33. Matti
Matti
T WO WEEKS LATER
“Matti?” Siena’s voice comes to me softly through what feels like a tunnel. I blink and she starts to come into focus, her beautiful brown eyes tired but hopeful.
“Hey, kitten.” I croak, my voice rough. I try to lift my arm to brush the hair out of her face, but I’m tethered by tubes and IV lines. “Are you hurt?”
She takes my hand in both of hers, pressing it to her chest. She’s shaking. “No, my love. I’m fine, but you were shot. You had surgery. You’ve been out for a couple of weeks.”
I move my free hand to my stomach, feeling the thin bandage wrapping around to my back, then lay back, closing my eyes for a moment. “Doesn’t seem too serious.”
Dr. Rossi clears his throat, and I open my eyes again. He, Tommy, and Vin are both standing on the other side of my bed.
“You were lucky, Mr. Dragovari. I understand you jumped in front of a bullet. Had your position been different, and the bullet gone in just a few inches higher, you would have pierced an organ. But as it stands, it was a clean shot, straight through your side. No major damage, but you bled quite a bit. Fortunately, you were brought in quickly enough for me to stop the bleeding in time.”
“That was me,” Vin chimes in, grinning as leans into my sight line over Dr. Rossi’s shoulder. “Never drove faster in my life.”
“You mean you almost got us all killed trying to save Matti,” scoffs Tommy, but he’s smiling.
Dr. Rossi continues as he removes my IVs. “To be safe, you should take it easy the next couple of weeks. No heavy lifting. Let the internal stitches dissolve, and you should be good as new.”
I grin and slide an arm around Siena. “No heavy lifting, Doc, I promise. Just this girl right here.”
Swatting at me, Siena laughs, and Dr. Rossi stifles a sigh. “Just be careful.”
Grazing a hand over my chest, I feel the Saint Michael’s pendant that my mother gave me. I look up at Siena in surprise, and she gives me a soft smile. “I left it at the penthouse the day of the job. Tommy brought it for me. So your mother could watch over you.”
I squeeze her waist. This woman is everything.
My hand brushes the bandages around my torso, and I peel them up. The bullet wound is completely healed, and I look at Dr. Rossi in confusion. “Why do I have a bandage on?”
“Mostly to remind you that you are still healing and to take it slow.”
I roll my eyes and pull the bandage off, tossing it to the side.
“What happened to Franco?” The last thing I remember is the stairwell, and Franco holding Valentina hostage. I don’t remember Vin or Tommy showing up or how I got here.
“Your girl here shot him in the upper chest near his shoulder—the second time, anyway. Before that, she shot him in the arm,” says Vin, clapping Siena on the back a little too hard. I frown at him pointedly until he rolls his eyes and removes hand from her back.
Then I shift my gaze to her. She looks pale.
I can’t tell if it’s because of me or Vin reminding her what she did to Franco.
Memories of throwing the watch at Franco come flooding back.
I didn’t want Siena to find out that way, but she wouldn’t let me pull my gun on him and she needed to be okay with me shooting him.
I never would have guessed that she would choose to shoot him herself, but I shouldn’t be surprised.
My girl is becoming more of a badass every day.
Tommy interjects. “She saved your life. She’s a good shot, but he survived. We brought him back here, and Doc fixed him up.”
“He’s waiting for you in one of the chain-and-drain rooms,” says Vin.
That’s Vin’s name for the rooms where we extract information from people, the rooms with chains on the walls and drains in the floor.
Fatigue presses in, and I shake my head trying to ward it off. I need to be clear and present for Siena. I know she’s going to have some choice words for me. “The fuck did you give me, Doc?”
“Just some sedatives to keep you under so you would heal. It will wear off soon.”
I turn back to Vin. “I saw Valentina, but… is she dead?”
Vin snorts. “Hell no. Fucking cockroach. Concussion, shot through the shoulder, stitched up, and sent home.”
Tommy moves closer. “You lost a lot of blood and you passed out. I think you were in and out even before you fully lost consciousness. Vin threw Franco in the truck. I got Valentina out, then came back to help Siena get you into the car.”
Vin and Tommy exchange a look, silently arguing about something. I guess Vin wins, because he’s the one to speak.
“Aurelio showed up. But his men escorted him out. I don’t think he caught a bullet.”
“Heard from him since?” I ask, rubbing a hand over my beard. It’s trimmed like usual. Siena must have done that for me while I was unconscious. I squeeze her hand.
Tommy shakes his head. “No. But we know where he is. The war is on.”
“There’s been a lot of rumors flying around, but we’ve got some work to do to be ready for when he strikes,” says Vin.
“Or ready to strike first,” grits Tommy.
“Now’s not the time for that,” Siena murmurs, running her cool hand over my cheek and shooting Vin and Tommy a dirty look. “You need to rest, my love.”
