I reloaded my gun and placed it into my holster. My thoughts were muddled together from the revelations of moments ago.

I knew without a doubt that the woman on the screen was Rosaline. Even with the screen unfocused and digitalized, I recognized her anywhere, the bracelet being the fucking cherry on top. I walked out of the entrance and rushed towards my car.

Things weren't adding up and I needed to find Rosaline now.

I was unlocking my car when I heard Maria shout after me.

"Damon, stop! We contacted Josh and they're on their way back. Their transportation is already at the building." Maria called. Xavier trailed behind her.

I faced the couple quickly.

"What's their ETA?" I asked frantically as I ran a hand through my hair.

"About fifteen minutes– maybe ten, depending on how fast their driver goes," Xavier shrugged and patted me on the shoulder. "It's going to be fine. She'll be safe and we'll find our answers. Innocent until proven guilty, right?"

I gave him a grateful look. Most people would've immediately pointed the blame on Rosaline, but Xavier knew there was more to the story. His willingness to give Rosaline a chance was all I could ask for at the moment. Maria gave me a quick side hug to share her support as well.

Marco and Tom came outside with firm expressions, rapidly talking on their earpieces. Spotting us, they moved toward us quickly.

"There was an explosion at Rosaline's apartment complex. Julian received minor injuries from the impact." Marco said darkly.

I froze as Xavier cursed. Maria gasped and grabbed Marco's hand.

"Marco, help Maria get the doctor prepped in the nurse wing. Tom, I need you to tighten up security and send a team to the apartment. Lock the gates and wait for their car to get in. I don't want anybody coming in or out of the property until further notice." Xavier ordered.

Marco and Tom nodded before following their orders. Maria left with Marco to talk with the doctor. I mindlessly began to follow Tom to the gates when Xavier tried to grab me.

"Get out of my way, Xavier," I grunted. "Rosaline could be in shock right now and I need to help her."

"Having that murderous look on your face isn't going to help anyone. I'm sure that will really calm her down. Cool the fuck down and maybe you can wait at the gate," Xavier barked.

I glared at him and he returned it.

I didn't have time for this. The news was creating a strong reaction, causing an inferno in my chest. It didn't help that I was already tense. It was almost difficult to breathe and my body was shaking. I took a few harsh deep breaths and closed my eyes to calm down. I sat on the steps.

"I've never felt this way before. It's not anger or rage, it's–"

"Terror. You're fucking terrified," Xavier interrupted. "It's not something you can describe until you experience it."

I'd been on countless missions and faced life-and-death situations. But I'd never felt this feeling of terror that was taking control over me.

I snapped out of my thoughts as I heard the sound of the gates opening. Without thinking, I ran toward the car driving down the road. The car quickly pulled over and the doors flew open.

Julian stumbled out, his face and clothes bloody. Josh emerged with an unconscious Rosaline, who was covered in dust. I let out a sharp breath and my heart stopped.

"What the fuck happened?" I growled as I pulled Rosaline into my arms, cradling her limp body carefully. I examined her, relieved to only see a few cuts and bruises.

"I think she passed out from shock. She wasn't breathing properly." Josh said, sounding exhausted, and went to support his twin brother. "We need to get them checked up, fast."

I silently agreed as we brought them towards the mansion, Xavier at the door.

"The doctor is ready," Xavier said as we hurried to the medical wing. I cursed at the long hallways as Maria opened the door to the medical room.

"Holy shit!" Maria cursed as she saw Rosaline and Julian. She ushered us in as the male doctor immediately began to work on Julian.

"Put Rosie on the bed. I can check her out," Maria said, gesturing to one of the beds.

I gently placed Flower on the bed as Maria went to work. Though she wasn't a registered nurse, Maria had helped the medical staff throughout the years. When she wasn't working at Elysium, she often followed the nurses around.

Maria checked Rosaline's blood pressure and cleaned her cuts. I examined my woman thoroughly, calmer now that she was being taken care of. Rosaline's clothes were rumpled and partially torn on her shirt and jeans, her face was covered in streaks of dirt, and her hair was a mess.

"Rosie is going to be fine Damon. She just needs some rest and she'll be good as new," Maria said with a relieved smile and I let out my own sigh of relief.

Maria went through the drawers nearby and found a large shirt and pair of sweats. "I'm going to change her clothes real quick. Afterwards, you can have her all to yourself."

Maria pulled the privacy curtains around the bed.

I walked towards Xavier, Julian, and Josh. Julian sat on one of the beds as his wounds were being tended.

"Can someone explain what the hell caused the explosion?" I growled.

"I didn't see it, but it had to be motion-censored. Rosaline was moving a pile of laundry when it began to detonate," Julian revealed before wincing as the doctor pressed a cotton ball on his head wound. The cut on the right side of his forehead wasn't deep, but there was still a lot of blood on his face and clothes. "It wasn't meant to cause a huge explosion, just enough for a person to either get severely injured or killed if they were in proximity."

