I turn my head towards the sound with what little strength I have left, bracing for round two.
Then a familiar shadow detaches itself from the darkness, and hope flares in my chest.
Rafael.
30
RAFAEL
Anger pours through me in waves, so hot and consuming that the cold doesn’t touch me—even though I’m walking through the parking lot in nothing but my dress shirt and pants. Behind me, Enzo climbs out of the car with my jacket in his hands, his footsteps echoing off the concrete as he follows.
As I walk towards the darker end of the lot, headlights sweep across the space—more cars arriving. More of my men.
When I got the text from Stefano about what happened here, I was in the middle of a call with some of my employees, waiting for word from the men who were supposed to bring Emilia to me tonight.
The message made me see red so fast I left my office without ending the call, without grabbing my jacket, without thinking about anything except getting her.
I don’t expect the murderous rage pumping through my system to cool until I’ve personally dealt with every single fucker who caused this. But then I see her—curled up on the cold concrete, so still and small that for one heart-stopping moment I think she might be dead. Only the slight rise and fall of her chest tells me otherwise.
“Rafael.” My name falls from her lips as barely a whisper, but her mouth lifts into the faintest smile.
My heart clenches so hard it’s physically painful. I drop to my knees beside her, one hand stretched back towards Enzo. “Jacket.” The moment the fabric touches my palm, I drape it over her battered body and carefully gather her into my arms. Despite my gentleness, she still groans in pain, and the sound is like a bullet to my chest. Every pained breath she takes makes me want to tear the world apart with my bare hands.
I should have been there. I should have protected her.
“My friend,” she whispers weakly. “Katie...”
I nod at Enzo. “My men will take care of her.” I keep my voice steady, reassuring, as I start walking as slowly as humanly possible across the pavement, terrified that any sudden movement will cause her more pain. “Send the chopper to fetch Jamie,” I order one of the men standing by.
Jamie is one of the doctors at Gianna’s hospital.
Michael getting his wife a hospital was a stroke of genius. Now our men can go in and get patched up without involving cops or nosy civilians. But since it’s a bit out of the way, sometimes we need someone to come to us, which is where Jamie’s house calls become invaluable.
“Take the girl to the hospital,” I tell Enzo as I ease into the backseat of my Rolls Royce with Emilia cradled against me.
She stirs in my arms. “Are we going to the same hospital as Katie?”
“No.” I adjust my hold, making sure she’s secure. “You are coming home with me where you’ll be safe. Your friend will be fine at the hospital.”
I already have Stefano on the tail of the bastards who did this.
My girl attracts trouble the way honey attracts flies. So this could have been anyone—the Russians, rival Italian dons, other criminals she’s pissed off during her federal career.Christ, it’s a damn miracle she’s survived this long without me.
Well, notcompletelywithout me. I’ve always kept an eye on her. Just not close enough.
My heart constricts when I look down at her. Her face isn’t too banged up, but there’s some redness along her chin that makes my jaw clench, and from the careful way she’s holding herself, I know her ribs are screaming. When I find the animals who did this to her, they’ll spend their last moments on earth begging for death.
We ride in tense silence for the first couple of minutes while I mentally catalog exactly how I’m going to end each of those assholes' lives. Six against two? Fucking cowards.
“You know, I–I was just thinking about how—” she begins, then pauses, shuddering as she tries to catch her breath. “—how to crawl to your penthouse… when you showed up like a mirage.” Another pained shudder. “No, not a mirage. Angel.Myangel.”
I huff a breath of amusement. “No one’s ever accused me of being an angel before.” The devil, a demon, a monster—those are more accurate. “Don’t talk,” I add when she opens her mouth again. Her words warm something cold inside me, but speaking is clearly causing her pain.
She rolls her eyes, but there’s no real heat in that honey gaze. I chuckle despite everything. Even though this situation is far from ideal, I finally have her within my reach, and this time I’m going to make sure she never slips away again.
I glance up as our car slows, pulling into the underground parking lot of my building. “Hold on, baby,” I murmur as Alfred brings us to a smooth stop. I wait for one of my men to get the door before carefully stepping out with the precious bundle in my arms.
“Is Jamie here?” I ask Pierre as we make our way to theelevator. Enzo and several others have already left for the hospital with Emilia’s friend, Katie.
