Total pages in book: 39
Estimated words: 36109 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 181(@200wpm)___ 144(@250wpm)___ 120(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 36109 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 181(@200wpm)___ 144(@250wpm)___ 120(@300wpm)
As I struggled to take a breath, panic gripped me because I couldn’t get to Domenico. I was only vaguely aware of my brother and several of his men storming into the room to take Douglas down. My vision was focused entirely on Domenico, who had rolled onto his back and was clutching the bullet wound beneath his rib cage, blood already pooling beneath his body.
I crawled closer to him and pressed my hands over his, hoping to staunch some of the bleeding. “Hang on, Mico. I can’t lose you.”
“Not…going…anywhere,” he struggled to whisper.
“You better not.” I sniffled. “I love you too much. I won’t let you go.”
There was a brief flare of triumph in his eyes before they drifted shut and he lost consciousness. Strong arms dragged me away from Domenico as I screamed.
13
DOMENICO
Fuck, this hurts.
My brain felt foggy, but I was definitely aware of the pain.
But I didn’t feel any burning.
I wasn’t hungry and only slightly thirsty.
Since I was lying on my back, that ruled out being face-down on the ground and weeping.
And if I was in bed…that meant an eternal marathon was out, too.
There didn’t seem to be any smoke filling my nose and lungs.
Despite how much it hurt, I dragged my eyelids up for a microsecond, just long enough to reassure myself that they weren’t sewn shut.
Six levels of purgatory ruled out.
That last one, though—didn’t Dante say they carried around heavy stones?
It felt like a massive rock was sitting on my chest every time I took a breath.
Well, fuck. Damn you, Dante. Damn your Inferno and your fucking rocks.
“It’s stones, and they carry them on their backs,” a familiar deep voice said in a dry tone.
Had I said that out loud?
Trying not to cause myself more pain than necessary, I pried my eyes open once again.
Rafa stood at the end of my bed, his arms crossed and dark eyes unreadable.
“You’re not in hell, brother,” Leo said before he walked to stand at the side of my bed.
“Yet,” Rafa said.
Shifting my gaze to my brother, I rasped, “I’m not so sure.”
Suddenly, my last memories came screaming back.
“Gabriella!” I bellowed as I tried to jackknife up in bed, only to be shoved back down by my cursing brother.
“Calm the fuck down, Domenico. Mamma will have my ass if you pop a stitch. Or die.”
Luckily, the bed was already propped up so it was easier when I tried to sit again, but I still didn’t have the strength to fight Leo. “I need to—”
“She’s fine,” Rafa stated flatly. “Just a few bruises from where the bullet hit the vest.”
“You saved her life,” Leo murmured. “If it hadn’t hit you first, it probably would have penetrated the vest.”
“Leo, go tell the nurse to page Domenico’s doctors and let them know he’s awake. But keep everyone out of this room while I have a word with him.”
Leo glanced briefly at Rafa, then back at me. Guilt swirled behind his eyes, and I could tell he was torn, struggling with his loyalty to me and The Family.
I wasn’t about to let him jeopardize everything to support me just because I was his brother.
“You couldn’t have talked me out of it, Leo,” I grunted. “And even if you’d convinced me back at the apartment, I’d still be in this bed.”
He watched me silently for a moment, then placed his hand on my shoulder for a beat before turning and walking out of the room.
“You’ve made your point, Domenico,” Rafa murmured, his tone devoid of inflection. “But I already knew Leo didn’t support your decision or even know for sure what you’d decided.”
“How?”
He didn’t answer right away, as if he couldn’t decide how to respond. Then he wrapped both hands on the rail at the foot of the bed and leaned forward as though he was too tired to hold his weight up on his own.
“Because the only man besides my father and brothers who had my complete and unconditional trust was you. And I still don’t doubt that if someone was disloyal to me, you wouldn’t stop to think, you’d act. They’d either be dead or locked in one of our holdings before they knew what was happening. So I knew Leo wouldn’t have encouraged you in an act of betrayal. You wouldn’t have let him.”
I wasn’t sure how to respond. He wasn’t wrong. I might not execute my brother for crossing Rafa, but letting him get away with it would never cross my mind.
“Before we get to anything else, you should know, we dismantled Oswald’s and Snyder’s operations.”
“Dismantled?”
Rafa cocked his head to the side. “Things tend to fall apart when most everyone in a syndicate is dead.”
“She’s safe,” I rasped, the relief taking away my aches for a moment.
“Yes. So now what? What are my choices when I am betrayed by the man I know—without a doubt—would never allow anyone else to do it?”