My love . She keeps calling me ‘my love.’ It’s the closest she’s come to telling me she loves me—sober, anyway—and I fucking love it. I turn my head to kiss her palm.
But I have no intention of resting.
“God damn it,” I grumble, shifting to sit up. “I have too much to handle to be lying in bed.”
Franco, for starters. That bitch needs to be dealt with sooner than later.
“See what I mean?” Vin says to Tommy, as I swing my legs over the side of the bed and start to stand. Siena grabs me around the waist, steadying me.
“Hold on,” says Dr. Rossi, removing the sticky pads from my chest that held the lines in place.
Vin smirks. “I told Tommy you wouldn’t stay in bed unless you were knocked out.”
I twist slowly to the left and right, testing out my injury. I’m a little sore, but there is no pain at all. If I had to guess, I’d say that’s why Dr. Rossi kept me under for so long, to force me to heal. “I’m fine. The problem is these fucking meds.”
Dr. Rossi nods. “They’ll wear off over the next hour or so. You don’t need them anymore. You’re almost healed up, though there will likely be some scarring.”
Siena beams at the doctor’s words. Fuck, she’s so beautiful.
She’s wearing leggings that hug her thick thighs, a tank top and fitted hoodie molded to her curves, her hair in a messy bun.
I want everyone out so I can pull her onto my cock, come inside her, then fall asleep with my head buried in her chest.
She blinks, interpreting the look in my eyes, then gives me a slight shake of her head, the corners of her mouth turning up into a cute little smile. My girl wants me, too, but she wants to say ‘no.’ That particular smile from her is enough to get me hard.
Dr. Rossi taps her shoulder. “Siena, may I have a word?”
“Massimo, don’t run off with my fiancee,” I snap, as she steps out the door with him.
Tommy’s phone rings. He answers it, following Siena and Dr. Rossi out the door and leaving me alone with Vin.
Vin spins a chair around and straddles it, resting his forearms on the back. “Shit’s fucked up right now.”
I nod, moving gingerly to the counter where my t-shirt, shoes, and gun wait .
Vin juts his chin toward the door. “I’m glad you and Siena found each other. But it complicates things with Aurelio.”
“I thought we were good to go with our plan,” I say, pulling my t-shirt on over my head.
Vin scrubs a hand down his face. “Things got messy with Tommy’s girl.”
I frown, stepping into my running shoes. “Giovanna? I thought Tommy found her, and that’s why we were ready to do the Luminous job.”
He nods. “We were. But Aurelio didn’t waste time retaliating, and since Siena and I have been locked down here with you, he’s taking it out on Tommy and his girl.”
“How?”
Vin exhales sharply. “Long story, but he’s looking for ways to fuck with us. You need to keep Siena out of reach until we get this done.”
I check the magazine on the gun to make sure it’s full and do a quick press check to make sure there’s a round in the chamber. “And where are we at with that?” I ask.
He suddenly grins. “I got a head start these past couple weeks, as much as I could from here. Those shiny rocks are going a long way toward building our arsenals and armies. This is just the beginning.”
“Couple weeks?” That feels like a lot longer than it should be.
Vin nods. “Yeah, something like that.” He pauses. “No way I was leaving your side, brother.”
Brother . I don’t know if the meds have me feeling sentimental, but if he stayed underground here with Siena and me for weeks, he’s definitely my brother. “Thanks for looking out for Siena while I was under. ”
“She hates me,” he laughs. “So, no problem. Had a great time fucking with her.”
I punch his shoulder. “Better not be true.”
“Nah, we’re good. I mean, I can’t help myself, but she gives as good as she gets. We were both worried about you, so it was a nice distraction. And you asked me to do it, told me to keep her here until you were better, so of course I did.”
His expression turns serious as I put my holster and gun on over my t-shirt.
“I asked you to keep her here?” That I don’t remember, but it sounds like me. In fact, where is she? What is happening with her and Doc?
Vin nods. “I’m not great with words, but…” Vin pauses. “Just know that I view you as a brother as much as Tommy. The three of us together, we’re going to be the ones running things when all this shit shakes out.”
He looks exhausted. I know this is hard for him. No matter what an abusive dick Aurelio can be, it’s the only parent he and Tommy have left.
I narrow my eyes at him. “If Tommy pulls a gun on me again, I’m going to rip it out of his hand and beat him with it.”
Vin laughs, relief flooding his features. “Deal. Speaking of beating people… There’s a little shit corrupt cop waiting for you. Your girl shot him and I beat the shit out of him, but we kept him alive. Figured you had plans for him.”
I do have plans for him. Now that all the facts are on the table, I’m going to find out once and for all if Siena is really with me, and I’m going to use Franco to do it.