17. Romeo
17
ROMEO
I woke up and found my father scrolling on his phone. He wore a loopy, smug smile, and I rolled my eyes at the fact that he was likely checking out a naughty text from Nina while I lay here suffering.
Actually… I tensed my back and felt less pain shooting down my arm. It’s not that bad.
For the whole night, I was in and out of consciousness. They must have given me something basic for a sedation because I wasn’t overly groggy and nauseated from having surgery.
“I’m bleeding to death and you’re sexting your fiancée?” I joked as I lifted my free hand to rub my face.
He cleared his throat, putting his phone down as he faced me. “How are you feeling?”
“Like I’m no longer bleeding to death.”
He nodded. “They stitched you up quickly. You passed out from the blood loss, but they determined you didn’t need a transfusion.”
That was good news. Maybe that meant I would be out of here sooner than later. I hated to be idle, and with the threat of what landed me in here, I was determined to stay active in protecting my family.
And Tess.
“Where’s Tess?” Now that I was awake, someone had to clue me in. The last person I recalled wanting to see, the last one I’d been with, was her.
“She just stepped outside in the hallway.” He stood, arching his back and smiling down at me. “You gave her a scare, but she’s not as weak as she looks.”
I furrowed my brow. Who’s saying that she looks weak?
“She’s been in here the entire time.” His lips quirked up into a twist. “She told them that she was your fiancée to be allowed to stay at your side.”
I raised my brows. I had to have fallen when I passed out, but I didn’t remember hitting my head.
“She confided in me and Franco that it was a lie. Something she said just to stay with you.”
I nodded. “If I proposed, you’d know.”
“Would I?” He clasped his hands in front of him and peered at me. “You’ve been alone with her and getting close.”
“Not to the point of making her mine,” I argued. But I would if I knew she’d accept me.
He shrugged, feigning indifference but appearing amused. “It would be a kicker, though. If you rushed into a relationship even faster than I did with Nina.”
I rolled my eyes. “Funny.”
“What’s not funny is what she told us while you were in surgery.”
“Stefan sent two men to the cabin.” Wait. The sniper. “Three.”
He nodded, graver now with no sign of a smile on his lips or laughter in his eyes. “Franco had men sweep the area. They found the sniper who hit you. He tripped and busted his ankle, so they didn’t have a hard time locating him.”
“And the two I killed near the cabin?”
“Disposed of.” He didn’t need to ask me to justify the injuries or explain a thing. He got it.
“I kept one alive for information.”
He crossed his arms. “I’m listening.”
“Stefan is furious that you wouldn’t align with him or back him up with the gun routes.” This wouldn’t be a surprise. We all knew this. “He sent the Devil’s Brothers men to the other house I was at with the plan of taking me out to attack you.”
He shook his head. A murderous scowl remained on his face.
“He had his men come out to the cabin to try again.”
“That motherfucker,” he groused.
“He also said that Stefan was frustrated with the inability to attack you directly. Since Nina’s there and is expecting, you’ve ramped up the security forces to the point he has no way to get in.”
Smiling smugly, he nodded once. “That’s correct. And I don’t let her leave the house without ample security.”
“Which is what I need to arrange for Tessa,” I said as I sat up more, pleased that the motion didn’t put me in excruciating pain. “I can’t rely on being remote and using that as a level of safety. The fucking storm disabled the wires for the surveillance cameras at the road.”
“It’s all outdated,” he said, annoyed. “You should just bring Tessa to the house. Nina would love having her close.”
And then she wouldn’t even need me for friendship. I felt selfish to want to keep Tessa to myself, but until we could address this tension between us and figure out how to be together, I didn’t want any obstacles to stand in the way. Nina wasn’t an obstacle, but she’d be a distraction.
“No. But I intend to move her somewhere closer in the city.”
“Whatever you decide,” he said, letting me call the shots where Tessa was concerned.
We didn’t speak any further.
The door opened, and my heart rate kicked up with the excitement that it could be Tessa walking in, but it wasn’t. Instead, a doctor came in with a nurse. My father remained standing and out of the way as the doctor spoke with me. The nurse checked my vitals—all satisfactory—and I was glad for how fortunate I was with this incident.
“It looks like you’re on track to be discharged tomorrow?—”
“Why not today?” my father asked, cutting off the doctor.
“I would recommend at least one night of monitoring, given his blood loss.”
I shook my head, glancing between the nurse and the doctor. “My vitals are looking good, right? I don’t want to stay any longer than necessary.”
“We have medical staff members available at home,” my father added.
Danicia would certainly be a help—if I needed her. This wasn’t my first rodeo. I’d been shot and stitched up before. I counted on a recovery period, and I would do the exercises and stretches required to be whole again.
“I don’t recommend…” The doctor pursed his lips at my father’s stern look. “I can arrange for the paperwork to be started shortly.”
“ Now ,” my father advised.
The doctor nodded, but the nurse rolled her eyes as she draped her stethoscope around her neck.
After they walked out, Franco entered. “Ready to go?” He grinned, looking from me to my father. “I’m guessing from the way the doc and nurse were smirking that you told them you wanted the express ticket outta here.”
“Correct,” I said as I swung my legs over the edge of the bed. Wincing and testing my range of motion, I sat up and stretched the best I could. Perhaps leaving wasn’t what the doctor preferred, but it wasn’t like I was a usual patient. I had security issues to deal with. A woman to check out.
Tess had to have been so scared, seeing me kill a man. I hoped she hadn’t been within view of my shooting up and torturing that second man. While she was aware that I was a killer, I didn’t want to demonstrate it in real time.
“She compressed your wounds as soon as you passed out on her,” Franco said when I asked what happened to bring me to the hospital. My father assisted me in getting dressed and clearing out the room, and I was humbled with how weak and fragile the human body could be when it was pushed too far and shot.
“I happened to call you, and she answered, telling me that you needed help.”
Good girl, Tess. Good girl. But I already knew she was made of stronger stuff. She wasn’t a woman prone to hysterics and freaking out without acting on a threat.
“We brought you here, and she stayed the whole time, no matter how much any of us tried to talk her into going and cleaning up.”
I frowned, glancing at the window. “How long have I been here?”
“Hmm, last night and into the morning,” Franco said. “They sewed you up last night but let your body rest.”
Hazy memories were there. I recalled coming awake after the surgery, but nothing past it.
“Here you go,” the nurse said as she returned. Her tone was flippant and sassy as she handed my discharge papers to my father.
He didn’t bat a lid at her attitude. He simply took the papers and tucked them into the inner pocket of his jacket.
Danicia would make sure I followed the instructions to the final detail.
“A little through and through won’t keep a Constella down, huh?” Franco joked as he held the door open for me.
“Not at all,” I replied as I exited the room.
We came to a stop as I spotted Tessa. Just seeing her blonde head and her slim body soothed an anxious part of my soul. She’d become such an important feature in my life. Knowing she was near calmed me.
But she wasn’t feeling the same. Facing off with an older woman, she set her hands on her hips and shouted back.
I didn’t know what the hell they were arguing about in the hallway of a hospital, but I strode toward her, more than ready to stand up for her in whatever this situation was.