THIN ICE |BOOK I |BWWM|

•ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ 38•

Julia's POV

"Grab her!"

"Mommy!"

"...I'm almost free."

"......I'm almost free."

"Grab her!"

"GRAB HER!"

My chest sharply expanded as a gust of sweetened air rushed through every branch of my lungs. The edges of my nostrils flared as each breath rushed to and fro. A numbness shrouded my ears- temporarily deafening them- while my sore eyes had the displeasure of being flooded with piercing sunlight.

The offensive view blurred my vision as I surveyed a new space free of glass, wreckage, and unconscious, battered men. It was replaced by white walls, minimal décor and a night stand with a bottle of water, my phone and my wallet resting comfortably beside me.

As the cotton in my ears fell away, faint ticks sounded from the clock on the wall-accompanied by distant chatter and a dull nagging pain near my right hip.

"You figured it out yet?" Sebastian stoically questioned from the doorway as he unwrapped a Hershey's kiss.

"Sebastian?" My body jerked as my eyes narrowed on the always-collected figure coming into the room.

"Seems your memory is still there."

"Just enough to remember who you are. Where's Nick? What happened?"

"Why don't you tell me. We were out there taking bullets for you."

Sebastian stalked through the room and peeled back the hem off his grey sleeveless tee -revealing a row of stitches cutting across his lower abdomen.

Following Sebastian was a thin framed man in joggers and a medical shirt. He quietly assessed me before pulling back the covers gently and checking what I can only assume to be where the shard of glass once was.

"That doesn't make sense. I asked Liv for help." I explained as I massaged the curve of my forehead.

"You know," -Sebastian let out a scoff that simmered into a chuckle- "You're something else. You didn't really think Olivia was gonna get you outta there by herself, did you?"

"No. I was just hoping she'd enlist help from other sources."

"Oh, like who- Andres?"

My jaw tightened as my pupils lasered in on my poorly filtered company.

"Yeah, your business is in the street. Can't say I was really surprised by any of it. Just figured something was off when you came to the family house for dinner."

"So why help? Why put yourself at risk?" I squirmed and winced while the nurse peeled back my bandage and applied a new dressing.

"Because my stronzo cousin loves you and Nick; and for some reason so do four other people in the family."

I raised my eyebrow curiously- letting my cheeks slack as a warm tingle glossed over them.

"Calm down. I'm not one of the four. I'm barely tolerating you- and your wit got you that far." Sebastian shrugged and tossed his chocolate wrapper into the trash can.

"How touching." I smirked as I watched the small foil ball fly past the can and onto the floor.

The nurse did a final assessment and exited the room as I sat up straight as grabbed the bottle of water next to me.

"Is that what you came to tell me- that you don't like me?"

Sebastian scooped the paper from the floor, placing it in the receptacle as he answered, "I was sent to check on you."

"They picked the right man for the job." -I took my final big gulps of water- "Where's my son?"

"I'm always the right man-"

"Sebastian. Where's Nicolai?" I gripped the conversation with a stern tone.

He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly as if waiting would decrease the anxiety building up in the room.

"We weren't able to get him."

• • • •

We found out I was pregnant with Nicolai on a Thursday. Adrian and I were visiting family in Palermo and I'd felt uneasy from the time we left Jersey. The entire week I played the game of denial just to be beaten by debilitating morning sickness. With the memory of Eva still fresh, I vowed to do everything possible to avoid another loss of my child.

Weighty disappointment clouded over me as I held the positive pregnancy test in my trembling fingers.

It was those same trembling fingers that clung to Sebastians's grey, tear-soaked t-shirt while my other hand beat angrily against his chest.

"He's gonna kill him!" My frayed voice wailed.

"He won't.", -Sebastian caressed my arched back- "Even I know Adrian's not cold-hearted or dumb enough to kill off his heir."

The morsel of optimism that bloomed as I woke up quickly shriveled as the endless possibilities of what Adrian knew streamed into my mind.

If Adrian knew everything, Nicolai was dead.

And yet again, I failed to keep my child safe.

• • • •

The sunlit room gradually transformed into a dimmed tangerine glow enveloping me in melancholy and rue.

Sebastian and I shared a fretful hour long silence spliced with my disconnected and edged rambling before he returned to the pensive voices in the other room.

My heart galloped, but I couldn't tell if it was from the pain killers or my inability to access any coherent thought. All I knew is that while I now sat in this expensive white mahogany trimmed leather chair, my leg bounces we're nearly impossible to control.

Questions ran circles around my mind and I wished terribly that I had painted my nails so that I'd have something to peel.

19:02

My chest welled the more I thought. Seeing Sebastian was unexpected, but it didn't paralyze me like the thought of not having my son -or seeing Matias again.

What was I supposed to say to him? What was he going to say to me? We both had heavy cargo to unpack.

I guess that doesn't matter now.

We had to get him back. I'd die before I stopped trying. Adrian may have known everything, but his power was weak - now I had a fighting chance.

As I fell like Alice into my thoughts, a quieted hiss of the door hinges sounded across the room.

My ears fine tuned themselves for a miracle's voice, but picked up another frequency instead.

"Julia?"

The welling in my chest encapsulated my torso as a mix of butterflies and angst blanketed me.

"Matías."

My joints clicked as I rose carefully from the chair and met him in the middle of the room. His arm rested in a sling while minor cuts and bruises peppered his face.

If executed properly, my plan would expect to have a major distraction with minor injuries. Not only would Adrian and Gaia be incapacitated, but the only other injury would be the driver of the assaulting SUV.

No one on our side was supposed to be in terrible danger- especially not Matìas.

"I'm so sorry." Our mouths moved in unison as we blurted out words I doubted we fully felt yet.

We stood with our arms intertwined until our weakened stances finally collapsed and we sat huddled in the middle of the bedroom floor.

The moment stretched on forever as the honey sky evolved into its navy blue compliment; and eager conversation took a back seat to the only thing I really wanted to hear.

Matías' cheek fell flush against mine -his breath moist with promise.

"We'll get him back. Prometto."