Matt’s POV

I couldn’t believe how well this evening was going. Jo had completely opened up to me and everything was going according to plan, including security. We ate, danced, and talked about our lives as if we didn’t have a care in the world. Just being with here with Jolie out in the open felt right. Hell, everything about the girl felt right and I wasn’t about to let her slip away from me over some misunderstanding, especially since she was the first woman I had ever felt this way about. I had to make sure the rest of the evening went according to plan. Everything had to end perfectly.

“I just never knew that all this…” Jo said gesturing around the room as we danced. “…was possible outside of the walls of our house. I only saw it in small glimpses…” she trailed off, here eyes glancing out to the ocean. God she was beautiful. Just the way the evening’s sunbeams danced on her face took my breath away. She was everything I had ever wanted and more. And though that thought still terrified me in my profession, Jolie Pagano was more than worth the risk.

I smiled as Jolie cuddled into my chest, swaying lightly to the beat of the music. This evening was perfect and it was about to get even better.

“Jo?” I asked before Jo’s piercing blue eyes met mine.

“Hmm…” She replied with a smile.

“Let’s watch the last sunrays vanish over the ocean, shall we?” Jolie nodded and I couldn’t take my eyes off her as we made our way down to the sand. If it was possible she even more radiant out in the California sunshine with the ocean in the background. I just couldn’t take it any more; I had to touch her, to hold her soft skin against mine. Without a second thought, I scooped her up into my arms and carried her across the beach.

“Matt, what are you doing?” Jo giggled as she wiggled against me. “Put me down! I can walk on my own!”

“You will get your shoes dirty,” I chuckled, using the first excuse I could think of..

“Please? Come on put me down, Matt,” she whined before I finally gave in.

“Not like I could say no to you anyway,” I muttered under my breath as I reluctantly set her back on her feet. As soon as she touched down on the ground, she threw her head back with a laugh and spun around with her arms in her hair. Well if that wasn’t the most musical sound I had ever heard, I didn’t know what was. Damn this girl had me wrapped around her little finger.

“I want my feet in the sand, feel it beneath me, want to test the water…” she said as she twirled in front of my. “Matt, do you even know how long it was that I have been this close to the water? On such a beautiful place?! With someone I love.”

What did she just say? I couldn’t have heard her right, could I? My jaw dropped as I looked down at her, gapping like an idiot. At that moment, my brain completely shut down and I couldn’t comprehend anything that was going on around me. Wait, she what? Did I hear her correctly? Jolie loved me?

“Jo” I breathed, my finally processing and realizing what Jo just told me. She loved me. Jolie fucking loved and I was the happiest and luckiest motherfucker on the planet. I mean, how often does the girl of your dreams tell you she loves you? God, I was on fucking cloud nine.

I took a step toward her and cupped her face in my hands, looking into those stunning blue eyes that mesmerized me from day one. “I love you, Jolie. Believe me, I wouldn’t hurt you… Give me the chance to proof it, be mine,” I practically begged. I couldn’t let her go, not when I knew we both felt the same way about each other.

Jolie swallowed thickly and licked her lips before she opened her mouth to reply. The only problem was that it wasn’t her voice that came out. “Shads?!”

Fucking hell, what could be so damn important that Vengeance had to interrupt us now? I narrowed my eyes and glared at him. “Not now!” I growled before returning my attention to the woman who had stole my heart.

“I want—” My heart started to beat faster in my chest as I anticipated her reply.

“Shads! Inside! Now!” Zacky yelled and my brain instantly switched into defense mode. I immediately scooped Jolie into my arms and took off in a dead toward the restaurant.

“But I wasn’t even in the—” Jo started but I shook my head. I wasn’t sure what set Vengeance off but I wasn’t about to question it now. He was one of the best Hawkeyes and lookouts I had ever met, so if he said run I knew it was something serious.

Once we were inside, I set Jo back on her feet and shielded her behind me, not sure what dangers were following us back inside. All my senses were on red alert and I knew that something wasn’t right.

“What?” I snapped, taking the gun that Zack held out and placing it in my holster. I didn’t like being interrupted in the most intimate moment of my date, especially if it wasn’t a real threat. Then again, Vengeance wasn’t the type to cry wolf.

