Chapter 31 #2
Picking up a large piece of glass with my other hand, I run the pads of my fingers across the sharp edges, staring at the note still beside me.
My body turns rigid, and I grit my teeth so hard my jaw throbs.
I ignore my brothers. I ignore all the noise in my head, focusing on every sentence she wrote.
“Fuck, he’s bleeding!” Dante shouts. “Get a towel from the bathroom.”
Glancing down at my hand, I find a clenched fist with the same piece of glass within it, droplets of blood leaking down like a faucet.
Shit, I got blood on her letter.
I open a drawer and place the note inside so I never forget how much pain I caused her.
“I’m fine,” I mutter as Enzo throws a towel at me.
“You’re not. Get the fuck up. Raquel is gonna stitch you up.”
“I said I’m fine!” I unclench my fist, removing the red-stained shard and placing it on the desk.
It’s definitely a deep wound, but I feel no pain. If it’s there, I’m immune. The worry for Chiara is too great to let something like a cut bother me. I wrap the towel around my hand to appease my brothers.
“Listen, asshole, you may be older by nanoseconds—”
“A year,” I correct Dante.
He chuckles. “Whatever you say, old man. I don’t care how much older you are, you’re going. Now, get up, or I’m bringing her here.”
I release an exasperated breath, not wanting the back-and-forth I know is coming. He’s as stubborn as me.
“Fine, make it quick. I can’t sit here and not try to find her myself. After Raquel is done, I’m gone.”
At first, I wanted to wait at home in case she showed up, but that hope has died.
I rise to my feet with Dante behind me, both of us heading out the front door.
“This is ridiculous. You know that, right?” I tell him.
We cross the street to his place and he takes out his keys as we get to the door.
“Stop crying and get your hand fixed, dumbass. You want that shit spilling blood while you take care of Faro and that fucker Miles? You know he’s involved, right?”
I hate when he makes sense. But I highly doubt a bunch of stitches will hold my hand together with the brutal force I’ll enact on everyone who hurt my girl.
He unlocks the door. “Honey, I’m home.”
“I’m not your damn honey,” says a feisty black-haired woman, who resembles Chiara.
They might as well be sisters, especially with those attitudes. Her face curls with a grimace as Dante grins, draping an arm around her shoulders from the side.
“Are you sure about that? Because you taste so sweet, especially when—ouch!” he chuckles as her elbow lands square into his ribs.
She steels her glare, huffing in response.
“My wife has a mean streak,” Dante adds without taking his eyes off her. “And I like it.”
The humor is gone, and from the way he looks at her, I feel like I’m interfering.
“I told you not to call me that,” she whispers, her eyes glued to his.
“But you are my wife, whether you like it or not, until the papers say otherwise. And I don’t remember agreeing to your demand anyway…” He leans into her ear, but I can hear every damn word. “...while I had my tongue deep inside that pretty pussy.”
Her cheeks flush as her eyes land to mine, clearly embarrassed, but unable to handle my brother’s charm.
“Sorry to cut this short,” I say. “But can she fix this shit so I can go?”
She finally sees my hand, slipping out of Dante’s arm.
“Oh, that’s my older brother,” Dante explains. “He’s a dumbass who cut his hand and won’t go to the doctor.”
“What happened?” she asks, her brows pinching tight. The concerned doctor mode is clearly on as she picks up my hand, removing the towel to examine the cut.
“Had too much fun with a piece of glass,” I grumble, hating being taken care of.
I’m not used to it. I’ve been alone for so long, taking care of my brothers, that this type of shit irritates the fuck out of me.
She scoffs. “Remind me not to engage in your version of fun.”
“Last time I checked…” Dante cuts in. “You like a little pain with a little pleasure.”
“Shut up, Dante,” she and I say in unison.
He chuckles, arms raised in defeat. Unlike me with Chiara, he had no reason to lie to her about his name. She doesn’t know who the hell he is.
She turns to him. “I need all my supplies and a room to work in.” Her tone’s professionally demanding.
“Yes, ma’am.” He salutes her. “The kitchen has good lighting.”
“Okay, let’s go.”
We move there, and Dante brings a black leather bag from upstairs.
She gets right to work, taking out all kinds of crap from inside it, opening a bottle of saline.
“This might hurt,” she warns before pouring it over my wound above the sink basin.
“It’s fine. Do what you have to do as fast as you can.”
“In a hurry?” She peers up in between cleaning the cut.
She doesn’t know anything about Chiara. As far as she’s concerned, Chiara is still working at the club, safe in her home every night.
