Taking A Bullet

Chapter 22

Chapter 22:

Zac's P.O.V

This would have to be in the top ten of my 'Most Craziest Shit I've Ever Seen' list. I had just witnessed, what some would say, a 'hissy fit'. However, this my friends was no ordinary 'hissy fit'. What I had just witnessed right in front of me wasn't a child crying over their ice cream that had dropped on the ground.

No, what I had just seen unfold right before my eyes, was a fifty something year old woman, drop to her knees and yell, cry and scream at her husband. Why, you ask? The answer to that question is unknown. But what is known, is that if I don't go over to where Damon is now, then I'm probably going to die!

"What the fuck Zac?!" Damon yelled at me. Good one Zac, you drifted off again! Mentally beating myself up, I follow Damon out the front door and back to the cars.

"Okay so, I'm no expert or anything, but that's not meant to happen right?" Jack asked confused as he hopped into the back seat. Oh God I can't, I can't hold it! In the dead of silence, I bursted out in laughter. Damon instantly shot his glare straight towards me, which made me stop laughing instantly. I had only ever seen that glare once and the last person he shot that look to didn't turn out to good in the end...

"I, I'm s-sorry Damon..." I stuttered trying to apologise, but his look didn't change.

"Drive" that one word sent shivers throughout my body. Straight away I sped off back to HQ, I hope I don't get in his way anymore. Oh, I know I will look into what just happened, that should cheer him up... Hopefully...

Damon's P.O.V

It's already tomorrow. Gazing at my clock it reads 6:37am, I still haven't fallen asleep. Why? Why did this have to happen? I'm so stupid! How could I let her get kidnapped so easily?! I hate myself for this, please Lily I hope you can forgive me.

A knock at my office door brought me out of my mental lashing. Crap.

"Uh. Come in." I spoke and my voice came out hoarse and raspy. The door slowly opened to reveal a very 'torn up' looking Zac. This isn't good. He has found something out... and I'm not gonna like it.

"I'm sorry about lashing out at you in the car last night Zac." I had to apologise because I knew he didn't do anything wrong, it was just me being me.

"You don't have to apologise, I'm the one who is sorry okay?" Zac gave me a sympathetic smile and continued. "So, I looked into the Austin's financial records and noticed that they came to be completely bankrupt, not once but twice and then, bam, out of nowhere their profits skyrocket through the roof."

I took in what Zac had just told me and pondered over it. It's clearly obvious that they have borrowed money off someone and that someone wants the money back. So it's all the parent's fault that Lily was taken, and I have a feeling they know exactly who it was.

"Zac, I need you to get a hold of Lily's father's private number and bring it to me straight away." Zac looked at me worried.

"Okay, but it's going to take me a couple of hours..." I smiled at him and nodded in response as he left the room.

Yes, now we are getting somewhere! I only hope Lily hasn't been hurt, because if there is so much as a little graze on her perfect skin, then I'm going to gladly kill the person responsible.

_______________________

Exactly two hours later Zac came storming into the room, and he looked pissed.

"Take a look at this!" He threw a folder in front of me and as I opened it I saw photographs of Lily's dad with a man. It looked as though they were at a secrete business meeting. All the pictures were of them two in a dark booth with suitcases on tables and there were some pictures of them exchanging the brief cases.

"What is this?" I asked confused as I scanned the four pictures.

"That" Zac started, pointing at the man that's next to Lily's father in all the photos, "is Arthur Winston."

"Who is?" I asked confused.

"Harry's Father." Zac spoke and the words came out like venom. Oh, no there is something really bad that's going on and now Lily is caught in the middle of it! Bastards!

"Alright tell me the rest Zac, I'm ready for it." But we both knew that I wasn't.

"Okay so, now that Lily has refused to marry Harry, Arthur demanded the money back, but looking at the records I found..." Zac stopped talking, unsure whether he should tell me or not.

"What is it?" I insisted, because I needed to know...

"They don't have the money to pay them back..."

Fuck.

Lily's P.O.V

That was a weird dream... Slowly opening my eyes I scanned the area around me. The walls are all white and... hang on a minute... Where am I?? I felt a strange sort of pain on my right arm, so my eyes followed the pain and sure enough I have a bandage on it. I tried to move my arms and legs but they were cuffed to the bed that I was on. Great.

As I looked over to my left arm, I notice there is an IV drip and flowing into me looks to be a bag of blood. What the hell?! What is going on?! I tried fiddling with the needle to get it out of me when there is a knock at the door.

Um... Am I meant to respond? The door slowly opened to reveal Arthur, Harry's father. Suddenly everything came back to me, being kidnapped, getting bitten by that psycho guy and the cold hard truth of I'm fucked.

Dad owes people money and Arthur is in on it? They are meant to be best friends. He was always like a second father to me, but now I can only see him as an enemy. Something inside of me knew the instant he walked in that door that he was up to something, and it wasn't going to be good.

"Are you feeling better?" He asked seeming genuine. I raised an eyebrow at him. Seriously is he trying to play the 'nice guy'?

"What's going on Arthur? Why are you here when I've been kidnapped?" I cut straight to the chase, I'm not in the mood to mess around with pleasantries. Arthur looked a little taken back.

"Alright Lily, to be frank, your father was in trouble a couple of years ago and it wasn't just once. He became nearly bankrupt twice and I helped him get out of it. We made a deal that you and Harry would be married in exchange for the money. However as you refuse to marry Harry, I now want my money back." He spoke seriously, and I couldn't help but feel trapped. Turning my head away from him and closing my eyes, I could feel my heart beginning to crumble in my chest. How can this be happening?

"There is something else you should know." Arthur spoke retrieving my attention again. "Your father can't afford to pay me what he owes." I could see a smirk in the corner of his mouth appear. Crap, he knows he has got me.

How come I never knew about any of this? So that's why dad was so persistent on Harry and I marrying... What am I going to do? Dad doesn't have the money to pay him back and I don't even know if Damon knows where I am. Everything inside of me began to quiver in fear and helplessness. Tears started rolling down my face with no avail. My chest kept aching as if it would never end, and all I can think about is Damon. I wish I was with him, having him hold me in his strong arms... But I know that it's just wishful thinking.

"You know, I can make this all go away in an instant if you agree to my proposal," Arthur spoke softly, but I knew he wasn't being kind, so what ever he was going to propose, I knew I had to take the right steps... I mean what choice do I have?

"What can I do to make this go away?" I asked as I felt my heart break and my stomach drop.

He looked at me with a smirk on his face and put his right hand into his pocket and pulled out a little red box. He threw the box towards me, I opened it slowly, scared something might jump out, but nothing did. Instead there was a small ring with a single diamond on it. I shot my head up to look at Arthur confused and fearful at what this meant.

"I want you to marry Harry"