My Bestie's Dad Likes Me Wet-Chapter 71 My Woman

GRANT POV

My fist landed hard against his jaw.

The crunch of bone was clean, wet, and satisfying as he choked on his own breath, his eyes rolled to his skull and his blood was already slicking his chin.

I hit him again.

And again.

The next punch shattered his nose and blood sprayed across the concrete floor, bright red against the dull gray of the rented warehouse.

I watched him thrash against the restraint that was straining his wrists, the metal clanking in the silence that filled the room but my men held him down tighter. He wasn’t getting out of those cuffs unless I let him. And I wouldn’t. Not until Luca Vitellio’s cousin bled enough to make me feel better about the mess his family created.

"Where is Luca?"

My voice came out low accompanied by the unsteady rhythm of my heavy breathing. He whimpered through the tape, looking pitiful while his swollen eyes darted as if pleading.

Another hit.

Another crunch.

I watched in full satisfaction as his head snapped back, some of his teeth clattering to the ground.

"Where is fucking Luca Vitellio?"

I drove my fist into his temple. His muffled scream was more of a gurgle this time, the tape too soaked to hold the sound in.

If Luca thought he could play dirty with me, then he’d forgotten who the hell I am and how far I will go for my people.

I am the filth. I am the goddamn trash can. I don’t play clean and I don’t stop. It’s high time Luca knows that.

My knuckles ached but it’s a familiar pain even as the skin around my knuckles split and my blood mixed with his but I didn’t care. I couldn’t care less the rhythm of violence was the only thing keeping me sane.

"Where—" another punch"—is—" another hit "—Luca!"

"Boss," one of my men said behind me, I could hear the hesitation in his voice as he approached me carefully.

I turned slowly, blood dripping down my hand. "What?"

"He’s unresponsive and if care is not taken he might not make it."

I stared at the bastard now that the anger haze has cleared a bit from my eyes. His face was a ruin and a testament to the masterpiece my knuckles can create. His eyes were swollen shut, his lips split and blood bubbling at his nose.

"Weak fucker."

I let my impulse win as I kicked the chair to the back and my men let him drop, the chair creaking under his limp weight.

I wiped my hands on his stained shirt, then rinsed them in the sink at the corner of the room. "Keep him alive," I muttered to Ivin as I dried my hands. "Barely." I smirked.

Ivin nodded. "Yes, Boss."

I pulled out my phone, dialing Jay for an update "Talk."

"Nova isn’t in the waiting room. Katie’s asleep. She’s not answering her phone either."

For the first time that day I felt real fear, my stomach dropped and I gripped the counter hard to stabilize the fuzz in my head.

"Call her again," I said, voice tight.

"I’ve tried."

I ended the call and redialed her myself once, twice, five times. No answer. The ringing only fed my rage.

"Get the car," I ordered Ivin. "Now."

If someone touched her, if someone even looked at her the wrong way I’d burn the whole goddamn state to the ground.

By the time we reached the hospital, my hands were shaking from how tightly I’d been clenching my fists. The elevator ride up felt too slow, every floor ding mocking me.

"Nova," I called as I entered the ward.

Nothing.

"Nova!"

Katie appeared instead, eyes red and puffy. "Where is she?" she asked at the same time I did.

We stared at each other, and something cold slid down my spine. I started searching room by room, ignoring the way the nurses stared at me like I was a problem they didn’t want to have but my money funded the hospital and their many other branches. They don’t have much of an option.

As I flipped open the last ward curtain, something in my gut told me to check the side porch, the abandoned small, quiet space near the storage corridor.

And that’s where I found her.

Curled up between the wall, a railing, and a pot of dying flowers. She looked small and so damn fragile with her knees drawn to her chest and her phone clutched to her like it could protect her.

"Nova," I breathed, rushing forward.

Her skin was ice-cold and the lips I once admired on her looked very pale. When I pressed two fingers to her neck, the pulse was faint and it was fading fast.

"No. No, no, no."

