Chapter 31
HUDSON
Ashock that sends me staggering before I hit a wall and slide to the floor. Andrea screams my name, crouching next to me, her blue eyes filled with terror. Men shout as they try to apprehend the culprit; the soft sound of a gun with a silencer goes off again. I grab Andrea’s shoulders and roll her beneath me, wincing when my arm throbs painfully.
“What are you doing?” she snaps, putting her hands on my shoulders.
“Stay still,” I murmur into her ear. Normally, despite being shot, I would be off my feet by now and in the middle of the fray with my men. But I don’t know how many shooters there are, and I don’t want to risk her getting hit by any strays. “Just stay still,” I repeat.
My hands become fists on either side of Andrea’s head as anger pumps through me. How dare someone shoot me in my house. My house. Her hands slip to my waist, and she holds me to her. “Are you okay?” he whispers.
“Fine,” I grit out. My arm hurts like a motherfucker; the way I’m lying over her makes the blood gush faster. I’m starting to get lightheaded.
“You don’t sound good.” Her voice is laced with concern, so I glance at her face. She’s chewing her lip anxiously, giving me a look of concern. Would you look at that? She’s worried about me?
Before I can tease her, someone enters the ballroom, and my head snaps up; my uninjured arm is reaching for the holster at my waist. I relax when I see it’s just Crew.
“Fuck, you’re bleeding.” His eyes widen as he approaches us.
“I’m fine,” I mutter as I roll off Andrea. “I trust the culprit has been apprehended?”
He nods, helping me to my feet. I turn to help Andrea up but lose my balance as my vision flickers out. I land on the floor with a thud, barely registering the pain because I’m so lightheaded. I must have lost consciousness because when I wake up, I’m sprawled on my back, staring at the ceiling.
“You’re awake!” Andrea smiles, running a hand through my hair. I realize that she’s holding my other hand tightly.
“I’ve got it!” Killian, the resident doctor, jogs in struggling with a stretcher.
“For your sake, I hope that’s not for me,” I grumble as I struggle to sit up.
“Massimo,” he signs and lets out a relieved breath. “I’m so glad you’re awake.” He tosses the stretcher aside; it makes an awful sound. “You”re a heavy motherfucker, hence the stretcher.”
He comes to my side; and with the help of Crew, I get to my feet. Andrea is still clamping my hand tightly, while my left arm hangs limply. I notice that the sleeve of my shirt has been ripped away and my arm patched up. Killian must have taken care of it while I was out.
“You’re lucky you didn’t get hit in your dominant arm because this one is going to be out of commission for a while,” Killian pronounces as I slowly make my way out of the ballroom, Andrea by my side.
“How long is a while?” Andrea asks. Killian gives me a questioning glance, and I just grunt.
“You need to limit strenuous activity for a few days, give or take. The first shot just barely grazed him, but the second shot is the problem. The bullet hit an artery, hence the excessive bleeding. The loss of blood made him lose consciousness. He’s extremely lucky the bullet didn’t hit a nerve,” he explains as Andrea listens attentively.
We make it to the stairs. I slowly begin to climb, careful not to jostle my injured arm. I remain quiet, following Andrea as she leads me to the bedroom she’s been staying in–our bedroom.
“Do you mind giving us a minute, pet?” I ask, pausing outside the door. “You go on in.”
She gives me a baleful stare, but goes in nonetheless. “Who was it? The Rossi’s? One of the other men at dinner?” I ask Crew.
“We can talk about it in the morning after you’ve–”
“I got shot in the arm, not the fucking head. Now, tell me.”
He sighs, “It was one of the men who came in as Dominic and Tomasi’s guards. He claims to act on his own and the Rossi brothers have nothing to do with it.”
Of course, he did. When I get my hands on him…my hands are clenched into fists.
“Massimo, please. I barely managed to get the wound to stop bleeding, you’re going to break the stitches.” Killian rubs a hand over his face. “The man is tied up in the basement. You can figure out what to do with him and retaliate in the morning, but for now you need to sleep.”
As he speaks, my head does a leisurely spin. I sway but quickly catch myself on the wall. “Did you drug me?” I growl when the spell passes.
He pales, the only answer I need. I take a threatening step toward him just as the bedroom door swings open. Andrea pauses, taking in the scene. “What’s going on?”
“We’ll pick this up later,” I threaten as I make my way inside the room.
“Massimo’s mad because Killian gave him the shot you insisted on,” Crew says. I toss him a glare, but I doubt it’s effective because my lids are starting to involuntarily slide shut. I fucking hate painkillers.
She gives me a look. “I’m sure Massimo is self-aware enough to know that without that shot, he’d be in a world of pain, right?”
Fuck. I give her a short nod and turn to Crew who’s beaming a smug smile. “Where’s Isaac?”
“He’s in the basement dealing with–” he trails off with a quick glance at Andrea.
“Tell him to get in touch with all the dons at the dinner tonight. I want to hold a live conference in twenty minutes. Faster if possible” –before I succumb to sleep. He nods and leaves with Killian.
“The painkiller will knock you out soon. Are you sure a conference is the right thing to do now?” Andrea asks as we enter the bedroom.
“I want them to know exactly what happened before Dominic and his brother can make up a cover story. Right now, they don’t know the extent of my injuries, and the last thing they”ll be expecting is me calling a meeting.”
“Catching them when they’re off guard will make them vulnerable. Giving us the upper hand,” she says and nods in understanding.
I smile, loving how she says us. We’re in this together. “My wife is a genius,” I murmur, pulling her to my chest.
“Hudson,” she starts as I tug her chin up with my uninjured hand.
“Just one kiss. Are you going to begrudge a man who just had a close brush with death one measly kiss?”
