17. Dario
Dario
I yell Mia’s name and then catch her when her knees buckle and she starts to fall.
She’s so fucking small and still and I’ve never been so scared in my life.
Blood pours from the wound on her stomach, the one that was meant for me.
Ripping my shirt off, I press it to the deep cut.
She gasps when I apply pressure, and I feel a part of myself die when I see the pain she’s in.
Her skin is already so pale, and when she starts to close her eyes, I yell at her to stay with me.
“What the fuck happened?”
I don’t look away from Mia as her brother comes rushing in, but I do yell at him to call Sandro and get a car here right fucking now. All my attention goes back to the woman I can’t live without, and when she tries to move, I gently push her hand back down.
“Don’t move, amore mio . Stay still for me, okay?”
Her hazel eyes look glazed when they meet mine, and as they start to water, I feel my own tears fall. I’ve never seen Mia cry, and the fact that she is now fills me with a dread that I hadn’t known was possible.
“I lied to you,” she whispers.
“It doesn’t matter,” I quickly say. I don’t know what she’s talking about, but nothing matters except her surviving this. She’s still my stubborn girl, so I’m not surprised when she ignores me and forces the words out, and when she speaks them, they completely gut me.
“I lied on the plane,” she whispers, her voice shaky and weak. “You are my sun, Dario.”
With one hand firmly on her stomach, I lean closer, hovering my face over hers so she can see me when I say, “And you are mine, amore mio , and that’s why you’re going to survive this.
” My voice cracks on a sob as I press my forehead to hers.
“Because I can’t live without you. I can’t go back to a world without light, so don’t you dare leave me in the dark, piccola vipera . ”
I feel her tears fall against my fingers, mixing with my own as my eyes stay locked on hers, willing her to live.
Time freezes until my brother grabs my shoulder, telling me we need to leave.
With my hand still firmly pressed against her abdomen, I cradle her in my arms, hating the pained groan she gives when I pick her up.
Before I rush out behind Sandro, Sasha steps forward.
He kisses his sister’s head and whispers something to her in Russian before stepping back so I can leave.
Whatever softness was in his eyes leaves as I step into the hall with his sister’s bloody body.
I have just enough time to see him straddle Uberto’s body and raise his knife, plunging it into the dead man’s chest with a fury that mirrors my own.
I leave as he raises the knife again, knowing he’ll meet us at the hospital when he’s sane enough to be around people again.
Rushing from the house, Sandro barks out orders to our men as we go.
There’s an SUV waiting for us outside and a team of men ready to give us cover.
Leonardo had ambushed us earlier with snipers hiding in the hills, but I barely give them a thought as I carry Mia and get into the back with her.
The Fontana family dug their own grave after what they did today.
There will never be a way to forgive what’s been done.
They got to one of our own and the woman I love was stabbed.
I don’t care that the blade was meant for me.
She got hurt, and they’ll all pay for that.
“Mia, stay with me, baby,” I tell her when she starts to close her eyes again.
I kiss her forehead as Sandro gets in the passenger seat and the driver takes off down the road.
While my brother calls the hospital to let them know we’re on our way with a stab wound, I kiss Mia’s face and beg her to stay alive for me.
Her voice is so faint I have to strain to hear it. “Sasha.”
“He’s fine, amore. ”
“No,” she insists, her voice getting louder, and when she tries to sit, I gently tighten my grip on her, keeping her in place. “He was shot,” she whispers.
“Fuck,” I growl and then holler at Sandro, “Sasha was shot. Make sure he gets looked at.”
“We killed Leonardo,” she whispers.
I kiss her forehead and say, “You did so good, little viper. I’m so fucking proud of you.”
Sandro grabs his phone, relays the information to one of our men, and then looks back at Mia. “Bruno trained as a medic. He’ll make sure Sasha gets looked at and brought to the hospital. He’ll be fine, Mia. I promise,” he tells her.
I feel her body relax at his words, and she breathes out the softest laugh when he says, “We need you to pull through this so your dad doesn’t kill my brother, Mia. He can be an overbearing jackass, but I love him, and I’d really prefer it if your family didn’t kill him.”
Her eyes stay locked on mine when she whispers, “Tell my family I love them.”
“Don’t you dare start saying goodbyes, amore . You can tell them yourself when they get here.”
