Chapter Twenty-One
Gavino
Leo just wanted to talk shop for a few minutes, which was always done in person when possible.
He had no updates on Daniel.
I had nothing concrete to give him, either.
So I told him nothing.
I rationalized it by telling myself that I would give him a full report once I had something productive to tell him.
It had nothing at all to do with the fact that I wanted to protect Caitlin and her secrets.
Once he was gone—after reminding me I had to attend the next family dinner and that Caitlin was, of course, invited—I didn’t know what the fuck to do with myself.
I washed dishes, ordered groceries, washed the bedding and some clothes, and cleaned up the apartment. All the while anticipating Caitlin coming back before the end of the night.
She’d been trying to play it cool, but it was clear she wanted to be with me as much as I wanted to be with her.
Once she had her charger and some clothes, there would be no reason for her to go back to her place. I planned not to let her conjure up some other reason.
I wanted her in the apartment with me.
Across from me as we ate. Sitting next to me as we read. Or teasing me about how boring some of my documentaries were. In my arms in bed at night.
I never understood how my cousins and siblings went from completely disinterested in relationships to locked down tight in what felt like a blink.
Until, of course, it happened to me.
I forced myself to go down to the gym, wanting to burn off some of my pent-up energy. Then catch a quick shower before Caitlin showed up.
I never expected to walk down my hallway to find her sitting beside the door, curled into herself, sobbing so hard that her whole body jolted violently.
And I damn sure didn’t expect that when she looked up at me, I’d see a nasty bruise spreading across her cheek.
It was all bad.
But when I set her down and felt the wetness on my arm, then looked down and saw blood, my fucking gut bottomed out.
I knew that head wounds bled like a motherfucker, even when they were minor. But there were a dozen things to worry about with an injury like that. None of them I was capable of handling myself.
I couldn’t let an in-pain, terrified Caitlin know that, though. She was already crumbling. I had to put on a strong front for her.
“I’m just going to wash my hands, and then I’m going to check out your head.”
She gave me a little nod as she pulled her broken wrist across her body.
Had something happened there too?
Anywhere else?
I washed my hands and wet a paper towel to blot at some of the blood so I could get a better look at the wound beneath it.
Unlike Caitlin, I had a strong stomach for gore. A lifetime in the Family necessitated that. But I still felt my guts twist as I looked at the gash across the back of her head.
It was big.
And it was bleeding like a bitch.
But I wasn’t seeing the white of her skull through the opening.
Thank God for small fucking miracles.
“Okay. This isn’t as bad as I was worrying, but it is going to need to be stitched up.”
“I don’t want to go to the hospital.” There was a high, almost hysterical edge to her words I didn’t understand. But it was hardly the time to ask her about it.
“That’s okay. The Family has someone who can do this kind of thing. Would that be okay?”
She sniffled and wiped at her cheeks with her sleeves. “Yeah.”
“Alright. I’m just going to call him to give him the heads up. Then we’re going to go get you all taken care of.”
“You’re coming, right?”
“I won’t leave your side,” I assured her.
Except as I walked off to the hall to call one of my soldiers for a ride, then my cousin to get his ass to the medical center because I was bringing someone in.
“Alright. We’re all set. Do you want me to grab anything for you before we go?”
“No. I just… I just need you.”
It was not the time for that tight, full feeling in my chest, but there was no stopping it, either.
“Well, you’ve got me,” I told her, grabbing a hoodie off the back of a chair and pulling it on to hide the blood on my shoulder and mask any more that might transfer as I lifted her into my arms again.
It wasn’t a long drive to Salvatore’s place, and I kept Caitlin cuddled on my lap the whole way.
“He’s waiting,” Nero, Miko’s little brother, greeted me as he opened the door. “Room One.”
“And who do we have here?” Salvatore asked as he pulled on gloves.
“This is Caitlin. She’s got a head wound.”
“Okay. Let’s take a look,” he said, dragging a bendable lamp closer as I set Caitlin down. “What happened here?” he asked.
I stayed close, holding onto Caitlin’s hand as she tensed when Salvatore prodded around her wound.
“I don’t know exactly. I was hit from behind. Then I was falling and then… out.”
“Do you know how long you were unconscious?”
“No. But it couldn’t have been long.”
“Cait, did you fall on your wrist?” I asked, watching the way she cradled the cast to her chest.
Her gaze flicked to mine.
“Yes. I tried to break my fall.”
“Was it already broken?” Salvatore asked, looking over at me.
“A hairline fracture,” she told him.
I saw the way he glanced down at her hand and his jaw tightened.
“We’re going to need to do a scan,” he told her. “See what’s going on in there. I’m going to cut off that cast too. We can put a new one back on if all is well.”
“Okay.”
“Are you hurt anywhere else?”
“Her face,” I supplied.
Salvatore pulled off his bloody gloves and tipped her chin up with his bare hands.
“You’re getting a nice bruise,” he observed. “Were you punched?”
“Yes.”
“You’re not swelling, so I don’t think we have to worry about anything being broken. That won’t make it feel any better, but a little ice will probably help. Anything else?”
“I was kicked in my stomach.”
A fire burned its way up my gut.
Kicked.
