“I’m parked over in that alley. Let’s get out of here while we can. I have to get to the hospital and check on Benny.”
“How can you both be so calm after what just happened in there?” Jillian gaped at us, dumbfounded by our lack of emotion. “We’re talking about your father—the only one you’ll ever have. Do you know what I’d give to have one more day with my dad? You can’t just walk away like this.”
“Can I speak to her, Damon?” Lorenzo asked. I’d almost forgotten he was with us.
Jillian glanced at me, then turned her attention to Lorenzo. “Yes, you can.”
“Having family first pushed on you your whole life has a way of making you realize your place, whether you want to face it or not. The family always comes first—not the individual. None of us expected Damon’s father to put his kids first. They may have hoped he would, but deep down, both Damon and Carrie knew that would never happen.” Lorenzo spoke from experience, knowing as well as my sister and I did where we ranked overall.
Jillian eyed him with skepticism, still unsure if she should believe his narrative of her mother’s death. But I believed his story. He had every reason to put the blame on his father in an attempt save his own hide, but I trusted my gut instincts. They’d never steered me wrong. Reading the signs, watching his body language, and knowing what I did about his family, I had no doubt he’d told us the truth.
“You can believe him, Jillian. On all accounts. Lorenzo knows I’d kill him if I ever found out he lied to us, whether he’s with Carrie or not.”
“It doesn’t help anything now, but I never meant to shoot Benny. And I wasn’t going to shoot Jillian. I knew you wouldn’t risk hitting her, but I didn’t expect Benny to take all three of us to the ground. He tried to jerk my gun out of my hand when he tackled me. The trigger is light, and my finger grazed across it just enough to make it fire.” Lorenzo’s demeanor showed his regret in his downtrodden expression and his slightly slumped shoulders. He wasn’t cut out for this lifestyle, no matter how hard he tried to make it work for his old man’s sake.
“Thanks for saying that, Lorenzo. I do appreciate your honesty.”
A car screeched to a halt in front of us, and I stepped in front of Jillian, ready to shield and protect her from whoever waited inside. When the door opened, I slid my gun into the holster and extended my hand to Matteo Falco.
“Doc, I can’t tell you how glad I am to see you. Sorry to drag you out here at this time of night.”
“I’m an emergency physician, Damon. I’m used to these hours by now. I’m just sorry I couldn’t get here sooner. What can I do?”
“Can you check Jillian over? She got knocked down pretty hard a couple of times. She insists she’s okay, but she’s pregnant, so I don’t want to take any chances.”
“I’ll do what I can for her, but I’ll give my standard advice of following up with her obstetrician for the baby. I don’t carry that kind of equipment around with me.” Matteo walked Jillian around to the passenger side of his car. He helped her recline in the luxurious leather seat while he knelt down on the ground beside her.
I listened intently while he asked questions about how she fell, where she hit, and if she was hurt or sore anywhere. Then he asked about her pregnancy, how far along she was, and if she’d had any concerns to date. Then he grabbed his stethoscope from his bag and checked her over, listening in all the routine spots.
“Can you hear a fetal heartbeat with that?” I asked.
“Not yet—not until she’s at least twenty weeks along. But from her account of what happened and the way she fell, I can assure you there’s no cause for alarm. The baby is well protected in there.”
“Babies,” I corrected.
Matt looked up at me, surprise registering in his face. “Twins, Damon?”
“Yeah. Can you believe it?”
He laughed good-naturedly. “Actually, I can. You always did have to try to show everyone else up.”
“Try, my ass.” It felt good to laugh again for a second. Then I recounted the last conversation I’d had with my father, filling him in on the recent split from the family.
“Look, Damon, I’m not one to judge you. Everyone knows I’m here to patch up the holes when they get shot, but that’s the extent of my involvement with the family business. I didn’t spend all that time in medical school to be sent to prison, lose my license to practice medicine, or get shot in some dark alley over a stupid turf war.
“If you’re ready to get out of all this, you know I’ll support your decision. And I don’t blame you for putting Uncle Leo in his place. He had no right doing what he did to Jillian. Had he used his usual tactics, he really would’ve hurt her.”
