Marcello
I watch Chirps leave the room, noticing how the tight nurse's scrubs hug her perfect ass. She's sexy as hell, just in plain pink pants and a shirt. I don't dare to try and imagine what she would look like in regular clothes or, God forbid, a cocktail dress.
Breathtaking.
"How did you allow that to happen?" I grunt at Luciano.
He misunderstands. "I have no idea about the medial jumbo mumbo, but Violet caught on to the drug Wasp—"
"Her getting hurt," I clarify. I've sported a few bruises and black eyes over the years, but she's such a little thing, a woman.
That someone dared lay a hand on her sends inexplicable rage through me.
Whoever touched her signed their death warrant.
They just don't know it yet. But I'll make sure they beg before they die.
Guilt rushes over his face, rattling me. He cares about Chirps. Well, I'll be damned. "It's my fault, I went to grab something to eat, and the bastards came in—"
"Are they dead?" I interrupt.
"Deader than dead," he nods.
"Too bad."
A look passes between us. It doesn't happen very often, but every once in a while, it would be nice to have the ability to kill someone twice.
I remember something else. She asked about the doctor, and my throat tightens with anger. "What's with her and the doctor?" I ask Luciano, not liking the idea of her and a man I have yet to meet, but whose life hangs in the balance depending on a word from me.
I've never ordered a man killed based on emotions, not even when I hated them. Definitely not because I was jealous. Jealous?
Luciano's answer thankfully stops my train of thought. He shrugs, "Nothing as far as I know. He's married, has a toddler and a baby at home."
He fills me in on what transpired while I was out. "Someone blackmailed him."
"Do we know who?" I ask.
"Not yet. I figured I'd wait with the questioning until you're up and running. Besides the one incident, he came highly recommended."
I chuckle, then our conversation shifts to the events that put me here in the first place, the doctor's fate forgotten for the moment.
"I never did find my phone, boss; I'm sorry I left you. I had no idea Casimo—"
I wave him off. He was the one who distrusted Casimo from the beginning. "Your phone was in Casimo's jacket."
"The bastard," Luciano snarls.
"He wanted you out of there," I point out.
"I'm sorry, boss. I swear, I wasn't—"
"I know." No matter what, Luciano is one of the few men who have my full trust.
"He didn't want to kill you," I muse.
"I have no idea why." He shakes his head.
"Is he dead?"
Luciano nods sadly. "I didn't have a choice. It was him or you."
"So we have no idea whose pocket he was in or why he didn't want to kill you," I summarize.
"I can only figure that he thought I might go along with whatever his plan was once you were dead," Luciano theorizes.
It makes sense, except that Luciano is one of those rare, loyal-to-the-death men. I'm not sure why Casimo thought even for a second Luciano wouldn't kill him, but Casimo is dead, so speculating on what was going through his head is damn useless.
"When I came back down, Rick, Stefano, Tony, and Marco were all dead, as well as three others. I heard shots and found Casimo bleeding and bending over to shoot you one more time."
I feel ashamed for not terminating Casimo before he reached that point. "You saved my life, Luciano. I won't forget that."
He shrugs. "You got him in the gut. He was a goner either way. Besides, that's what you pay me for."
We stare at each other for a moment, both aware that his words are not even close to the truth. He would die for me, and not only because I'm his capo. Him saving my ass has nothing to do with me paying him. He's got his own millions squirreled away. He doesn't need to work for me.
"Have you dug anything out about Casimo yet?" I ask to cut the emotional tension from the room.
"We don't know yet. I've been a little busy keeping you alive and making sure nobody got close enough to try again."
Shit. He's right. He must have been running himself into the ground.
But he's also leaving out a few key distractions—like holding our entire empire together with both hands while I was stuck in a hospital bed.
Running the business. Keeping the vultures at bay.
Making damn sure no one got any ideas about exploiting our weakness.
Luciano, Angelo, Guido, Andrea—my underbosses—could've made a play for power while I was out.
I wouldn't have blamed them. That's how this world works.
But they didn't. They closed ranks. They made it crystal fucking clear to everyone that I was still in charge.
I don't forget loyalty like that. I sure as hell don't let this go unrewarded.
"I almost forgot, your father came by," Luciano says after a moment of silence.
"Personally?" I ask, raising an eyebrow.
"A couple days late, but he wanted to make sure you're taken care of."
"I'm touched," I reply sarcastically. "Almost in tears, actually."
We exchange a grin. Neither one of us is a fan of my father. After my mom died ten years ago, he had me shipped to Italy so he could groom my brother Angelo to take over one day. He wanted me out of the way so I wouldn't challenge my brother. As if…
I had my own thing going on in Sicily. I was a happy man until dear old dad remembered me after Angelo's death and summoned me home. That was a year ago, and I can count the times we've interacted since on one hand.
He basically threw the extortion part of our business at me and told me to take care of it, which I did. Adding something to it that he didn't expect. Pharmaceuticals. A little billion-dollar side business I picked up in Sicily.
"How is his trial going?"
"He's got Judge Lambert. He's an unbribable hardass. But from what's been said, Carlos is talking to the state attorney and a few jurors." Luciano fills me in.
I drum the fingers of my uninjured hand on the bedrail, antsy to get out of here.
"I want him in jail," I finally snarl.
"I know." Luciano nods. My father was an asshole when I left, but lately, he's seemed downright unhinged.
The trial has him on edge; he thought Don Edoardo would pull some strings to get him out of this, but apparently that hasn't happened.
Not too long ago, we added a state senator, Preston Kingsley, to our assets.
It would only take one word from Edoardo, and Kingsley would stop this trial. That he hasn't, speaks volumes.
"We need to find out the jurors' names and check on the state attorney."
"You got it, boss."
"And make sure Chirps has a car and driver."
"Chirps?"
I run my hand through my hair. There's no reason to keep secrets from my right-hand man, but what I feel for Chirps is still confusing the hell out of me.
"Violet, I heard her voice sometimes while I was out; it reminded me of a bird's chittering," I explain. The rest I keep to myself. Chirps might sound like an innocent nickname, but with the way I feel about her? The things I want to do to her? It's anything but.
He grins, taking me aback; he never grins like this. The only time I've seen him this animated was when I ordered him to kill Umberto, a snitch we both trusted and who cost us dearly in Sicily.
"It's damn fitting. She does twitter like a little bird." He agrees.
Damn, if Luciano has developed feelings for my little nurse, we have a problem, because I don't share.
"There's more," Luciano says darkly.
"Why do I have a feeling you saved the worst for last?"
"Because you know me too well?" His grin doesn't reach his eyes. Whatever he's going to tell me has him troubled.
"Spit it out."
"I'm sure Roberto is hitting Sophia."
Fuck!
I didn't see that coming. I probably should have.
Roberto is an asshole. I would have never allowed this marriage to take place, had I been here.
But I was in Italy, and I wasn't even invited to the wedding.
Rage slices through me. If that fucking coward really put his hands on my sister, I won't just kill him—I'll unmake him.
Piece by piece. A man doesn't raise his hand to a woman, not in my family. Not ever.
There is no reason to ask Luciano if he's sure or how he knows. He wouldn't have said it if he weren't.
"As soon as I'm out, arrange for us to have a word with the slimy bastard."
"You got it, boss."