Chapter 7 #2
“Hey, They like your food. That gives you an ‘in’ right?” Jared said with a chuckle.
Angelo’s laugh hurt his chest. “I never thought I’d be trying to figure out what my ‘in’ would be with the Italian mafia.”
“The things we do for love,” Jared chuckled. “Right?”
Love. Angelo wasn’t afraid to fall in love. He had wanted to fall in love for a long time. But the spark he’d been looking for with someone, the one that told him this was the right person, had never been there.
Until now.
Kara was definitely someone he could see himself falling in love with, but he couldn’t imagine a more doomed relationship, either.
He was going to do everything he could to help her, but he knew that might not be enough.
Kara could get hurt, kidnapped, or worse.
At some point she might have to run if that was the only way to stay safe.
He would have to let her… and that would break his heart.
“I’ll call you tomorrow. Roarke’s man will be there soon. The code word you need to know is ‘Atlas.’ He’ll use that to let you know he was sent by Roarke.”
“Thanks, and tell Roarke thanks.”
“See tomorrow, Angelo.” Jared hung up.
Angelo drifted to sleep, for how long he wasn’t sure, but when the hospital door opened, he bolted upright awake, twitching his stomach muscles, ready to defend himself.
“It’s okay, Mr. Vertucci.” A tall, muscled man wearing jeans and a black, long-sleeved shirt hovered in the corner of the room as he let the door he’d just slipped through close.
“I’m Asher Fleming from the Brothers of Valor Security team. Mr. Covington sent me. Have you read Atlas Shrugged?” he spoke in a calm, quiet tone as he approached the bed and the tenseness in Angelo’s body slipped away.
“Atlas Shrugged? Er… no,” Angelo said, realizing he was using the codeword.
“Don’t. It’s overrated,” Asher said as he stepped next to Angelo’s bedside.
“Good to know.” He held out his hand to Asher. “Call me Angelo. It’s nice to meet you, Asher.”
Asher’s shook Angelo’s hand with a firm grip.
“Thanks for coming so quickly.”
“Mr. Covington said he didn’t have a lot of details, but a protective presence was needed immediately. He said you were attacked by a man wearing a cop’s uniform?”
“That’s right. Thankfully he doesn’t seem to be a real cop. I imagine that would be a lot harder for you to deal with.”
Asher’s lips almost curved into a smile. “Not really.”
Angelo saw the dog tags on a chain hanging from the man’s chest from him chain, as well as a unique looking crest tattooed on the back of his hand.
It was the crest of 75th regiment of Army Rangers.
His uncle Luigi had been in the army in his younger days and had told stories about the Rangers he’d met while serving.
That more than anything else secured Angelo’s trust.
“Here’s what I know…”
Asher listened intently, asking only a few questions to clarify key points.
When he was done, Asher crossed his arms over his chest and looked out the window as if something had caught his eye.
He got up slowly and lowered the blinds, blocking the natural light, but also stopping anyone from seeing into the room.
“Organized criminals usually have scattered weapons training and no professional combat experience overall, which means they can be outwitted and out-manned, but what makes them dangerous is their unpredictability. We come up against the occasional professional hit man, but they usually aren’t ready to deal with well-protected targets.
We can prepare for sophisticated attacks easily enough, but it’s the rushed, unexpected attacks we won’t see coming where people could get hurt. ”
“So what do we do?”
Now Asher did smile. “I’ve been told you know the Cabrini crime family?”
“Sort of. They eat at my restaurant. I don’t know if they’d listen to me if I asked for help. And I don’t imagine they’d help me for free. It would come with a price.”
“Understood. You don’t want to owe those types a favor.” Asher’s brow furrowed. “I still think we need to make contact with them. If they think the Westies are encroaching on their turf, they might be more than willing to send a clear message to the Westies to back off.”
“My friend said something along those lines. You’re okay with working with the Chicago mob?” Angelo couldn’t hide his surprise. He couldn’t picture former military men and mobsters mixing.
Asher shrugged. “Life isn’t always black and white. Sometimes you fight in the gray. I’d rather get back-up from the devil we know than go into battle without enough force to defend you and Ms. Gallagher. Hell, they might handle our problem for us before it becomes a problem.”
