Tesoro: Mayhem Makers

Chapter 8

Chapter

Eight

DANTE

“Dante.”

A sense of deja vu blankets me as I hear Kate calling my name. Kate, not Bella, I remind myself inside my head as I burst through the doors of the ER.

I spotted Chuy immediately, his face red as he spews empty threats at the cops who are restraining him. He lets out an evil cackle as our gazes collide.

“Who is the bad ass now, maricon?” Chuy cackles, nodding his head in my direction.

“Hey, watch your mouth?—”

“Fuck you, chota.” Chuy cuts the cop off, jerking his hands as if he stands a chance of escaping. “Don’t forget who fucking owns you.”

I’m not surprised by his statement, most of us have officials on the payroll. However, Chuy may think he has purchased a blind eye from the cops, but I’m about to open his.

“Let him go, gentlemen.”

I take great pleasure watching the smugness melt from Chuy’s face as restraining hands drop away.

“It’s a good thing you’re in the hospital, puta.” I emphasize the latter, tossing his words back at him. “You fucked with the wrong family.” Taking two measured steps toward him, I shed my jacket and what is left of my shirt.

“Stop!” I hear a feminine voice yell behind me, a second later the feel of a warm hand on my chest.

“You can kill each other in the streets, but not here.”

Glancing to my right, I lock eyes with Kate, a single tendril of hair caressing her cheek. Despite the tension in the air, I’m struggling with the urge to tuck it behind her ear.

“You,” Kate points in Chuy’s direction. “Are stable enough to be transported to another hospital.”

“That bastard shot me in the leg,” Chuy points in my direction, his voice mimicking that of a small child.

“Keep up your antics and I’ll pull it out with tweezers.”

Unable to control myself, a chuckle leaves my throat. Like Bella, Kate is a petite woman with a fire burning deep in her belly.

“And you,” Kate spins her attention and pointer finger in my direction. “Plant your behind on that gurney there and do not move.”

Glancing in the direction she motions, I find Frankie sitting on a bed beside the empty one I’ve been assigned to with a smirk on his face. Like a disciplined child, I put one foot in front of the other, not stopping until my ass hits the gurney.

“Angelo is in there,” Frankie nods toward the closed door on the opposite wall. “He didn’t look good, Boss.”

Keeping my focus on Kate as she tucks that wayward piece of hair behind her ear, Frankie's choice of words take a moment to register.

“I’m not the boss, he’s?—”

“Barely alive, Dante.” Frankie interrupts through clenched teeth. His voice gravely as if he’d smoked for a ton of years. “You know the rules, better than anyone,” he adds in a whisper.

I do know the rules, every goddamn one of them, by fucking heart. Memorizing them was my part of our plan to make Angelo the Don.

“He isn’t dead, Frankie.” I hope , the latter, a silent prayer I wasn’t ready to utter.

“He’s unconscious, which is practically the same.”

“But it isn’t,” I snap, straightening my back as a man dressed in scrubs walks into the room.

“Hello, my name is Garret and I will be your nurse. Is it okay if I have a look at that arm of yours?”

I don’t care for Garret, for one he isn't Kate, and two, well, one is enough.

“Where is Kate?”

“Kate?” He repeats, surprised, his face colored in confusion.

“Gorgeous woman, great ass, and balls bigger than yours.”

“Oh, you mean Romano?”

I found it odd he called her by her last name. Maybe that's how they did it around here, or maybe… My thoughts trailed off, down a path which surprisingly made me angry.

“You fucking her?” Not sure why I care, or don’t tell him to ignore it.

“Romano is tough, far too tough for me. She has to be since she was the only female in her program.”

“Program?” My curiosity is off the charts.

“Yes, she just finished her residency. I think she still has to pass her boards, but from what I understand it’s just a formality.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Well, she started as a nurse, but she constantly found mistakes the doctors were making, still does?—”

“I understand that, Dr. Raymond.” The sound of her angry voice interrupts Garret. “Three bullets went into that chest and only two made exit wounds, there is still one in there.”

Glancing around Garret, I find Kate standing in the doorway, her gloved hands have patches of what I suspect are Angelo’s blood. Her face is red and that goddamn tendril of hair is loose again.

“I will remind you who is the senior medical staff here and who is still a nurse.”

“Please, Dr. Raymond, have them repeat the x-ray.”

“No need, Nurse Romano, he is officially surgery’s problem. I’m sure they will find this missing bullet that even the x-ray couldn't locate.” He snickers, removing his gloves before tossing them into the trash. “Since we have this under control, I believe you would be better suited working in ICU. Maybe get a few more hours of studying done up there.”

As I move to rise from the bed, ready to tell this motherfucker to do as Kate says, an alarm shrills overhead sending him running down the hall.

“See what I mean?” Garret snickers. “Dr. Raymond thinks he is all that. Thank god the surgeons upstairs will do another x-ray.”

My gaze stays locked on Kate as she tips her head back, the tendril of hair caressing the cheek I long to.

“I know what you’re thinking,” Frankie whispers, failing to pull my gaze from Kate.

“I doubt that.”

“You’re thinking with the wrong head, Dante.”

As Kate drops her head and steps from my view, I turn to face Frankie. “I’m thinking Chuy just declared war on us. Let’s regroup and see how much hell we can rain down on his ass.” I lie, knowing this is exactly what I have to do, when what I really want is to find out more about Kate Romano.

“I’ll make some calls while you get your head in the game.” Frankie says as he stands to his full height. “Oh, and Dante, the eyes are different,” he points at his own. “But she’s a damn doppelg?nger.”