I’m about to try the door again when suddenly Luca appears with Raf leaning against his side.
My brother looks bad. He’s splattered with blood and his body is limp. I finally extract myself from my sister’s grip and run to them. Luca’s grim as he carries Raf toward the car, and I go to help, taking some of Raf’s weight onto my shoulders.
“He’s bad,” Luca says, giving me a hard look. “But he’s still breathing. Carmine and Rocco are dead. The accountant will probably live.”
Raf’s bloody and pale. His clothes are drenched in the stuff. I can’t tell where he’s wounded and how much of the blood is his own, but it doesn’t matter. We get him into the car, and Luca slams down on the accelerator, making a call as the car lurches through traffic.
“Oh, god,” Elisa says, sobbing, knees pulled to her chest. “Oh, god, oh, god.”
“Hang on,” I whisper to my brother. I find the wound and put as much pressure on it as I can. “Just hang on, Raf. Just hang on.”
My sister melts down in the wake of our father’s death as my brother bleeds on the seat beside us.
Chapter 28
Luca
Fiorella hisses with pain as she limps up the stairs and through my front door. “Come here, let me help you.”
“No, seriously, I’m fine?—”
I take her weight anyway. “Did anyone look at that ankle?”
“I didn’t say anything.”
I sigh and shake my head. “We were at a hospital. It’s what they do.”
“I didn’t want to distract anyone from Raf.”
That’s fair and understandable, but still. I hate the idea that my wife was in pain but nobody was helping her. I sweep her into my arms, making her yelp in surprise, and carry her up the steps and into our bathroom. I set her down on the edge of the tub and start to draw a bath.
“Strip,” I command and start going through the cabinets looking for my first aid kit.
“I don’t think I need to be naked for you to check my ankle. Also, where did you get your medical degree again?”
“The school of take off your fucking clothes, Fio.”
“I really doubt they’re accredited.” She grins at me, but she does as I ask. I find decent medical wrap and pause to watch her wearily strip off her black top and black jeans, tossing them into a pile on the floor. She shimmies out of her underwear and unhooks her bra, and my god, even after the fucking hell of a day we just had, I can’t stop looking at my wife.
She’s absolutely divine. A fucking goddess.
I’m just glad she didn’t see that nightmare in her dead father’s house.
I help her slip into the tub. She leans back with a satisfied sigh, slipping under the warm water. I keep thinking about the pile of bodies, all those old men fucking murdering each other, right there under their former Don’s roof. I found Raf in the middle of it all, wounded in his chest, barely breathing. But still alive.
“You just going to stare or are you going to get in here too?” She smiles a little, her eyes still closed.
“How’d you know I was staring at you?”
“Because you always do when I get naked.” Her eyebrows raise. “Don’t worry, it’s flattering.”
“Guess I can’t help myself with you.” I undress and join her. The hot water feels good and helps soothe some of the bad knots in my muscles. I take her feet in my lap and lightly prod at her twisted ankle. “How’s that feel?”
“Not great but not terrible.”
“Probably just sprained, but I might take you to get imaging done if it doesn’t start to feel better soon.”
“Sure, Dr. Luca, whatever you say.”