“At the beach four o’clock, two non authorized persons. I had the area be double checked and banned, something is off,” Zack replied looking around out the window through the scope of his gun. I took a step forward to take a look only to feel Jolie pull on my elbow.

“What is going on?” she demanded, her beautiful blues swimming with fear.

“Don’t worry, babe. It’s just precautionary measures,” I assured her, though I wasn’t really sure if that was the truth or not. We still needed to get a parameter check; the only problem was Zack was the only one who knew we were here. It was Zack and I against these two unidentified intruders. I just hoped there weren’t more lurking just out of sight from the restaurant.

“You see their faces?” I asked Zack, pulling Jolie flush to me.

“Too far away still, but they were headed in your direction,” Zack replied. “I didn’t want to take any risks… We know if anyone sees her we are in deep shit.” And he was right. If anyone saw us with one of the Pagano girls, our cover would be blown and Pagano’s men would hunt us down. I wasn’t about to let that happen, not now, not ever. Jolie was going to stay by my side and that was final.

“Should I take her home?” Zack asked, interrupting my thoughts. As much as I wanted to make sure she was safe, I didn’t want this little breach of security to ruin the date I planned. Would Jo pull away from me again if we didn’t get to finish our date? I wasn’t about to take that risk if I didn’t have to.

“No,” I shook my head. “We’ll wait here a moment longer, keep an eye on the scene, try to see where they are going. Maybe it was just civil people,” I finished as Jolie cuddled into my chest. I could tell she was terrified but she had to know I wouldn’t let anything happen to her. She was mine whether she agreed to it or not and no one touched anything that belonged to M. Shadows.

“Don’t worry, Jo… It’s nothing I bet,” I whispered into her ear as I waited for Zack to scan the area. If we were lucky they unidentified persons on the beach were just civilians and we could continue with our evening, though deep down I knew better. It was past curfew on the boarder of Pagano territory and no one in their right mind would be out walking in a closed zone, unless they were in one of the gangs.

“How’s it looking, Vee?” I asked, gently rubbing my hands up and down Jo’s back. I just hoped she wouldn’t back out now. “Any word?”

“They are getting closer but I cant really get any more information,” Zack looked back at me from his scope with an apologetic look on his face. “I think we should go before they get too close.”

I took in a deep breath, pinching my eyes shut in the process. Zack was right. We needed to get out of here. I couldn’t risk someone finding us here and reporting it back to Pagano. I liked to push the boundaries but I didn’t have a death wish.

“Here, put this on and pull it up over your head to hide your face.” I handed Jolie my blazer and she gave me a questioning look. “We can’t risk you being seen on the way out,” I explained, causing her to sigh.

Shit, the last thing I wanted was her to be disappointed in me and the date. Fuck! I would have to make it up to her again in another way—find something else special for us to do. I wouldn’t let her pull away from me because of this.

“Look Jo, I promise that I will—”

“You’re not going to stay behind again, are you?” Jo interrupted, looking up at me with fear and concern in her beautiful blue eyes.

I smirked and leaned a little bit closer to her, feeling my stomach flutter from our proximity. I definitely loved this girl and would do anything for her. Even if that meant getting captured so she could maintain her freedom.

“Not if I can help it,” I replied, gently cupping her cheek before giving her a light kiss. “It’s you and me together.”

“We need to go soon,” Zack called, looking out the window again as Jo’s grip tightened on my arm.

“Are you worried?” I asked, feeling an excitement rise inside me.

“Of course I am,” she sighed, chewing on her bottom lip. “I meant what I said before. I love you, Matt,” she breathed, her soft hand running over my face. I couldn’t help but smile at her words. It was the only thing I wanted to hear all day.

“I love you too, Jo. Now lets get you out of here so we can finish our date at home,” I said, lightly kissing her lips one more time. “Are we clear to move Vengeance?” I called, trying to think of best way to keep her safe.

“I’m scared,” she whispered as we walked toward the door, her hand squeezing mine tightly.

