19

The next day, all of them decided to go and pick Grey up together but in different cars and Azure rode with James. Andrew didn't want to go with them at first, he made all sorts of excuses as to why not but, Azure knew that he had gone to the station already and was only scared that he might be recognized by someone. She honestly thought he would be smarter than that, being a specialized investigator and all. She finally understood what Nigerians meant when they said that fear could make a 'maga' turn to a 'mugu' meaning that fear could make a wise man, foolish.

Whether or not they wanted him dead, it was an obvious fact to Azure that failing the femkiller, as Lis would always refer to the serial killer as, meant a draconian death sentence. It would only be a matter of a few days before people would hear that a special investigator, who had been friends with Nicholas Corner, had died. Azure had no hard time imagining what exactly the news would look like and as twisted as it seemed, she was excited. She couldn't bear the thought of breathing the same air as anyone who wanted to hurt Grey.

Previously, James had asked Mr. Corner's current lawyer to plead bail for him at the arraignment and plea but the court rejected it, said he was a great threat to public peace and wouldn't let him out on bail since all evidence pointed to him despite he pleaded not guilty. Azure had cried herself to sleep every night, aside the pills she took. She only prayed again and again for her love to return and now she was going to see him, hold and kiss him -right after he took a proper bath with all the masculine essences she got in her wait for his return-.

Azure ran faster than her legs could carry her, almost stumbling and still she didn't slow down the moment she saw Grey walk out of their custody with his oh-so-expensive- jacket in his hand. No doubt, no one who will see him would think he just came out of jail. He looked like a supermodel out of the magazine. As much as Azure wanted to ignore it, Grey had lost some weight and looked a tad bit out of his exceptional handsomeness.

He could not help the smirk that appeared on his lips when he saw the way she ran towards him. He had his arms wide open for her and had a full blown smile on his face when he felt her in his arms, at least until he happened to have seen the tears streaming down her eyes.

"I've missed you so much Grey, I thought I was never going to see you again and the thought of that alone. I-I don't know what I could possibly do if you left me and never returned. I was so scared out of my mind..." Azure couldn't help the words that left her lips. All of the courage she had been putting up for the others broke away and all she wanted was to be in the hands of her beloved.

Grey was shocked for what could be assume to be a while. He had seen her several times while he was in jail but she had always seemed so strong he didn't think she would be so affected by his absence. For a while he had forgotten what kind of a great masker of emotion Azure was. Everyone at the station had their eyes on the both of them and he knew that that wasn't the place to talk to her, not while everyone stared at them. He also noticed his sister who had tears streaming down her face but, he knew that as much as he wanted to go to his sister, his girlfriend needed his attention more. He decided he would see the rest of their gang another day, He wanted to be with Azure, now more than anyone else but he needed to break the piercing tension and screaming silence in the station.

"My woman is simply the best. She doesn't mind that the entire station is watching, she just loves being in my arms and holding me tight while she says her sweet words. If I let her continue, you all won't believe all the things she will end up saying but what can I say except....." he paused, making them wait for his finish off. "I need a fucking  shower in my fucking bathroom with my adorable girlfriend in my fucking arms without the entire bloody FBI looking at our romantic explorations."

The entire station, inclusive of Azure, roared in laughter and in that moment, he found his sisters eyes and gave her a wink and warming smile before he said a silent thank you to all his friends. He asked James to please drive them back in his car and asked that they have dinner together the next day.

What none of them expected was the gunshot that was aimed directly at Grey from Andrew. Azure was only sharp and quick enough to push him aside and by so doing falling flat on the floor with him only slightly missing the bullet.

Natalia couldn't hold back the scream that left her lungs as she stumbled backwards and Elisa made sure to be there to catch her best friend and give her all she support she needed. She knew firsthand what death and torture looked like from what she had gone through in the hands of Lucas and so she couldn't be so scared or shocked at the gunshot. Lucas without wasting much time easily tackled Andrew to the floor and kicked the gun away from the grasp of the idiot on the floor ignoring his out loud cusses directed to Azure for interrupting all his plans. Andrew, at that moment, so desperately hated the couple and couldn't phantom how he had stood their presence all along.

Grey was static, he couldn't move, blink, think, speak or reason. He couldn't understand what was going on. It took Trevor and Azure to move him to the car while James entered the driver's seat and drove the both of them home. Trevor went back to his woman.

It was painful for him to sit down and listen to the silence the drive brought to him. He couldn't breathe, he needed some air. He needed the car to stop right away. He tried to understand what the street boards said, wanted to know how much longer he was going to sit in the damned car but everything seemed so blurred. He so desperately wanted out of it.

He didn't realize he had started fighting for air. He grabbed his throat in an attempt to get some air in. Azure who had sat quietly, understanding that it must have been an even bigger shock to Grey to understand that his friend not only betrayed him, but tried to kill him, became frantic when she saw him gasping for air. James quickly stopped the car and helped to get him out of the car.

It took a few minutes for Grey to finally recover himself. Azure in tears certainly didn't look good to him, he hated to see her cry, hated to be the reason why she cried, hated that he had constantly been the reason for her tears.

He stretched out his hands for Azure to run into and James took that as a cue to give them some space.

"It's alright now love, I'm okay. You have to stop crying, you know how much it hurts me. I was only worried about you." As he spoke, reality actually dawned on him that she could've died. Grey finally got a grasp of what just happened. He almost lost the love of his life due to some stupid coat of bravery she was wearing.

"You could have fucking died! What the fuck were you thinking by standing in front of me to take that bullet!" he started as he harshly pulled her out of his embrace while holding her biceps so that he could look right into her eyes.

"It barely touched me but it would have killed you, you moron. Then all my wait for your release would have been in vain. Then everything we have done to make us work, to make our relationship stronger, would be futile. Because I would've come right with you after I killed that bastard! Because I know that it is impossible for me to live without you, I don't care how far I've come, if you're not there then I will die as well, I would make sure of it. I love you too much to stand you not being in my life anymore. You know, if something of sort happened again, I would make the same choice because when comparing it to my empty disgusting life, you have a fulfilled life and you have a lot of lives depending on you."

Grey's eyes softened at her cute outburst of emotions, he had no idea if he could even love her any more than he already did, to have a woman willing to take a bullet for him. He understood her position of seeing your loved one in danger but he needed to know that it would be the last time.

"I'm sorry I was being so inconsiderate right now. I would do the exact same thing if I were in your position because I love you so much, in a heartbeat without thinking, I would take a million bullets for you but I want you to promise me you wouldn't ever do that again and I won't tolerate you talking about your body in such a manner anymore alright. You told my parents and your grandparents that we were getting married and once we do, all those who depend on me automatically depend on you and then what will you say?"

"That's not fair either and you know it. You're using the marriage card on me and we aren't even married yet. I love you too much Grey, I've missed you so much I thought I'd die. I've craved your touch, craved your hands on my body, craved kissing you, craved hearing your sweet velvety voice, breakfast has never been the same. I thought about ending my misery a lot of times but the thought of you holding me so intimately and us together forever pulled me through. Don't you see, there's no me without you. I don't want there to be a me without you."

She sunk back into his embrace as they hugged making up for the lost skin ship they both so desperately craved. Grey completely ignored the tears threatening to fall down his eyes, what he needed was right in front of him. He would never let her go. They had gone through so much, he decided it was time for them to enjoy some quality time together without any interruptions. He needed to get away from everything with her, he needed her more than he needed air.

Pulling away, he made a phone call to his secretary, Miss Crain, asking her to prepare one of his helicopters and organize a hotel suite in his desired country for both of them.