CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
KAGE
Athena and Bella step to the side as they talk amongst themselves, and I glance at Psycho as he plays with his knife, spinning it in his hand, pressing his fingertips against the pointy part of the blade. I step up to Bones and glare at him.
“I told you she was mine. And you fucking shot her.”
He rises quickly, and stares coldly into my eyes, without needing to move his head, since we are nearly the same height.
Bones clenches his fists at his sides, and I arch an eyebrow in question.
“Are you going to hit me?”
“No,” he says flatly.
“What would you do if I shot Athena?”
He shrugs his shoulders as he narrows his gaze at me.
“It’s not the same. She’s my wife. And Raina is the enemy’s daughter.”
I lift my arm up and pull my fist back and pause, giving him a chance to take it back, but he doesn’t.
Athena screams as I punch my brother in the face. I hit him again, and he continues to stand there, not trying to move or strike back.
His wife rushes over, but he holds his hand up, telling her to stop.
“Let him get it out.”
This is how I know he is aware of how badly he fucked up. Bones is nobody’s punching bag. I rub my fist as I stare at him.
“This is over, Bones. From now on, you’ll stay away from Raina. I don’t give a fuck that you don’t like the family she’s from. If you want ours to stay intact, with all of your brothers, then you’ll never touch her again.”
I can’t bring myself to utter the words that are in my head. The ones that say if she dies, I walk away on my own, because I’ll never be able to look at him again.
Three hours later, a female doctor walks into the room.
“Mr. Bonetti is in recovery. I expect him to make a full recovery.”
She looks at me with a sad expression.
“Dr. Michaels is waiting in Ms. Abruzzo’s room to speak with you about her condition.”
Everyone celebrates the good news about my brother. Bella falls into an embrace with Athena. Bones glances at Psycho with a rare grin. Me, on the other hand; my heart is in my throat, as I make my way back to her room, feeling like what a man on death row must feel like, when he walks to the electric chair.
I walk in and find the dark-haired man standing with a stressed expression. If she’s not alive, he should be terrified. Everyone should be, because I’ll lose my mind. We may end up with two serial killers in the family.
“Ms. Abruzzo-”
“Raina,” I interrupt, because much like my brothers, I hate that she has that fucking last name.
He nods his understanding.
“Raina suffered serious injuries. At this time she’s in a stable condition, but that could change at a moment’s notice.”
The bile in my throat nearly chokes me, as I croak out my burning question.
“Will she live?”
He shakes his head slightly.
“We are doing everything we can but I cannot make any guarantees. The bullet penetrated her chest, before traveling to her pectoral muscle, creating a hole that allowed air to escape into the pleural space, causing her lung to collapse. She has a chest tube inserted into the chest cavity to drain the air, and allow her lung to re-expand. We will be watching her closely for signs of infection. I’ll have a better idea of her prognosis after these next forty-eight hours. She is on heavy sedation, so she’ll be in and out of it for several days.”
His words are not reassuring. Instead, they make me feel like this is goodbye, and I’m not ready for that. I’m not sure I ever would be. A collapsed lung sounds bad.
“Can I see her?”
He nods his head.
“Soon. She’s in recovery. Raina will be brought here when she’s out, and you can see her then. I know you have a big family, but two visitors at a time, and that’s only because you’re a Bonetti. It should be one.”
“Thank you, Dr. Michaels.”
Psycho walks in and stares down at the floor.
“I heard. I’m sorry.”
We both look at the doorway as Bella walks in, and tilts her head to the side, when she sees the surprised expression on my face.
She looks much better after finding out Reaper will be okay. I wish I felt that same relief.
Bella glances around the room.
“She’s not back yet? I wanted to talk to her.”
Holding her hands up like she means no harm, she says, “Nothing bad. I swear.”
“It might be a while before she can talk. She’s on heavy sedation, and I don’t even know if she’s going to make it.”
Once she reaches me, she hugs me tightly.
“I’m sorry, but she’s going to make it. I know she will.”
I chuckle softly as I step back from my brother’s girl.
“How could you possibly know that?”
She smiles brightly.
“It’s not optional. She’s the light to your darkness. Like I am, to Nico.”
Psycho laughs loudly.
“Maybe that’s how it started, but now I’m not sure you’re any less dark than my brother. After all, it wasn’t so long ago that you asked for my knife to kill my brother.”
She snorts as she rolls her eyes.
“I was not going to kill him. Just stab him.”
Psycho looks at me, with his knife in his hand, and says, “I haven’t forgotten. I’m still going to stab you. I’m just being considerate and waiting.”
My attention snaps to the door, before I get a chance to thank him for his generosity, as they push Raina on her bed through the door. She looks pale as a ghost as she sleeps. This cannot be a good sign.
The nurse looks up at us with a scowl.
“There are too many people in this room. Dr. Michaels said no more than two at a time. One of you needs to leave.”
Bella says, “I’ll go. I’ll check in later when she’s awake.”
Before she leaves, I ask, “Any idea why Reaper jumped in front of the bullet meant for her, like a goddamn superhero?”
She smiles. “He had his reasons, but I’ll let him tell you what they were.”