“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure nothing happens to you. I promise. You can’t get rid of me that easily,” I smiled down at Jo and pulled her closer to me. Her sweet smell hit me like a brick wall and I closed my eyes and took in deep breath. This was exactly what I needed—something to remember her by in case our escape plan went down hill. Though my own fate didn’t seem to matter as much to me as Jo’s did. I just wanted her to be safe and out of harms way.

“Move now!” Vengeance yelled and I carefully pushed Jolie out the door in front of me. She should be safe with Zack armed in front of her and me in the back. Nothing would harm her—that was for damn sure. “The car is right around the corner.”

“Stay low and keep that coat over your head, babe. We should be able to get out of here unnoticed—”

Suddenly the sound of gunshots echoed through the air and I ducked Jolie down to the ground. I quickly shielded her with my body and pushed her toward the dumpster for protection. As I looked around the side of the dumpster, I could feel my heart pounding wildly in my chest, releasing adrenaline into my system as my ears rang from the shots that were just fired. What the hell was going on here? I didn’t know but I had to get Jo out of here! Shit this was turning out to be the worst date ever and she would definitely change her mind now…FUCK!

“You didn’t say the had fucking guns!” I yelled, practically covering Jolie’s body with mine as I pulled her behind the dumpster to shield her from the shots being fired.

“I couldn’t see them! There must be more of them around than I originally saw,” he hissed back, though I could barely hear him over the sound of the bullets bouncing of the metal dumpster in front of us. “But we need to keep moving. They are catching up quick and the last thing we need to do is get captured,” he said before we both shot back around the sides of the dumpster.

“What?” Jo squeaked as I picked her up to move in a crouching position. “What’s going on? Why are they shooting at us?”

“I don’t fucking know,” I hissed. “But don’t worry. We’ll be fine, just stay be hind me,” I instructed, firing my gun as a bullets flew over our heads, causing Jolie to let out a light scream.

“Matt—” Jolie cried but didn’t hear the rest of her words. In that moment, the bullets started raining down on us as I shot back.

“RUN!” I yelled, pushing Jolie into Zack’s arms to get her into the car that was only feet away. I wasn’t about to stand here and let these bastards shoot at us without some kind of repercussions.

“You fucking assholes!” I bellowed, shooting until my clip was empty. “Damn it!”

As I ducked back behind the dumpster, I saw some of the men firing shots and I instantly recognized those gold jackets. The fucking Gold Vipers were in our territory again trying to start a fight. I just hoped they didn’t realize who they were fighting and that none of them had seen Jolie in the process.

“Lets go!” Vengeance bellowed as I dive rolled towards the car. We were in for one hell of a chase and we had to make sure we lost them before we got back to the compound. The last thing we needed was for the Gold Vipers to know where our secret hideout was, especially if they saw Jolie.

Fuck! I almost forgot about Jolie! I swear if she got hurt from this bullshit I would make those Vipers pay. I would single handedly take them out one-by-one in the most agonizing way possible.

I quickly ducked inside the car and slammed the door behind me, my heart beating a mile a minute in my chest. I had so much adrenaline pumping through my veins that everything felt numb, but my mind was set on one thing only—Jolie. I had to make sure she was okay.

“Drive!” bellowed, pulling Jolie into my arms and looking her up and down. I swear if there was one scratch on her perfect body there was going to be hell to pay. “Are you okay?” I breathed, my chest heaving up and down.

“I’m fine. Matt, what is going on?” she asked fearfully as I ran my thumbs over her cheeks, looking into her worried eyes. “Are you okay?

“I’m fine. It was just a rival gang trying to cause trouble but nothing to worry about,” I said as Zack took a sharp turn that made Jolie fall into my arm. “Watch where you’re fucking going, Vee! You could have hurt her!” I felt Jolie’s arms tighten around me and I closed my eyes, holding her close. God she felt so good in my arms and I was glad she was safe and unharmed. I didn’t know what I would have done if something happened to her.

“They’re on our tail! I’m trying to lose them!” Zack snapped over his shoulder.

“Matt—” Jo gasped, looking down at her hands.

“Just a minute, babe. Vee, take the back way through district four,” I interrupted, looking out the back window. We had a little bit of a lead on the car that was trailing us. If we went through the districts it would throw them off. Or at least that was my hope.

“Matt….” Jo shuttered.