I scooped her into my arms, her head lolling against my chest. Her body was limp, lifeless. Panic clawed through my ribs.

"Move!" I barked as I kicked open the door to the ward. My men and a few nurses turned in shock.

"Help her! Now!"

They scrambled, wheeling equipment closer, calling for doctors.

"If she dies," I said, with no emotions in my voice, "you all die with her."

The doctor flinched but nodded and the nurses moved faster.

One of them tried to usher me out. "Sir, please, we need space—"

"Do your job and shut the fuck up," I snapped. "You’re wasting time talking."

They stopped arguing after that.

I stood in the corner, watching every move. Her chest lifted in shallow breaths. Machines beeped. One nurse whispered instructions; another prepped a syringe. I memorized their faces. Every single one of them.

My phone buzzed with a call from Jay again.

"Lena’s mother just arrived," he said. "Should I let her in?"

"Yes. Let her stay with Lena. Don’t let them out of your sight."

Nova’s breathing evened out eventually. The doctor said she’d gone into a mild shock but she needed rest and monitoring.

I nodded but didn’t move. I couldn’t move away from her, it was as if in a blink of an eye she could be taken away from me.

When everyone left, I pulled up a chair beside her bed and held her hand which was warmer now. I loved how soft hers felt against my calloused rough hand from years of hustle.

I felt her fingers twitch faintly in mine and I released a breath that I didn’t realize I was holding, I exhaled, finally. The tension in my chest cracking, just a little.

I brushed my thumb across her knuckles, mumbling promises of how I would live and cherish her before I leaned in, and kissed her forehead.

"Not leaving you again," I murmured. "Even if you want me to. Especially if you want me to."And I meant every word that came out of my mouth.

I texted Ivin to bring food, I definitely wasn’t moving from this spot. Not after what happened to Lena and Not after this.

When he returned, Katie was with him. Her eyes widened at the state Nova was in before she rushed to the bedside, taking Nova’s free hand and whispering something under her breath.

Was she praying? Maybe. Maybe we all needed a god tonight.

"Boss," Ivin said quietly.

The tone in his voice froze me before the words even came. "Luca’s cousin is gone. The men guarding him were found dead near the site."

I clenched my fist, jaw ticking. I’d expected this. Luca was fast, damn efficient and cunningly predictable if I dare say so myself.

But that’s fine. I can play that game too.

I just needed my women safe first. Then, I’d deal with Luca in a way that would make his cousin’s death look like mercy.

"What are you doing here and not with Lena?"

Katie’s voice cut through the silence. Her tone was defensive and even though her voice was raw from the crying activity she had been subjecting herself to, the confusion still rang clear in her voice.

Ivin tensed beside me.

I turned slowly toward her. "What did you just say?"

She blinked, startled. "You’re Sandy’s man, right? You haven’t even been to see her. Do you know her room number?"

"No." I didn’t bother to sugarcoat it.

She frowned. "Then why are you here, with Nova?"

The confusion in her eyes almost made me laugh.

"Because," I said evenly, "Nova doesn’t have family nearby. She’s in shock. I’m making sure no one tries anything stupid again."

Katie studied me for a moment, then nodded, her expression softening.

"You’re such a fatherly figure," she said quietly. "I’m sure you’d do the same if it were me."

Hell. No. Hell to the fucking NO!

But I just smiled thinly. "Of course, Katie. I’d do the same."

She turned back to Nova, and I leaned against the wall, exhaustion finally seeping into my bones. My hands were still stained faintly with blood, but I didn’t care.

I’d wash them later.

For now, I watched the slow, steady rise of Nova’s chest which was the quiet proof that she was still here and still mine.

And anyone who tried to take that from me would soon learn what kind of monster they’d awoken.

My phone buzzed again, just as Ivin left to make the final rounds around the ward. The vibration was low, but it’s my private number, people rarely contact me on it.

I unlocked it to see an unread message from an unknown number. But I knew exactly who it was before I even opened it.

— "You drew first blood, Calloway. Now watch me take everything you love.... piece by piece.

— L.V.