Total pages in book: 58
Estimated words: 56680 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 283(@200wpm)___ 227(@250wpm)___ 189(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 56680 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 283(@200wpm)___ 227(@250wpm)___ 189(@300wpm)
I can’t send photos, I tell her.
Then I can’t send messages.
I sigh, dropping the phone in my pocket. If I send a photo, I’m giving myself away. Maybe Mia’s playing me. Perhaps she’ll show Elio and tell him I’m trying to get into the middle of a Family marriage. Just because I feel a certain way about her, somehow, it doesn’t make it true.
After grabbing a coffee, I go to the waiting room. Luca is pacing up and down, wearing a navy suit, his hands in his pockets. He turns when he sees me, walking quickly over. “Dante, I just heard.”
“How?” I ask as he pats me on the shoulder.
“I went by your place.” He gives me a look, and I know it was for Family business. “But you weren’t there. Jackie told me.”
“You’ve spoken to Carter?” I ask.
Luca nods, and I remember what Carter said about doctor-patient confidentiality. Luca, Colt, and even Elio look at me like a capable man. I still remember when Colt walked into the Serpent house to find I’d handled it, back on our first job, the look he gave me, like, damn, I didn’t expect you to be that tough.
“Yeah. I’m sorry, brother. Jesus.”
“She’ll be okay,” I tell him.
“Did he say when she’d wake up?”
We sit in the waiting area. I take a sip of my coffee. “No, but she’s dosed up to her eyeballs. She’s sleeping, not in a coma or anything. They think it could be days until she’s lucid again.”
“Fuck,” Luca mutters. “You can take all the time you need.”
“I can work,” I tell him gruffly, wondering if Carter went back on his word.
Luca shakes his head slowly. “You don’t need to. Things have settled down. Finally, this city has chilled the hell out.”
“Still—”
“You know we’ve got you, Dante? You don’t need—”
“Got me,” I repeat, nodding slowly, staring at him in the way people don’t like. “What do you mean by that?”
“It means you’re in the Family, Dante. Work or not, we’ve got you covered.”
“I earn the care for Ma,” I tell him. “I earn my keep. Nobody’s got me, Luca.”
Luca narrows his eyes. “Okay, Dante. Fair enough.”
Goddamn it. I’m not thinking straight. I’m acting like a kid throwing a tantrum. It’s my head splitting. It’s thinking of Mia. Of Ma.
“Work keeps me busy, less thinking.”
“Why is that a good thing?”
“To think less?” I smirk. “You’re asking me that?”
Luca grins. “You’re making jokes now?”
“You know what it’s like, knowing how messed up the world is, knowing there are bad people out there. Knowing you could make it right. Knowing, maybe, you’d feel… something.”
Luca looks at me closely, saying nothing. I wonder if he really does understand. Or if, to him, this is one step too far. Luca is no stranger to darkness, but he’s always had a reason for it. He’s never enjoyed it. Yet, with me, it’s like letting the darkness out.
“That’s not what we do, though,” Luca says. “It’s a business, brother. Relax.”
He smiles, just like he’s been since I’ve known him. Luca was always easygoing. Then he had a phase of being grim and moody for almost a year until he met his Ruby, and he was back to his usual self. That’s the difference. I could never be like that.
“Relax,” I repeat, shaking my head.
“I know. Hell. None of this can be easy.”
“I just want her to be okay. Carter thinks it’s time I put her in a home. Mom’s been pushing her nurses away. I think, sometimes, she wants to prove a point. She wants to force me to put her in a home because she knows I’d never do it.” I grit my teeth. “She thinks I’m sacrificing my whole life so she can live half of one.”
“I’m sorry,” Luca says quietly. “For what it’s worth, Dad told me what he thought about Mom back when she cared for him when he had his stroke. Trapped in his own body, he called it.”
“Yeah?”
“He said he was grateful, but he wished she’d rest more and see her friends more often. He didn’t like being the reason she stopped living her life.”
I run a hand through my hair, thinking of Mia. I don’t have a life, I almost say, but that would be going too far.
Carter approaches. A few nurses look at him, tilting their heads, and I wonder if that’s why he works here. Maybe Doc is a lady’s man.
“Is it Ma?” I say, standing.
Carter winces, glancing at Luca. Goddamn it. It’s about the tests, my head. Carter quickly says, “She may have woken up. Please come with me, Dante. Sorry, Luca, but…”
“Of course, of course,” Luca says, waving a hand.
We go down the hallway together, and Carter leads me into an empty private room. He closes the door behind him, turning with a sigh. “Sorry, Dante.”