I swung the car door open and bolted out before it had fully stopped. The branches cracked beneath my shoes as I raced through the woods, the trees blurring past me.

My only thought was reaching her in time.

A growl escaped my lips as I spotted the men chasing her. Gripping the knife tightly, I knew shooting them would be too quick. I wanted them to suffer before they died.

Grabbing the closest one, I drove the knife into his throat, watching him struggle as he choked on his own blood.

Yet, it wasn't enough to quench my anger. I craved every drop of their blood.

Casting him aside, I moved to the next, extinguishing his life before moving to another. Swinging my knife wildly, I became drenched in their blood as I fought my way to her.

I stood frozen, dropping the last assailant from my sight. A shiver raced down my spine as her screams reverberated through the forest.

My heart seized.

I sprang into action, running faster than before, until I finally laid eyes on her.

"Daemon..." Her voice held relief at seeing me. I stopped in my tracks, horror washing over me as she winced, blood staining her.

"No..." I whispered.

Tears streaked down her face as she looked at me, broken.

I held her tightly, desperate to shield her somehow. But it was too late.

Once again, I was too late...

Valerie POV

I looked at myself in the mirror and nodded when I liked how I looked. I wore a long black dress made of smooth silk with long sleeves. It had a low neckline that showed some of my chest. The dress was tight at the top and looser from the hips down, with a long split on the right side that went up to my mid-thigh. I completed my outfit with black high-heeled shoes that had straps around the ankles. I did my makeup with a simple brown smokey eye to match my green contact lenses, which made my eyes look a bit like a cat's. I left my long, curly brown hair as it was, but I clipped some of it away from my face on the right side with a shiny hair clip.

I kept fidgeting with my hands, feeling nervous all over.

"I need to calm down. What's the worst that could happen?" I asked myself, trying to gather courage to leave my hotel room. The worst thing I could think of was my father getting angry and throwing me out when I showed up... My eyes widened, and my face went pale. I hadn't even considered that possibility until now. I quickly pushed that thought aside. I was there for Bella, not him, and nothing was going to stop me from going to her engagement party.

I have always been close to Bella as we grew up together in the same household since both of our fathers were running a business together. Long story short, I found out my father and Uncle were running a Mafia, and since they would always be busy, Bella spent time with me and my mother. Sadly, Bella's mother died during her birth, and my mother raised Bella as if she were her daughter. Aside from that, we were a happy family.

Or so I thought.

There was something you didn't notice as a kid because, well, you were busy being a kid, right? Carlos, my father, was always a busy man, but he did remember to spend time with me occasionally, not as often as I would have liked, but it was better than nothing. Then, as usual, Bella and I were nosy and tried to eavesdrop on my parents because it sounded like they were fighting. We had crept down the steps to get a closer look and listen to what was going on, but we couldn't hear anything. But what happened next shocked us both, and had our jaw dropping. My mother, Matilda, slapped the fuck out of my father that night. We remained still, stunned by what had just happened, before running back to our shared room and pretending to be asleep so we wouldn't be caught snooping.

The next day, my mother had our bags packed and we left. I remember crying so hard because Bella wasn't coming with us. My mother tried to take her with us, but Uncle refused to let her go. It pained my mother to leave Bella behind and I was sure she had her reasons to leave my father. However, the reason for that was still unknown.

My father and I didn't stay in touch after that even though I tried to call him because I missed him, but he never once called me back. He then changed his number, and I got the message.

We moved to Ireland, while my father stayed in California. I got to meet up with Bella whenever it was possible, but it did get more difficult for her to leave the house the older she got because her father became strict as hell. And became a parent from hell.

Uncle was always intoxicated with alcohol and drugs. A very dangerous mixture that made him insane and abused Bella. The minute I knew what was happening with her, I told her I was coming to get her out of there, but she begged me not to and said it would do more harm than good. I couldn't understand what she meant by it and my heart dropped when she said her father wouldn't hesitate to kill her if she tried to run away. I couldn't do anything but stay put as I feared for her life.

Well, to say that I was nervous to be around them all for the first time in forever, was an understatement. I didn't know what to expect and kept thinking about how my father would react to seeing me after so long.

"...Don't get sick," I whispered to myself and took a deep breath. I felt nauseous but I couldn't risk throwing up, especially now that I was all dressed up.

"Let's go." I sighed and finally made my way down to the lobby.

Bella made sure to send a car to my hotel to escort me to the mansion. My old home. My heart started to beat a little faster at the thought of being there after so long. My father got himself a new wife not long after we left, and even has a son. Not biologically as it was from his wife's previous marriage, but he treated him like his own. I'd be lying if I said it didn't bother the shit out of me because he treated someone else more like his own than me.

Bella instantly spilled the tea and said my father had downgraded. She said I would see what she meant when I got there, and I was prepared to give the stink eye to whoever my father ended up marrying.

On the elevator ride down to the lobby, I felt myself getting more nervous and my hands fidgeted around the little gift box I had with me. It felt like my stomach was in a thousand knots, giving me a stomachache.

"Get it together, Valerie... It's just family." I breathed out, trying to calm my nerves.

The elevator doors opened once reaching the lobby, and I took a final deep breath, holding the small engagement gift in my hands. It wasn't anything grand, just two champagne glasses saying 'Mr. Right' with a mustache and the other 'Mrs. Always Right' with red kissy lips. It immediately made me think of Bella because she had the impression she was always right. Even in situations where she wasn't, she still was according to herself. She could be a little cocky sometimes.

Nearing the middle of the lobby, I stopped in my tracks when I spotted the tall dark-brown-haired man in a black suit that hugged his body to perfection.

(Our Dave Winslow)

"Dave?!" I said in shock. He turned around and smiled at me when he spotted me.

"Valerie! Long time no see!" He gave me a perfect smile, showing his perfectly white teeth. It has been so long since I last saw him. My first crush ever, damn, now I remembered why I was obsessed with him. Dave had the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen, a sharp jawline, and a clean-shaven face. His dark brown hair was styled to perfection, giving the 'I didn't bother to try' look, which just made him a hundred times sexier.

We dated when we were younger. He just didn't know, hehe.

I just stared at him, my mouth slightly open as I couldn't believe my own two eyes.

"Damn, Valerie, just take a damn picture if you're just going to stare at me like that." He chuckled, and I immediately felt heat coating my cheeks. He still had that effect on me.

"Don't flatter yourself too much, Ash. I was just surprised to see you here." I laughed, hoping he didn't notice my flushed cheeks.

"Yeah, well I kind of overheard Bella saying that you were coming, and she was going to send someone over to come and get you. I couldn't believe that Valerie was coming, so I said I would come and fetch ya." Dave smiled and tucked his hands into the pockets of his slacks. His eyes slowly scanned me, trailing down my body, and then up again to meet my eyes, giving me a lazy smirk in the process.

"Can't say I regret the decision. You look stunning as ever, Valerie." His eyes turned a shade darker, and my heart was beating just a little faster with the way he was looking at me.

"And you look handsome as ever, Dave." I returned with a smile as he slowly walked up to me with a sexy grin on his face.

This was definitely going to be a long night.