I look over her, trying to figure out what the hell she’s talking about when I feel warmth pooling at my knees. Horror slams through my chest as my gaze shoots down to find blood pouring out of her. I suck in a gasp. “You’re bleeding,” I rush out, looking around in panic, trying to figure out what the hell I’m supposed to do to help her. “There’s too much blood. What do I do?”
My hands hover over her, frozen and shaking as the blood continues to pour and her eyes grow droopy. Do I close her legs, press down on her stomach? Where? How … what am I supposed to do to stop the bleeding? “Flick?” I rush out, my eyes wide and panicked. “What do I do? Felicity. HELP ME. Don’t go to sleep. I … I don’t know what to do.”
Her body relaxes and the baby slips in her arms. “FELICITY,” I cry out, grasping onto him as he falls right out of her hold. I cradle him in one arm, barely holding onto him properly as I come up blank, my desperation not helping. My eyes flicker back toward Felicity and hot, burning tears fill my eyes. “NO,” I panic, her eyes growing heavy as the blood continues to flow. “Don’t go. He needs you. Just hold on a little longer.”
Felicity meets my eyes as the harsh reality sinks in. She’s not going to make it and no matter what I do, there’s not a damn thing that will help her now. “Tell him I’m sorry,” Felicity breathes as my tears spill over. “Don’t let them hurt my baby.”
I shake my head, a sharp lump getting caught in my throat. “I won’t,” I promise her, knowing that I would lay my life down if it meant keeping this baby out of Giovanni’s hands. “I’ll find a way to get us out of here. I’ll take him home to Roman. He’s going to be okay.”
Felicity’s eyes widen with fear, her hands reaching for her baby again. “No,” she panics. “Not Roman. Anywhere but there.”
I shake my head, not understanding. “But Roman is his father,” I tell her, unable to comprehend what it means to truly keep this baby away from him, and despite her wishes, it’s just not something I could do to him. “He thinks he lost this baby. For months, it’s been killing him. He would never hurt him. Roman would be the best father a kid could need.”
Seeing she is too weak to hold her baby, I take her hand and squeeze it, not wanting her to feel alone in this. “I know,” she breathes as a tear rolls down her cheek, her voice barely a whisper. “He would be Roman’s whole world, but to be loved by Roman, or any of them, means to live your life in fear. I don’t want that for my son. Loving him brought me nothing but pain and suffering. My son,” she sobs. “He needs more.”
My chest aches as understanding tears through me like never before, her words hitting me a little too close to home. She’s right. Every damn word is right. Being loved and adored by the DeAngelis brothers means to live a life full of heartache and fear and while that’s terrifying to her, for me, it’s never been so exciting.
Tears stream down my face and I know without a doubt that I will not be able to keep this precious child from his father, so I promise her the one thing I can. “Your baby will be safe with me,” I tell her. “I swear, he will have a happy life.”
Felicity lets out one last breath and the rest of her body slumps against the wall as her hand falls from mine. Overwhelming grief crushes through me and pained sobs tear from deep in my chest as I hold onto her newborn son, crying in my arms.
Unease settles into me. How the hell am I supposed to get us out of here, let alone care for him? All I know is that if I don’t get this baby out of here now, he doesn’t stand a chance. Sobs tear from deep in my chest as I carefully lay him down on his mother’s stomach. He’s still attached by the umbilical cord and if I don’t figure out something fast, we’re both screwed.
Racing out of the cell, I drop down beside the guard and start feeling around his body. He stirs under my touch and the moment my fingers curl around a knife, I throw myself back to my feet and kick him hard in the head, making sure he’s well and truly out.
Swallowing hard, I step back into the cell and take a shaky breath, hoping that this doesn’t hurt the baby in any way. I pull the hair tie out of my messy hair and tie it tightly around the base of the cord before taking the knife and slicing through it.