“What?” I snapped, instantly regretting my tone. I was just stressed out about this whole interruption and I didn’t mean to take it out on her. None of this was her fault. I was the idiot for not having our date in a more private location. I sighed and ripped my eyes away from the approaching danger.

“Sorry, babe I— Fuck what happened?” I gasped. Jolie was sitting next to me looking down at blood-covered hands, her chest heaving up and down with each audible breath. When the hell did that happen? Did I miss something when I looked her over? Did someone shoot at the car and I missed it? Just the sight of her covered in blood knocked the wind out of me, my chest tight with fear.

“Fuck…babe…talk to me…” I breathed, moving closer to her and pulling her body into mine. I was in a state of complete shock as I tried to find where she was bleeding. How could I have let this happen?

Jolie opened and closed her mouth, her face turning pale as she looked at me. “Where are you hurt? Jo please tell me where…” I begged, taking her hands and suddenly feeling helpless. How could she have gotten hurt under my watch?

“Matt I’m fine…It’s not—”

“Jolie this isn’t fine!” I corrected, shaking my head as the car took another sharp turn. “You’re bleeding!”

“No, you’re bleeding, Matt,” Jo said and looked at her with a confused expression. What did she mean I was bleeding? I was fine!

“What are you talking about?” I asked, still in disbelief.

“There is a lot of blood,” Jolie carefully pulled up my shirt to find the source and let out out a small gasp. “Oh my god, you’ve been shot. Zack we’ve got to get him home quick. He’s loosing a lot of blood.”

“What?” I asked again, suddenly feeling dizzy and light headed. “What do you mean I’ve been shot? I’m fine…” though I didn’t understand why I felt like I was spinning. “I don’t even feel anything.”

“Put pressure on it. I’ll try my best to get us home as fast as possible. Is it bad?” Zack’s voice called as Jolie had me turn in the seat to investigate further.

“I don’t know yet, there isn’t enough light to see anything but blood,” Jolie pressed down on my left shoulder and I winced. Fuck maybe I had been shot but how did I not feel it? I had been shot multiple times throughout my life but never had it felt like this before. “I think Emery should look at it when we get back. She will be able to fix it up better than me…”

“No,” I hissed, feeling her twist something against my wound. “No one else. No one can know… I’m fine!”

“But Matt—”

“No. I’m fine. When we get back, pull the bullet out and stitch me up. I don’t need anything else,” I hissed, feeling Jo’s fingers start running over the wound. Okay, so now it fucking hurt but why didn’t I feel it before?

By the time we got back to the compound, both my head and my shoulder were throbbing painfully. It took both Zack and Jolie to get me back to my room because I felt so weak. Apparently I had lost quiet a bit of blood in the back seat of the car but I didn’t care about that now. I would make Vengeance clean it up before my meeting with Pagano tomorrow morning. For now, I just wanted to get his fucking bullet out of my shoulder and talk to Jolie. I had to know if she would be mine.

“Put him down here and go get me a med kit, needle, stitching thread, and peroxide. Oh and we also need a lot of gauze,” Jolie instructed once Zacky helped me over to the bed. I was impressed by how quickly she took control of the situation and I couldn’t help but smile. Damn she was the prefect woman for me.

“And be fucking discreet,” I hissed as Jolie pulled off my shirt and laid me down on the bed. “The last thing we need is for the Rev or Christ sniffing around in here.”

Zack nodded and quickly disappeared out the door, leaving me alone with Jolie for the first time in hours. Unfortunately it had taken longer than anticipated to shake the Gold Vipers. I just hoped those bastards didn’t see us with Jolie or else we would be in deep shit. I wouldn’t put it past those bastards to sell us out for the Pagano reward money. But I couldn’t think about that now, I had more pressing issues at hand, like the fact that those bastards shot me!

“Hold still,” Jo said as I flinched and pulled away when her fingers grazed the top of the bullet deep in my skin. “I know it hurts. I’ll wait until Zacky comes back and give you something before I pull it out.”

“No fucking pull it out now,” I snapped and instantly regretted it. Jolie bit down on her bottom lip and pinched her eyes shut. Shit I was really ruining it now.

