Page 39 of Care: Part 1

"Anastasia, please go. I don't want the guests to be alarmed," Valentino told her.

Anastasia quickly nodded her head and gave Avelina a firm hug before returning to the wedding.

Avelina's gaze then shifted back over to Adrik. She quickly bent down beside him and pushed his suit jacket off his body.

Valentino busied himself by talking to someone on the phone in Italian while Avelina tried to tear through the fabric of Adrik's shirt. Sadly, she was far too weak.

"Do you have a knife?" She asked, looking over to Valentino.

He paused on the phone by pressing it between his shoulder and his cheek. He then grabbed the knife from his waistband before handing it over to her. She didn’t bother to question why the groom had a knife tucked away in his waistband at a wedding. Instead, she allowed herself to be grateful.

Avelina used the knife to cut through his shirt. She expected to see a gunshot wound, but instead, saw an injury from a stabbing.

"He was stabbed," Avelina stated. "What happened?"

"I don't just go spilling information, princess. You're gonna have to ask your boyfriend," Valentino chuckled.

She grew a sudden sense of rage as she glared at him. "This is essential information to take care of him properly. Tell me what happened.”

"Feisty," Valentino remarked before dropping down to the lifeless body Adrik had shot only to check his pulse. "We got a call from the guards about something suspicious. One thing led to another. A guy comes and whispers in Adrik's ear just before stabbing him. Another one pops up with a gun where he fires it, but thanks to me—he misses and runs off. Adrik pulled out his gun and shot this guy. You showed up. Now, we are here. Happy now?"

Avelina ignored his question and reached down with the knife. She didn't even hesitate to cut the bottom of her dress. She also made sure to look back over at Adrik to evaluate the wound and make sure nothing else punctured it.

Grabbing the part of her dress that she cut, she held it against his body to maintain pressure against the punctured area.

"Adrik, can you hear me?"

Avelina leaned over him and grabbed his face with her free hand.

"Yes," he spoke, groaning lightly.

The bleeding wasn't too bad. "Okay, good. Hold this right up against— yeah, good job.”

As Adrik held the dress against his skin, she walked over to the other person. Avelina was already aware that Valentino checked him to make sure he was dead, but she needed the reassurance.

She bent down to check the man's pulse, but as her finger reached for his neck—she noticed a tattoo. More importantly, the tattoo. The same blackbird tattoo that belonged to the man who killed her parents.

She shook the memory away and pressed down to find a pulse. When she didn't feel anything, she cocked her hand back and then slapped the man. Adrik lifted his head to find the source of the sound while Valentino looked over at her.

"Did you just slap him?" Valentino asked, very much intrigued.

She stood up and dusted her dress off, though there was no point in dusting it off because the dress was ruined. There was a small spot of blood along with dirt around her knee area. Plus, she cut the bottom, leaving the once elegant dress to look like a Halloween costume.

"Well, he's dead. He couldn’t feel it.”

"That's gangster," Valentino remarked, “my men should be arriving shortly to take care of my buddy Adrik here. Go back to the party; we will take care of him."

"I'm not just going to leave him.”

Valentino gave her a pointed look before shrugging his shoulders and placing his phone back on his ear. When she heard him delivering a string of Italian words, she realized he was talking on the phone again.

"Go back to the party. I appreciate your help, but your services are no longer needed, Miss Santos," Adrik said, leaving his words to punch her right in the gut.

She didn't notice the way Valentino's head snapped over to them at the mention of her name. A confused expression dawned on his face, but he quickly sobered up after listening to the idiot on the phone, trying to figure out where they were.

"Wow," Avelina let out in disbelief.

"It is what you wanted, right?"