“Yeah. Have some business to take care of, and I need to do it now.”
“All right. Well, you definitely need stitches, so I’m going to shoot you up with some lidocaine. The pain shouldn’t be bad at all after that.”
She removes a long, thin syringe and sticks me with it. Once it’s all in, she gives it a few minutes to take effect, then flicks my palm.
“Do you feel that?”
“No.”
“Great.” She removes a curved needle-looking thing, but I glance away, staring at the wall, my mind on Chiara.
She could be lying somewhere half-dead, crying for help, and I’m over here getting a cut closed like a pussy.
“How long will this take?” I tap my foot against the black stool.
“One more stitch, and…there.”
“Can I go now?” I yank my hand away.
“Geez, you’re really impatient.” She slides her brows up, lines etching her forehead. “I need to wrap the wound first, or you may find yourself bleeding again.”
I begrudgingly lay the top of my hand on the cold granite.
She sneers, her lips tight. “You’re not doing me a favor here. You know that, right?”
Raquel begins wrapping my hand with gauze.
“Yeah, yeah. Thanks and all that shit.” My lips turn up into a sort-of smile.
“I see your language is just as bad as your brother’s.” She grins.
Dante laughs. “Isn’t she the best?”
He comes around to her side and kisses her temple.
“Stop distracting me, you idiot.” She continues to cover my gash, adding medical tape once she’s done.
“I especially love when she calls me names. Payback is always that much sweeter, isn’t it, wifey?”
“You’re done,” she says, ignoring him. “You can go now.”
I practically jump out of the seat. “I’m out of here.”
“Obviously, I’m coming with you,” Dante says.
“So let’s go.”
“I will, just have one thing to do before we leave.”
“What’s that?” I give him a death stare, growing impatient.
“This.” He grabs her face, a palm landing on the back of her neck before his mouth falls over hers.
I shake my head at the display. He’s really making a show of this.
“I’m leaving,” I tell him, turning away and heading out the kitchen.
I hear him mutter something to her, but I’m too far now to hear it. Seconds later, his sneakers are trudging behind me.
“Are you finally done?” I ask, pulling the door open.
“My woman needs a lot of convincing where I’m concerned. A man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do. She isn’t leaving me, and I’d rather her stay willingly instead of hearing me demand it. I don’t want her to hate me.”
“And she won’t hate you once she realizes you’re going to kill her father?”
“She’ll understand.”
“Sure, she will.” I’m being a dick, I know that, but I’m in a bad headspace right now.
As I reach my house, my burner vibrates in my pocket. I stop short, pulling it out, causing Dante to stop short.
“Is it him?” he asks as I retrieve my phone, finding a number I don’t recognize.
I stare at him, anxiety shooting up my neck before I press a button. “Who’s this?”
“Is that how you treat your friends?” Faro’s vile voice wraps around my throat, my pulse quickening to an unnatural pace.
“Where the fuck is she? I swear, if you killed her—”
“What will you do, hmm?”
He waits for my answer as my exhales turn wildly ferocious.
“Yeah, that’s right.” He chuckles. “You’ll do nothing.”
“Tell me where she is.” My voice is low, every syllable punctured with a threat.
“Dom!” she screams. “Don’t come for me! He’ll kill you. He has people all—”
A loud thud erupts through the phone, and then I hear her cry.
“Faro, you fucking coward!” My voice thunders, my palms tingling, my heartbeats slamming in my temples. “I’ll slice off every limb on your body and feed it to your fucking dogs. You’re already dead.”
“Really? Because I’m still alive. And always a step ahead, aren’t I?
You didn’t even know I had my man with you the entire time, playing you like a fool.
” He takes a deep, casual breath. “It’s pathetic how easily I deceived you.
But I’ve waited for this very moment. Waited for the look on your face when I took her from you like I took your father and brother. ”
Rage pulses to a beat of its own, my hand squeezing the phone until my palm stings, reminding me of the gash. But I only squeeze harder, wishing it were Miles’s neck.
“You want her?” Faro asks, carving through the wrath filling the marrow of my bones. “Then come and get her. I’ll even let you say goodbye before I put a bullet in her brain.”
Chiara sobs, and my heart clenches.
I’m coming, baby.
“Tell me where, you son of a bitch,” I spit out, my hand rattling around the cell.
I hear a ding come through the line. Lifting the phone away from my ear, I find an address.
“I’m coming for you. You’re a dead man.”
“Good lu —”
I cut the line, stuffing the phone back into my pocket.
“Let’s get the men ready. All of them. We’re going to war.”