"Ah, darn it!" Vivianne cursed as her arm was grazed by a bullet again. She almost dropped the gun, but fortunately, she still had a tight grip on it.
Beckett looked at her, swearing under his breath as he saw his wife's arm bleeding. That's when he lost his composure entirely. He took the guns on the ground and shot everyone... until the last one stumbled to the ground.
Beckett's final shot was aimed at the man who shot Vivianne. Four bullets lodged into his body; in both arms and knees to immobilize him.
"You shot her, didn't you?" Beckett asked, and the man didn't respond. "Well, be ready to experience hell."
Beckett approached the man. He kicked the gun away before unleashing a barrage of punches. The man screamed as Beckett targeted the areas where he had been shot.
But Beckett seemed like a madman seeking revenge. Hearing the man's pleas only fueled his desire to hurt him more.
Even though he could kill the man with one punch, he didn't. He wanted the man to die slowly and painfully. The more he suffered, the more satisfaction Beckett derived from it.
His fear of blood transformed into a craving for it... and he wanted more.
"Beckett, stop it!" Vivianne screamed, running towards her husband to embrace him. "You'll kill him! He won't fight back anymore!"
But Beckett didn't stop. He continued to rain down blows on the man, seemingly deaf to Vivianne's pleas. It had been a long time since he felt this kind of pleasure, so he intended to make the most of it.
"Beckett, please!" Vivianne cried, tightening her grip on the man. "This isn't you! You're not like this!"
That's when Beckett snapped out of it. He heard the tremor in his wife's voice, causing him to halt the punch he was about to throw at the man.
He took a deep breath before looking at the man he had been torturing. His face was almost unrecognizable, and blood was splattered everywhere. He was still breathing, but they knew he wouldn't last another five minutes.
He stood up straight and faced Vivianne. He couldn't meet her eyes, especially since his hand was bleeding. He suddenly felt scared that his wife might distance herself from him because of what she saw.
But that didn't happen.
"I know you told me that you're ready to be a killer to save me... But I won't be happy if you do that. I don't want you to kill in that way," Vivianne said, taking a handkerchief from her pocket to wipe the blood off Beckett's hand. "I'm safe. You made me safe, so you can stop now..."
Silence enveloped them after that. Beckett stared at his wife as she continued to wipe his hand.
After a while, Beckett held the back of Vivianne's head and placed it on his chest, embracing her. Vivianne was startled and released herself from her husband's grasp because of it.
"Thank you... for being safe. That nothing happened to you," Beckett whispered before kissing the top of the girl's head. "I'm glad."
Vivianne didn't respond. Instead, she just hugged Beckett back. Her head was buried in his chest with her eyes closed.
Vivianne thought she had seen everything about Beckett when they were still together. She knew her husband was possessive and sometimes became violent. But this is the first time she saw him having bloodlust in his eyes.
She admitted she was scared by what she saw. She didn't immediately move or breathe properly as Beckett punched the man who shot her arm. She even forgot her arm hurt because of the incident.
She thought she would step backward because of fear, but instead, Vivianne took a step forward and embraced her husband. She accepted and loved him even more wholly.
"Ouch..." Vivianne winced as her arm wound suddenly throbbed.
Beckett cursed suddenly. Because of the sudden surge of emotion in his body, he forgot that his wife had a wound.
"Let’s go to the helicopter. Someone will cure your wound there," Beckett said, about to guide Vivianne to walk, but she didn't follow him.
"Just wait. My companions. I need to make sure they're safe—"
"V."
Someone spoke from Vivianne's side, so she didn't continue what she was about to say. She turned and saw Bryle. Bryle gave an okay sign, and so did Riz, who was behind him.
All her people are injured, and some of them are in critical condition. But what's important is that they're all alive.
"I'll just call a cleaning team—"
"I have my own, so you don’t need to worry about anything," Beckett interrupted the girl. "Worry about yourself first. You’re bleeding."
The young man's voice was calm but tinged with anger. He never let Vivianne get hurt even when they were still together, so how much more now that they're married?
He would protect her with all his might and power.
Before Vivianne could respond, Beckett took her to the helicopter. There was a nurse there, so Vivianne's wound was immediately given first aid.
The only thing the woman did was to bite her lower lip to suppress the pain.
"Don’t do that. You’ll hurt your lips," Beckett said, pointing to Vivianne's lips. "Pinch me instead." He offered his shoulder.
Without hesitation, Vivianne took Beckett's arm and directed the pain there. That's how their situation remained until the nurse finished treating her. "It’s okay now, Sir," said the nurse before starting to tidy up the things used earlier.
"You really are prepared, and you even brought a nurse here?" Vivianne chuckled. "But thank you... for saving all of us."
He smiled, but Beckett's face remained serious as he looked at her. He just nodded in response.
He spoke to the pilot. "Let’s go."
"Okay, Sir."
"Where are we going? To Agrianthropos?" Vivianne asked, furrowing her brow.
"No."
"To your Penthouse?"
Beckett shook his head again. "We'll go to the Allamino Mansion because I want to talk to your father. And you can’t stop me, Vivianne. I need to talk to him about this."
"As if I could ever stop you," Vivianne smirked and just looked out the window.
But truth be told, she was nervous. What could Beckett possibly say to her father?
Minutes later, they arrived at the Allamino mansion by helicopter. They signaled to the guards so they wouldn't shoot them.
As they disembarked from the helicopter, Beckett guided Vivianne inside. There, they saw Alfred casually sitting on the couch, reading something on his tablet.
He glanced at Vivianne, but his gaze fixed on Beckett. There was immediate tension in their looks towards each other. Even Vivianne felt it.
"Take a rest for now, wife. I’ll come to you later," Beckett ordered his wife, and Vivianne nodded. She walked towards the staircase, with a servant assisting her.
Alfred kept his eyes on her until she disappeared from his sight.
"She failed," Alfred said, shaking his head. "I’m disappointed, but not surprised."
"She didn’t." Beckett threw a paper towards Alfred, and the man caught it. "Despite being hurt, she was able to make everyone pay their debts."
Alfred grinned upon hearing that. He checked his phone to see if his secretary had messaged about it, and indeed she had.
"Then, that’s nice. She proved her worth to me." Alfred smiled, seemingly pleased with what happened.
But Beckett didn't feel the same. He approached Alfred and stopped in front of him. "You have tons of people in the mafia, but of all people, why her?"