DAMIR
I hadn't even finished processing the sick feeling in my gut after that damn phone call….the words still echoed in my ears:
"We need to talk about the boy."
Then the line went dead.
No name. No explanation. Just that…and something dark in his tone that made every hair on my neck rise.
My instincts were already screaming, my fingers fumbling as I checked the security feeds on the panel in my study.
That was when it happened.
BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.
The external motion sensor blared through the room like a siren. My head snapped toward it. My heart punched my ribs.
I didn't even wait for the guards to speak….I was already tapping into the CCTV feed.
What I saw made my blood run cold.
Someone was being beaten…ravaged like an animal under the low flickering lights outside the perimeter gate. The camera's low angle caught flashes of struggling limbs, a body crumpling, a shadow looming over them and striking again and again. My breath hitched.
"Zoom in," I rasped, stepping closer to the monitor.
The guard beside me tapped the controls.
And then….
"Eli?!" I shouted, my voice breaking.
My knees almost gave out.
I didn't even realize I'd shouted until the guards behind me froze in place. My baby. His tiny, delicate frame twisted on the ground under the weight of a grown man's blows.
What the fuck was happening?
"What the hell are you all still doing here?!"
My phone was already out of my pocket as I bolted from the room. The feed now mirrored on my screen,his bruised body jerking as the man struck him. My heart felt like it was tearing in two.
"ALL GUARDS TO THE FRONT GATE!" I roared. "NOW! FULL FORCE!"
Panic hit me like fire. I barely registered my feet as they slammed against the marble floors and then the front gravel path. The air was cold but I was burning.
Why didn't I put more cameras? Why didn't I demand two men at the gate all the damn time?
Why is this fucking estate so damn huge!?
I cursed the winding paths. The trees. The endless grounds. Everything that kept me away from him.
My hands were shaking so violently that my phone almost slipped as I tried switching angles. I heard something then…
Far.
Raw.
"DAMIRRRRR!!! HELP ME!!!"
His voice cracked. Shattered.
I lost it.
I sprinted like my life depended on it…because it fucking did.
Guards thundered behind me. One of them reached for the remote to open the electric gate but I screamed, "SCREW THE CONTROLLER! PUSH IT OPEN!"
They obeyed instantly. Two of them threw their shoulders into the gate. Metal groaned.
And then banging on the big metal gate
"Damir!!!"
"HELP ME!!!"
"PLEASE!!"
Another scream….higher this time. A shriek.
I squeezed through the half-open gate.
I'll never forget what I saw.
Eli was staggering from where he was standing in front of the gate ….his knees bloody, his shoulder soaked in red. He was half-crawling, hair sticking to his forehead, eyes wide in terror. And behind him….just a few feet away…
That man.
The same one from the CCTV.
His hand swung forward a blade gleaming.
"NO!" I screamed.
Too late.
Eli's body jerked. The knife sank into his shoulder. He wailed…'high-pitched and piercing. I charged forward like a madman.
I caught him.
His body collapsed into mine. Limp. Shaking. He whimpered my name before going slack in my arms.
"Eli?! Baby?! I've got you….I've got you!"
"Sir! We have him!" a guard yelled. I turned just in time to see the attacker wrestled into the dirt, four guards on him, one ripping the knife from his hand.
I didn't care.
All I saw was the blood pouring from Eli's shoulder.
"OPEN THE DAMN DOOR!" I bellowed as I ran back toward the house, his fragile frame in my arms, blood soaking through my shirt.
"ALENA!" I yelled into my comm link. "Emergency med! Full trauma response, knife wound, internal bleeding move it!!"
"Confirmed. Medical team en route!" Alena's voice came back instantly.
I burst into the front door. The maids screamed at the sight of him. I didn't slow down. I stormed straight to the emergency suite.
Eli was trying to speak, his lips trembling.
"D-Damir…" he rasped, coughing. His body shuddered in my arms.
"I'm here, baby. Don't talk. Save your strength."
Then suddenly he jerked violently.
His eyes rolled back.
He vomited blood.
A stream of red poured from his lips, warm against my neck. My world tilted.
"NO! NO….no no no no no….please, no…"
The med team burst in as I laid him gently on the surgical bed as the surgical room was located in a safe basement in the mansion, so all the commotion were almost muffled.
His fingers clutched at mine even as he trembled violently.
"I'm not going anywhere," I whispered, pressing my forehead to his. "You hear me, sunshine? I'm here. I'm not letting you go."
Alena grabbed an oxygen mask while two assistants cut open his shirt and inserted IV lines.
Blood bags were brought in. Monitors lit up. Beeping filled the room.
All I could do was hold his hand and pray that I wasn't too late.
Because if I lose him….
Heads will roll.