.

I spared the person a backward glance, then I realized that the cops were already in my house.

“Allow us to handle this, Mr Hemmingway. He’s trying to bait you and if you fall for it, you’re going to be faced with several consequences and at this point, he has nothing to lose.” He warned me.

I stepped back as his words resonated in my mind.

If I interrupted the operation, I stood the chance of getting arrested and giving the loser the chance to hurt my family once again so I had to think it through before taking any action.

He patted my shoulder and took a step forward, his gun pointed at Leonardo.

“Mr Jones, this house is heavily surrounded by the police and unlike the last time, we’ve got every loose end tightened so drop your gun and let’s do this the easy way.”

Leonardo scoffed and crouched behind Lilly. He ruffled her hair, leering at her like a pedophile.

My patience waned, but I remembered Inspector James’ warning so I steeled myself.ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

“There are two things I can’t do, and the first one is dropping my gun just to bend to your rules. Secondly, I can’t allow you people to take me to your filthy cell. I’d rather die,” He grinned and glanced at Lorraine then his eerie gaze stopped at me. “But I won’t be dying alone.” He cackled.

“What are you talking about?” I probed angrily.

“What fun would it be to die without causing you pain?” He pointed a finger at me, then at Lorraine. “Or her.” He smirked. “I don’t know why she had to get everything while I got nothing. The company has been taken away from me and my house too. Even my daughter has been arrested and you think I’d allow you all to have peace?”

Lorraine trotted towards him, her face veiled with a cold mask and her steps fearless.

“Why don’t we end it now?” She whispered, though her voice could be heard by anyone close to her.

“Stay away from him, Lorraine!” I thundered, but she didn’t listen as she kept advancing towards him.

“Why do we have to be scared of someone afraid of us?” She asked, sizing him up through her peripheral. “If you wanted to do anything to me, you’d have done it earlier.”

I sighed, knowing that she was trying to get a reaction out of him.

“I’m happy that you are smart, at least you know that I’m here to end it. Honestly, I don’t care about the state of Emilia, she could rot in prison for all I care, what matters is doing what I should have done some years ago.”

The direction of his gun switched from Lilly to her.

“If you kill me now, I’ll be very happy because I’m with the people I love, which is something you can never have .” She replied.

The smirk on his face dropped, and he said, “I never planned to hurt you, sweetheart, it’s going to be too easy. So I’ll just go ahead and take away the life of the person you live for.”

His words sounded inarticulate until the gun was pointed at me.

“I’m sorry, but he has to go.”

Nothing prepared any of us for the next thing that happened as he pulled the trigger, and I felt the impact of the bullet on my chest.

I staggered backward with a blinding pain searing through my chest. A warm liquid trickled down my body and then I realised that it was my blood.

My breaths became uneven as dizziness formed a cast over my eyes. My legs suddenly became light, unable to carry the weight of my body so I slumped onto the ground.

Everything that happened around me felt surreal as I choked on my blood. Lorraine palmed my cheeks, her sobs echoing in my head but my mouth wasn’t able to form words of consolation.

My vision blurred as I slipped into unconsciousness and even Lorraine’s tears couldn’t keep me away from it.