“Going to be so mad.” Her voice grows softer, and I kiss her forehead, feeling her blood soak through my shirt and fingers no matter how hard I press down to lessen the flow.
“Never at you, sweetheart. He’ll be mad at me, but I’ll win him over and take Dominic’s place as his favorite son-in-law.”
I feel a soft puff of air against my cheek, and then her breathing turns too shallow for me to feel, and I swear my heart stops beating.
“Breathe, Mia,” I beg before switching to Italian and yelling for Alfonso to drive faster.
Kissing Mia’s face, I whisper against her skin, “ Just keep breathing, little viper. Tu sei mia , remember? You are mine, and I refuse to let you go.” I kiss her again, whispering that I love her and then reminding her of how stubborn she is.
“Don’t you dare start quitting on me now, amore.
You’re as stubborn as a goddamn mule. Remember all the times I pushed you in training? ”
“Jackass,” she whispers, making me give a laugh that’s part sob and part pure relief at hearing her voice.
“I was, and I am, but I still need you to fight for me, streghetta mia .” I kiss her head as Alfonso nears the hospital. “I know you’re scared of marriage, but I’m not going to let you die to get out of marrying me.”
We pull up to the emergency room and when several nurses come rushing out, I give a sigh of relief.
“ Ti amo , Mia.” I kiss her gently, telling myself it won’t be the last time I get to feel her alive and in my arms. “I’ll be here when you wake, amore .”
The door opens and she’s pulled from my arms and immediately put on a gurney. One of the nurses takes over, applying pressure to Mia’s stomach as they rush her inside. I run after them, shirtless and covered in blood.
“ Signore Alessi , you can’t come in here,” one of the nurses says, putting her hand up to stop me.
They know who I am, and they know my family.
They should with the amount of money we’ve donated to this hospital over the years.
It’s private, one of the best in the country, and they’re smart enough to know who all the powerful families are.
“She’s my wife,” I tell her, and I see the woman’s eyes widen above the face mask she’s wearing.
“We’ll take good care of her, but I need you to wait here.”
She tries to leave, but I quickly say, “She has piercings. Leave them in if you can.” I scrub a bloody hand over my face, willing myself to keep it together. “She’ll be furious if she has to have them redone,” I finally manage to say.
The nurse nods, probably wishing she could get as far away from me as possible. She motions towards the front desk. “Get signed in and they’ll show you to a waiting room. Someone will be out to give you an update soon.”
Sandro wraps an arm around my shoulders and leads me to the receptionist.
“I can’t fucking do this, brother,” I tell him. “I can’t lose her.”
“You won’t. She’s one of the toughest people I’ve ever met. She’s going to survive this, and you two are getting married. That’s the only way this thing is ending, Dario.”
I nod, unable to speak, and when the woman at the counter hands me a stack of papers to fill out, I take one look at them and know there’s no way in hell I’m going to be able to concentrate on this. Sandro grabs them, writes my name at the top and Mia’s right below it and then hands it back.
“Mia Alessi was just brought in with a knife wound. We don’t need to fill any of this shit out.
Her bills will be paid, she doesn’t have any allergies, and her husband needs a place to sit before he loses his shit and goes storming through your nice hospital.
I can assure you he’ll cause a big scene that’s just going to end up with more people needing medical care. ”
“Is that a threat?” she asks.
My brother leans over the counter, invading her personal space.
“You bet your ass it is. You know who we are, and if you don’t start doing your goddamn job, I will personally see to it that this hospital is shut down before the end of the month.
My sister-in-law is in surgery, my brother is barely hanging on, and you’re about to have some really angry Russians storming in here as soon as their plane lands.
Get us in a fucking waiting room right the fuck now. ”
Her face pales at my brother’s threat, and I swear she’s about to argue with him when another woman walks in and sees us.
She looks from me to my brother and then finally to the coworker who is still sitting on her ass.
Her mouth drops open before she rushes over and hisses, “Jesus Christ, Carlotta, what the hell are you doing?” Turning to me, she gives a nervous smile and says, “I’m so sorry, Signore Alessi.
Please, follow me. I’ll show you where you can wait and get cleaned up. ”
Sandro can’t resist pointing at the woman who’s helping while looking back at the uncooperative woman behind the counter. “See? Not so fucking hard, is it?”