"To take out Rosaline and take her out of the equation. The question is, why?" Xavier muttered.

The curtain swung open as Maria looked at us with a pale face.

"You guys need to see this. Dr. Yung, I need confirmation on this wound." Maria said, sounding rattled.

Fearing the worst, I rushed towards them, Xavier and the doctor trailing behind me. When we surrounded the bed, Maria lifted up the large shirt to expose her right side and pointed at a scar

"What does this look like to you, Dr. Yung?" I asked urgently.

Dr. Yung examined it. "Probably a minor gunshot wound, a graze. From the looks of it, it recently fully healed. I estimate it happened three to four weeks ago." The doctor explained.

"The file," I breathed out. The shooting was around that time period and her file showed that she stayed at the hospital for a few days. But it didn't say anything about a gunshot wound. All gunshot wounds were required to be reported by the hospital. If it wasn't there, that meant either someone wasn't doing their job properly or it was removed from the file.

So no one would be able to trace her to the scene. It would make it easier to make Rosaline disappear if something happened to her.

"It means either your girl had a nasty fall or the Diablos tried to kill her," Xavier said as we all looked at Rosaline. "She was the target the entire time."

~*~

I sat in the chair next to Rosaline's bed, trying to understand how the Diablos viewed her as a threat.

She was my Flower. My Rosaline. She made me want to be a better man and to protect and cherish her. Looking at her peaceful expression, it was hard to imagine that she went through something so horrific and traumatic.

Maria handed me a glass of water with a weak smile.

"She's going to be all right, Damon. No one will come after her here. Why don't you get some rest? The twins already left," Maria encouraged me.

I shook my head. I wanted to stay by Rosaline's side and wait for her to wake up.

The door to the wing opened and Xavier entered, stress lines covering his face.

"We have eyes and ears everywhere now. I put teams on the streets and we are hooked to the security cameras in every building and streetlight in the city. If the Diablos are here, we'll know." Xavier sighed as Maria gave him a hug. Xavier, in turn, gave me a look.

"I really hope your girl is worth the shitstorm she's about to bring to our door, Asshole."

I forced out a chuckle. "Trust me, she is."

Before he could retort, John walked in with a scowl on his face. "The police were already at the scene before our team arrived. Garrett Benson is leading the case."

Xavier and I cursed. He was really beginning to piss me off. Benson was a decorated detective that has been on our asses for years.

"Shit. It won't take him long to figure out Rosaline has been seen with us. He's going to try to take her into custody," I gritted out, and clenched my fists.

Maria bit her lip worriedly."I'm sure Garrett won't do anything to Rosaline. We may be connected to Rosaline, but we weren't part of the bombing. If we can just tell him—"

"He's been a pain in the ass since high school and hates our guts. Benson's hatred for us blinds him from any logic involving us, Sugar," Xavier snorted, leaning against the wall.

Maria glared at him for cutting her off. Maria and Garrett used to be friends in high school until Xavier's father almost murdered Garrett's. After that, they cut ties fairly quickly. Garrett went to the police academy right after graduation.

"It's still worth a try," Maria snapped. Xavier looked at her before sighing and pulled her into his arms, whispering an apology into her ear.

I looked at Rosaline's pale form and grabbed her hand, twining our fingers together. I frowned at our hands. Her hand was so cold, her body temperature low.

"We can't do anything until Rosaline wakes up. Until then, we are going to have to hold Benson off." Xavier said with a smirk. He walked out of the room with a little jump to his steps.

"And we all know I will personally do it," Xavier called back to us.

Maria sighed and rubbed her face in frustration.

"I'll have some guards on standby. Who knows what will come out of my husband's stupid mouth. With my luck, he is going to get arrested for harassing a cop."

I raised a brow, a smile threatening to appear for the first time in the last few hours.

"Well, he had to learn it from someone."

Maria flushed at my comment before waving me off. Maria used to be very impulsive, not thinking things through. Luckily, Xavier had managed to pull her back every now and then. You still didn't want to be on Maria's bad side though.

"I learned to handle my recklessness a long time ago...I just hide it better," Maria winked.

"Like how you're hiding your pregnancy from your mother?" I took a jab at her, grateful for the small distraction she gave me. Maria sputtered for an answer.

"I'm not hiding it from her, I'm just waiting for her to get back from her trip with Will. Mom has been running the company for almost a decade now and she needs a break with her husband. She should be back soon...and I don't need my mother hovering over me. I love that woman, but I'm going to need space. If I thought Xavier was bad enough, my mom could give him a run for his money. The reason I have no problem with Rosaline being my caretaker is because I know she won't be controlling about it," Maria laughed before running out of the room.

I sighed before returning my eyes to Rosaline, my thoughts turning dark once more. Hopefully, she woke up soon before shit really hit the fan.