“It was hardly a brush with death,” she protests, “and that’s a preposterous request.” She licks her lips nervously. Does she know how tempting it is? Little tease. It takes all my strength not to kiss her, but this time I need her to make the first move. Come on, pet.
Her hands lift up slowly and land on my chest. “Just one little kiss,” she coos, her eyes jumping to mine then to my lips.
“Just one,” I echo as her hands crawl up my chest and around my neck. She pulls me to her face. Fuck. I groan as our lips press together; the kiss is all the sweeter because she’s the one initiating it. She moans, digging her nails into my neck as she parts her lips.
I thrust my tongue into the warm heat of her mouth, tasting her. She moans again. Her tongue caresses mine and I jerk. She immediately withdraws her tongue, but I close my mouth around it and suck hard. She gives in, pressing her body into mine. My hand slides into the silky softness of her hair, angling her head to deepen the kiss. She tastes like the wine we had after dessert. I chase the flavor like an addict, wanting…no needing more. Her taste is like a drug coursing through my veins.
Her little moans drive me wild, making me kiss her harder and more frantically. I run my hand down her back and press her to me, needing her to feel the effect she has over me. I stoop down, my lips still attached to hers and push up, thrusting my hard cock against her. She gasps, tossing her head back. Then the door swings open.
I turn to the intruder with a snarl. Isaac starts, raising his hands up. Andrea shoves at my chest, and I let her go reluctantly.
“I’ve set up the live conference you requested.” He shakes his hand, but only then do I notice the laptop.
“I’ll-uh-let you have some privacy for the meeting,” Andrea offers and practically runs out of the room. Isaac is silent as I sit on the armchair in front of the fireplace and place his laptop on my lap. I can feel his judgment.
“What?” I snap.
“Just be careful. If they find out just how much you love her, it won’t end well for either of you.” He’s given me a similar warning before, but he didn’t use the L word.
“I don’t lo–” But concerned faces pop up on the screen before I can deny it.
“Massimo, I just heard the terrible news. I’m so glad to see you’re okay,” Bruno states and frowns.
“Do you know who did it?” Angelo asks, going straight for the jugular, and I’m glad. Now that the delectable distraction of Andrea is gone, I’m starting to feel really tired, so I need to make this meeting as short as possible.
“As a matter of fact, my men have apprehended the culprit.” My gaze lands on Dominic who’s trying his hardest to affect an unconcerned expression.
“You have?” his brother, Tomasi asks, sounding choked.
“I have efficient people around me,” I smirk. “I’ll cut to the chase; the engagement dinner tonight was a show of good faith from me to you; so I’m going to take one of you trying to kill me as a declaration of war.”
Everyone starts talking over each other, angry that I’d accuse them. I let them have their say for a minute.
“Gentlemen.” They quiet down when I interrupt, “I didn’t make that accusation lightly. The man who shot me is one of the guards who came with you all tonight.” The quiet becomes deafening. I relish it as I say, “More specifically, one of the Rossi’s men.”
“I hope that’s an accusation you can prove, Massimo. I won’t take it lightly, either,” Dominic barks.
I nod at Isaac. “My consigliere just sent an email to you all. Attached is a picture of the man in my basement, his ID, as well as a picture of him arriving with the Rossi’s this evening.”
“It doesn’t prove anything!” Tomasi shouts. “So what if he’s one of our men? Did he say we gave him the order?”
My lips tilt up in a smile. He might as well have admitted to the crime. Dominic sighs heavily, tossing a glare to someone unseen. Probably his idiot brother.
Tomasi blanches on screen and tries to backtrack, “That is, what I mean is–”
“A loyal man would never admit who sent him when he’s caught,” Angelo insists. “So your man not pointing fingers at you doesn’t prove your innocence, either.”
“You have to admit that the evidence is damning.” Vice clears his throat and continues, “Whether you gave him the order or not, he’s your man and was allowed entry to Massimo’s home because he trusted you. I’m afraid you’ll have to take responsibility for this, Dominic.”
The other men nod in agreement and Dominic swallows. “If that’s what will make you believe I had no hand in this, I’ll gladly take responsibility. Hand the traitor over to me Massimo. I’ll make sure he and his family are duly punished.”
“I’m afraid that’s not going to cut it,” Bruno interrupts. “Dealing with the traitor is a given, but now we’re all worried that you don’t have your men under tight control. What if this happens again and worse, the target ends up dying? It will be the end of the truce we’ve been enjoying.”
More murmurs of agreement.
“So what will you have me do?” he asks through clenched teeth.
“You and your brother will have to step down for now. If you can’t control your men, then you don’t deserve to be their don,” Vice says. “All in favor?”
Everyone’s hands shoot up.
“If I step down, it will be next to impossible to get my power back. This is extremely unwarranted and–”
“Your stepping down is a show of good faith,” Angelo interrupts him. “To get us all to trust you again. Of course, you’ll be allowed to appoint a man of your choosing to take over for you. And after a year or so you’ll have our support to take back your seat.”
There’s nothing more for him to say. “Gentlemen, I’m afraid I have to go. I’m sure we can all agree that it’s been a long and tiring day.” I end the call before anyone can say more.
Isaac raises up his thumbs in approval. “Are we finally about to see the end of the Rossi brothers?”
“Maybe for now.” I yawn and get to my feet. “But they won’t take this lying down. They’ll try to retaliate.”
“True enough, but we can talk about that tomorrow. For now, get some rest.” He picks up his laptop and leaves.
Just as my back hits the bed, the door opens again. I lift my tired head, but it’s just Andrea. She turns the lock from inside so nobody can have access to the room.
“So nobody interrupts your sleep,” she explains when I raise a brow. “You can stay tonight.” She walks over to me and runs a hand through my hair. I let out a contented sigh. Maybe getting shot wasn’t the worst outcome, after all.