34. Nico
Chapter 34
Nico
T he relief I feel when I see my brother alive is overwhelming! Now I just need to get him back to mine and ensure there is no lasting damage.
If I didn’t want to make sure my brother stayed awake on the way back, I would have driven myself. Marco is driving like a fucking madman and getting us nowhere fast.
We almost die when he slams the breaks on because he runs all the red lights on the way back. Turning to check on Gabe, I see the sudden break caused him to bang his head. It must have been the last straw, and he is out cold. No matter how many times I call his name, he doesn’t respond.
I yell at Marco to step on it. I don’t care how many cars or pedestrians he runs over now. We need to get back to the Dr., who is waiting for us. Gabe can’t die after all he has been through.
My stomach churns when I think about what he still doesn’t know and the news I’m going to have to break to him … When he is well.
I don’t know how he’s going to take the news that our father died. When Gabe left, he was here, and now he isn’t. He doesn’t know who I am now or what my position is—hell, what his position is. As far as he is concerned, I’m just his brother who came to find him … nothing more.
The gates open as we arrive at my home on the outskirts of the city. The long winding driveway lined with trees seems to take forever to drive down, but when we eventually make it to the front of the two-story mansion, the Dr. opens the double oak front doors.
My men flanking his sides, Marco leaves the engine running as he rushes to the back door, yanking it open and helping to lift Gabe out, calling for my men to assist.
The four of us carry him in carefully, using the ground floor dining room, that has been turned into a hospital ward by the looks of it. I look over and see Rosie is asleep, I hope, and wired up to machines with IVs attached to her arms.
“How is she?” I ask.
“She is sedated. She needs to heal, and she started to get hysterical when we didn’t hear anything about Gabe,” he tells me.
“You have to help him,” I tell him as the Dr. pulls up the arms of the hospital bed.
“I will do my best.” He looks at me over his small round glasses.
“Oh, you will do better than that,” I tell him as I grab his white coat and shove him against the wall. “If he doesn’t make it … neither do you,” I growl.
Marco pulls me back. “Let's wait outside and give the man space to work.” He nods at the Dr. as he pushes his glasses back up his nose and nervously moves closer to my brother.
My phone pings, and I see the text.
Il Mio Tesoro: What the fuck was that? Did you know?
She has to be fucking kidding me. I don’t have time for this shit right now, so I pocket my phone and ignore her … for now.
I should have known she wouldn’t give up when my phone starts to ring and her name flashes across my screen.
“I don’t have time for this right now, Frankie,” I tell her.
“You have to be kidding me, right?” she spits.
“Do I sound like I am kidding,” I ask her seriously.
“Did you know who I was?” she asks, and she sounds like she’s being honest. Unbelievable!
“I think you know I thought you were a fucking man, Frankie, ” I tell her sarcastically. “I think it’s you who has questions to answer. But right now, I have things to do.” I hang up because I can’t get into this. She’s infuriating, but I know one thing, I wouldn’t change anything, and that is what is pissing me off. I would rather fight with her for the rest of my life than be with anyone else. In fact, I would fucking enjoy it.
I can’t have this distraction right now, so I pull up Tony’s number, who I haven’t forgotten about. He will pay for his betrayal … I just need to choose how.
“Boss,” he answers.
“You need to tie her up and keep her on ice. I can’t have any distractions until I know Gabe is going to be okay,” I tell him.
“Got it,” he confirms.
“Boss, I—” he starts to say, and I also don’t have time to listen to his excuses, so I hang up. He can wait, and he’s lucky I am not keeping him on ice too. If he wasn’t family, he would be.
I have already taken too much time away from my brother as it is, so I slide my phone away and wait. I’ve waited for two years, so I can wait a little longer if it means he will be okay.
As the time goes by slowly, I look up at every noise I hear. I feel my eyes get heavier but won’t allow myself to sleep just in case I miss anything important, and that’s when the door opens and the Dr. comes out. Before I can get to the Dr., Marco is up and out of his seat, standing in front of him.
“He has a concussion, nothing serious, but I have sedated him so he can rest,” he informs me.
“So, he’ll make it?” I ask.
“Yes, he will. He has no major injuries, and I have addressed all minor issues. He’ll be feeling better physically in no time, the same as Rosie,” he states.
“Physically?” I ask as I stand and walk over to him.
“Yes, there is no way of telling what psychological damage has been done until they are both awake. I’ve done a pregnancy test also, which came back negative, so when Rosie comes around, she will be informed, but I wanted to keep you updated with everything.” He nods reassuringly at me.
“Pregnancy test?” I ask.
“Yes, it appears that whatever happened wasn’t consensual, if that assists you. And from what I could make out when she was answering our questions, it wasn’t just the kidnapper. He had another visitor with him, on occasions,” he says.
Rage fills me like I have never felt before. Why the fuck would O’Conner do something like this? If this is about business, what business did Rosie have with him?
“You will stay until they are well,” I tell him and walk away. Now I have other business to attend to.
He will pay for what he has done, not only to my brother, but to Rosie too.