Angelo lay back on the bed.
“You still need to rest if you want to get back home, Mr. Vertucci. Don’t worry, no one will get past me. My associate Colton is watching over your home. He’ll keep your family and your woman safe.”
To his surprise, Angelo found he could relax. All it took was knowing that Kara and his family were safe, and Asher was reassuring on that front.
“Thanks.” Angelo yawned. “Could you wake me up in a few hours if I miss the alarm going off on my phone? I have an important phone call to make and those pain meds make me sleep like the dead.”
“Will do,” came Asher’s reply as Angelo shut his eyes.
Kara had one of Angelo’s cookbooks open in her lap, but she wasn’t seeing anything on the page.
Her mind was lost in those moments in the hospital when Angelo had kissed her.
It had been so long since she’d dared to let herself to want things like a home, a permanent life, or someone to love.
Since her father’s death, she’d started to let her guard down, daring herself to open up to a life that might have more possibilities.
Yet she never lost that voice of her mother’s in her head screaming a warning that she’d never be safe.
It was conditioning, she knew, to hear that voice, even when the main threat to her life and safety was gone.
She was beginning to wonder if she’d ever break free of those old patterns of run and hide that had been instilled in her since birth.
Now she was facing the certainty that her father’s men were still looking for her and having to shove away those fragile new dreams she’d begun to build.
Why did Angelo have to come into her life like some knight in shining armor, offering a dream she desperately wanted to be real?
He knew the truth, knew the danger of having her in his life, but he still offered to help her.
He’d made her believe for a moment that the nightmare could end and she could have a new life where she didn’t have to run.
But dreams were just that: dreams. They weren’t reality.
No matter how desperately she wanted to embrace the dream of belonging to Angleo and his family, she knew she’d have to run.
Perhaps it was for the best. She didn’t deserve to be loved the way someone like Angelo would love.
It was a worshipping sort of love, a deep and fiery love that was so far beyond what she could ever hope to have.
Her vision blurred and she hastily blinked her eyes, sending fat tears rolling down her cheeks. She hastily wiped them away and sniffed. She forced herself to focus on the book in her lap.
Kara had read half a dozen recipes when her phone rang.
Angelo’s name lit up the screen along with a photo of him standing shirtless on the beach and smiling.
She had really liked that image of him so she had made it his contact image.
Dante had shown her a few tricks with the phone after dinner.
She’d snapped a few photos of the other family members too.
Even though she knew she wasn’t keeping the phone forever, it was fun to enjoy it while she had it.
She answered quickly. “Angelo?”
“Kara.” Her name on his lips was like a sigh of pleasure, making her blush.. The memory of that smile against her lips was still there, still vivid even after several hours.
“Did you get some rest?” she asked.
“I did. Are you alone?”
“Yep. In bed… er, I mean, your bed. Sorry.”
He chuckled at the awkward way she corrected herself.
“I wish I was there with you,” he replied in that husky voice that did the craziest things to her heart and her body, only to hear him suddenly stammer.
“Er, I mean, because I’m sick of this hospital bed and fluorescent lighting, and… um… the food.”
Kara grinned. At least she wasn’t the only one tripping over their tongue. “Of course.”
But still, his words made her wonder how she’d feel if he was sitting here in bed beside her.
She pictured his tall, muscled body emanating that warmth and his sun-kissed skin bared for her view.
She imagined him as if he actually was her fiancé, trying to impress her, but really not needing to, because he was already so perfect…
A flush moved through her body, heating her skin so much that she had to kick back the covers to cool off.
“I imagine it would be better if you were here too,” she added and then cursed silently for her pathetic attempt at flirting. Why was she flirting anyway? It was only going to make it harder when she had to leave him.
“So,” he added awkwardly but still managing to sound charming as he tried to get back on track. “Well, I have some information to share with you.”
“Okay.” She wasn’t sure she liked the sudden change of his tone.
“Do you remember meeting Roarke Covington at the hospital? Jared said he brought everybody food while I was in surgery?”
“Yes.” He’d seemed like a nice man and had shown great kindness to Angelo’s family.
“He’s hired a private security firm, the Brothers of Valor, to keep an eye on us. One of them is here in the hospital with me.”
“Does he know…?”