Not bad enough they hit her twice, but the fuckers kicked her?
“May I?” Salvatore asked, grabbing the hem of her shirt.
Caitlin’s gaze slid away, her cheeks going pink, but she nodded.
I moved closer, letting her lean the side of her head against me as Salvatore pulled up her shirt and pressed around on her stomach.
“No pain?”
“Not really. A little ache.”
“Good. Again. You might see a bruise, but I don’t think anything is hurt in there.
But I will draw you up a list of things to look out for.
For your face, stomach, and head. Just so you can check your symptoms if something feels strange.
But let me go get some supplies for your head. Then we can worry about scans.”
When we were alone again, I moved onto the table with Caitlin, pulling her close.
“How are you doing about this? I know this kind of thing freaks you out.”
“I’m a little numb.”
“I guess that’s not a bad thing right about now.”
“Is this going to hurt?”
“I’m assuming Salvatore is going to use a local.”
“Is he a doctor?”
“Not technically, no. But he has handled everything for the family, from gunshot wounds to broken bones. If you’d rather go to the hospital, though, we can do that.”
“Only if I have to,” she said, looking down. “I’m worried about my wrist.”
“I am too. But we will handle whatever it is. Babe, what hap—”
“Alright,” Salvatore said, cutting me off. “Let’s get you all taken care of.”
I pulled Caitlin’s legs over mine, letting her rest her face in my neck as Salvatore got to work.
She really did handle it like a champ, only letting out a little whimper when she saw the bloody gauze on the tray. But Salvatore was quick to move it out of her line of vision as he finished up.
Next out came the saw, which had Caitlin stiffening as Salvatore cut off the cast to reveal a shockingly bruised wrist and forearm. I, for one, let out a held breath when I confirmed there was no bone sticking out of the arm. The bruising and swelling were to be expected.
“Let’s just hope for a small miracle that there isn’t displacement,” Salvatore said. “Then we can just recast it, and you two can be on your way. I have a feeling there’s a lot of pampering in your future.”
“I won’t even rag on you about all the junk food,” I agreed.
Caitlin shot me a weak smile, her eyes small and heavy.
“Your head hurts, huh?” I asked, reaching to rub her temples.
“I can get you something for that.”
“I have her original prescription at home. But something for just now would be good.”
With that, she was medicated and taken for an X-ray while I stood anxiously in the waiting room, ordering every kind of comfort food I could think of to be delivered to my apartment.
“It’s not displaced,” Nero told me as he came out from the back. “Salvatore said the fracture has extended, but it will heal on its own. She will probably need to be in a cast for two months. And need a lot of physical therapy. And, obviously, it’s going to hurt like a bitch for a while.”
“Thanks for the update.”
A few minutes later, Salvatore led a slow-moving, blank-faced Caitlin back into the room where we mostly sat in silence as he carefully recasted her wrist in a light purple instead of the white she’d had on before.
Then took a second to sign it, something that got a small smile out of her, before telling us we were all set.
I didn’t love how withdrawn Caitlin was on the ride back to my apartment, then the walk back inside. She didn’t even say anything as I led her into the room, stripped her out of her bloody and dirty clothes, and put her into my roomiest sweatshirt.
I was hoping she would volunteer what happened. I didn’t want to have to pry the information out of her. But when she just sat there, staring at the wall, I swallowed back the discomfort and reached for her hand.
“Cait, what happened?”
She glanced up at me, her lower lip trembling.
“Hey, whatever it is, I can handle it.”
She nodded and exhaled a shaky breath.
“My dad was at my apartment.”
My stomach jolted, but I tried not to react externally. She’d never get through it if I freaked her out.
But if that motherfucker put his hands on her…
“He was panicked, saying he was involved with the wrong people. I, um, I assumed—”
“You assumed he meant me.”
“Yes. And he was asking for my help.”
“Hey, I’m not going to judge you if you wanted to help protect your dad. Even from me.”
“I’d rented a cabin. After… you know… you. I thought you’d come for me, so I rented a cabin to disappear to. I told him he could go there. I brought him to the garage and watched him leave with my car.”
So it wasn’t her dad.
As fucked as things were with him, I was at least glad she didn’t have to live with the fact that the man she hero-worshipped beat her.
“And then?” I prompted when she didn’t go on.
“And then the hit to my head. And when I looked up… there was my dad’s girlfriend.”
“What? She hit you?”
“No. She was there. But it was Ira. Ira was the one to beat me.”
My jaw tightened.
That bastard.
“Did they say anything?”
“They wanted the keys.”
“The keys. To the storage units?”
“Yes.”
If Ira was involved, he either simply found out that Daniel had a sweet deal and wanted the fruits of that labor. Or… or he was fucking over the organization.
I needed to talk to Leo.
Have him do an audit to make sure all the merchandise and the money we made lined up.
But first… I had to get Caitlin comfortable and reassured.
“I ordered you about a metric ton of snacks. And Chinese should be here any minute. You gotta eat with those meds so you don’t get sick.”
“You remembered,” she said, her smile soft.
When it came to her, it seemed impossible to forget anything.
“Yep. Now, the only question is if you want to make a nest here or on the couch?”
“Here sounds good. And you’ll stay with me?”
“Wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”