I winced as I reached around and grabbed her hand, pulling her towards me. “Jo look,” I sighed, meeting those stunning blue eyes. “I’m sorry…I’m just pissed because this evening didn’t go at all according to plan. We were supposed to end our date on the beach with desert and I fucked it up. I was firm enough on security and I just hope it didn’t ruin my chances of having you. I love you more than words can even describe and I know that a life with me seems terrifying. I just hope you’re still willing to give it a chance,” I finished, looking into her eyes with hope.

Jo sat down on the edge of the edge of the bed and wrapped both of her hands around me. “A few bullets and intruders aren’t going to scare me away from what I want,” she said and I couldn’t believe my ears. She wasn’t scared back there? “And I want you, Matt.”

Before Jo could continue, I pressed my lips to hers and kissed her with such passion that she would surely feel it all the way to her toes. The kiss made my heart flutter and brought me to the verge of tears, making me realize exactly how much I loved this girl. I had had fallen for her so deeply that I knew that I couldn’t lose her without completely losing myself. She was the only one for me.

“Hem, hem,” I heard someone clear there throat and I slowly pulled away, looking into Jo’s dazed eyes. Oh, I could tell that she felt it… “Looks like he’s feeling better…” Zack huffed as Jo quickly moved to grab the supplies to take care of my wound.

“I was just trying to get him to relax,” Jo said with a deep blush on her cheeks, and I had to admit that I’d never seen her look more beautiful. “Could you pass me the gauze and scalpel from the med kit?” Jo continued though I swore I heard Vengeance mutter something like ‘didn’t look like relaxing to me’.

The next thing I knew, I was biting down on my knuckle to prevent more than groans of pain coming out of my mouth. It fucking hurt as Jolie make a small incision around the wound and carefully dug her fingers into my shoulder to remove the bullet.

“Fucking hell!” I hissed, pinching my eyes shut as I squeezed the table. “Just pull it out already!”

“I’m trying, babe. I just-just cant seem to get a good grip on it. There is a lot of blood,” Jo replied in strained tone as she worked. Suddenly the intense pressure stopped and I let out a light sigh of relief. “I can’t get it. It’s too deep. We should really call Emery in here. She is the better at this than me…”

“No,” I said, reaching back and pulling Jolie forwards so I could see her. “You can do this,” I told her, looking her straight in the eye. “It’s me and you and that’s it. Deal?”

Jolie shook her head before she moved back to my shoulder. “Can I have some more gauze and will you hold him down? This is going to hurt…”

Seconds later I felt Zacky press down on my back as the most agonizing pain I had ever experienced ripped through my shoulders. I cursed and slammed my fist down on the bed as I pinched my eyes shut, willing the paint to stop. “Almost got it…”

“Fuck just get it out!” I yelled and with one more breath the agonizing pain turned into a dull throb. I let out a loud sigh of relief and crashed my head down on the mattress as Jolie cried, “I got it!”

“I knew you could do it babe,” I gasped tiredly, reaching back with my good hand and patting her thigh. “I knew you could.” And with that I let my eyes flutter shut, the sweet darkness of exhaustion taking me hostage.

“Matt? Matt?”

I blinked a few times as I picked up my head, feeling like an elephant was sitting on my back. “Hmmm?” I answered groggily.

“You’re phone has been going off for the past twenty minutes. I was going to let you sleep but it just keeps ringing,” Jolie’s voice said somewhere to my left.

“What time is it?” I had only closed my eyes for a few minutes, right.? So who could have been looking for me this aggressively, and better yet why couldn’t Vengeance take care of it?

“It’s 8:30 in the morning,” Jo said and my eye shot open. No, no, no, no! It couldn’t be 8:30 in the morning because I was do for a meeting with Pagano in a half an hour on the other side of town.

I quickly pushed myself up from the bed and instantly regretted my decision, the back of my shoulder screaming in protest. Fuck! I forgot all about that fucking gun shot wound I got last night, but I didn’t have time to think about it now. I was going to be late and one thing was certain, no one was ever late for a meeting with Danny Pagano.

Notes

So the Gold Vipers interrupted Matt and Jo's date? Did they recognize Jolie or the guys? Do you think this is leading to trouble, especially since they have a meeting with Daddy Pagano? Tell us what you think!