Chapter 3
Chapter
Three
MATTEO
A steady beeping noise pulls me out of a sleep I don’t remember falling into. I blink my eyes rapidly as they adjust to the overly bright, white light. The feeling of something scratchy on my legs has me focusing my gaze downward. A thin, white blanket covers them, the material offering very little comfort. I raise my arm to see an IV coming out of it, confirming where I am.
Fuck.
I fucking hate hospitals.
“It’s about time your ass woke up.” Alessio’s voice comes from my right. He’s relaxed back on the chair, one polished dress shoe resting on his knee, shirt uncuffed, and the sleeves rolled up, arms crossed.
I let out a long sigh as I turn my gaze to the T.V. that’s playing a rerun of a stupid sitcom. “What happened?” My voice sounds hoarse from not using it for god knows how long .
Alessio is silent for a moment, making me side-eye him. “You don’t remember anything?”
“No. I don’t remember anything.” I remember driving out to a meeting with the Dirty Devils, and that’s it.
“I guess that doesn’t surprise me, considering how I found you.” I raise my eyebrow at him. “You crashed into a tree and were knocked unconscious.” That explains the piercing headache. “They wanted to keep you overnight for observation since you were unconscious when you were brought in. Fifteen stitches in your forehead and a concussion. You’re lucky you didn’t break anything. Doctor said you’ll be feeling it for a while.”
“Great,” I say as I sit up, wincing as my body screams at me in protest. I swing my legs around so my feet touch the ground. I close my eyes in hopes of getting the room to stop spinning. It’s been at least a fucking decade since I’ve had a concussion. I forgot about the no sudden movements. “Let’s get out of here.”
“Can we at least wait until they actually discharge you this time? It starts to look funny when you do this every single time you’re in here. I know we pay the doctor under the table, but I’m sick of listening to him bitch about it.” Alessio tries to reason with me before taking his tone down an octave. “Plus, we have some things to discuss.”
“Don’t worry. I’m personally going to find the piece of shit that did this to me.”
Alessio snorts. “Believe me, I know you will. Gio is already looking. But that’s not what I’m talking about.”
Of course he is. Gio is…unhinged. I flick my wrist out, motioning for Alessio to get on with it. “Explain.”
“You aren’t curious about how I found you?” I had assumed he tracked me. All of our cars have a tracker installed on them. Alessio shakes his head at the confused expression on my face, reading my thoughts. “I didn’t track you. You weren’t gone long enough for any of us to think something might have happened.”
“Will you just spit it out?” I snap. This isn’t the fucking time to be beating around the bush.
“A girl called me.”
My body grows tight. “What?” I wasn’t with a woman today. And I sure as hell would never bring one to a business meeting.
“I thought it was you calling me, but when I answered, it was a woman. She was freaked out and said you told her to call me and not the cops.”
“And she listened?” That’s shocking. In my world, you have to pay someone to keep their fucking mouth shut. Who is this girl?
“Apparently, it’s bad karma to mess with a dying man's wishes,” Alessio says dryly.
That has me smirking. “And those are?”
“Fuck if I know. She just said you told her to call me.”
“Do you think she’s going to be a problem?”
“I doubt it. We can always pay a visit to make sure of that though. She lives in Forest Glen.”
That’s a rough area. “What was she doing out there?”
“Running.” Is he fucking serious?
“Running?” I echo.
“That’s what I said.” Who just runs for fun?
“Get me the fuck out of here, and let’s pay this little runner a visit.”