Jillian’s eyes grew bigger at Matteo’s revelation about Uncle Leo. She’d never witnessed Leo’s aptitude for savagery. From the day she met him, she’d only seen his charming side, the part of him she found warm and charismatic. When he knocked her aside, he showed restraint in his actions, though she didn’t see it. Leo was a cold, cruel bastard when he wanted to be.
Like his brother, my father.
Like my father’s son.
“Thank you, Matteo. I appreciate your support.”
He turned his attention to Carrie and Lorenzo, a small smile playing on his lips. “You two always were competitive, trying to one-up the other. I don’t know which of you won this round. Damon and Jillian having twins, or a Marchetti and a Sanfratello falling in love. Maybe we should call it a tie now before this goes any further. If you two have kids, which family should we expect them to support?”
Matteo’s words were spoken in jest, something the rest of us would expect from anyone who understood how the family worked. Jillian’s gaze moved to meet mine, and I watched her expression change as she processed the true gravity of what he’d said. Her smile over Matteo’s playful jabs at Carrie and me slowly faded. Then his words began to sink in, and she couldn’t hide the unease in her eyes. All roads would only bring her to one conclusion, though, and I knew she’d hit that dead end before she’d even realized it.
“Well, Jillian, you seem to be perfectly fine. You may be a little sore tomorrow when all the adrenaline of the night’s excitement wears off. Have you felt the babies move yet?”
“Actually, yes, I felt them move for the first time during this unbelievable clusterfuck of a family reunion.”
“Unfortunately, you didn’t catch us at our best tonight. Have you felt them move since you’ve been resting here?”
“Yes, I have a couple of times.”
“That’s a good sign. I’m not concerned, but it’s still a good idea to follow up with your doctor since he has the proper equipment. Is there anything else I can do for you, Jillian?”
“No, Dr. Falco, I’m okay. But thank you anyway.”
We said our goodbyes and watched Matteo drive away, each of us temporarily lost in our thoughts.
“What happens now?” Jillian asked, looking to me for direction.
“We get you somewhere you can rest and relax until the doctor’s office opens, and I go to the hospital to check on Benny’s status.”
“Don’t do that, Damon.”
“Do what?”
“Treat me like I’ll break, so you have to hide everything from me. I’m fine and so are the babies. But I’m concerned about Benny too. He was shot trying to save me, so I want to go to the hospital with you.”
“You two go ahead to the hospital, Damon. My car is parked only a couple of blocks away. Besides, Lorenzo and I apparently have a lot to discuss now.” Carrie wrapped her arms around my neck to hug me goodbye and whispered as she squeezed, “Watch your back, big brother.”
“You be careful, little girl.” I hadn’t called her that in years. Using that moniker seemed fitting given the circumstances.
She stepped back, a sad smi
le crossing her face. “Thank you, Damon. For everything you did tonight. You’ve never let me down.”
“And I never will, Carrie.” My eyes shifted to Lorenzo. “Don’t let anything happen to her. I’ll be in touch with you two later.”
Lorenzo nodded in agreement and wrapped his arm around Carrie before they began walking toward Carrie’s car. We didn’t have long before the Marchetti council convened an emergency meeting to decide our collective fates. A hit on two of their own family members, on top of a capo in a rival family, wasn’t a decision that would be made lightly.
But it would be made.
“We should get going too.” Jillian put her hand on my arm, pulling me out of my thoughts about our impending doom.
“Looks like I get you all to myself again, doll.”
Chapter Four
Jillian
Damon was quiet on the way to the hospital, lost in his own thoughts as he drove. He held such a tight grip on the steering wheel, his knuckles were white the entire ride. His eyes remained glued to the road as we flew through every red light at the early morning hour. Damon’s best friend was barely clinging to life when he was whisked away by the paramedics. He was understandably preoccupied with thoughts of what we’d find when we arrived.
Nothing about the night had gone as Carrie and I planned. We thought we’d covered every possible scenario and planned for every conceivable turn our plan could take, but we were wrong…about everything. At that point, I couldn’t even fall back on the excuse that our intentions were good, because they weren’t. I went there with the sole objective of killing a man. I wanted to watch him die. Instead, another man’s life was in danger. A man who didn’t hesitate to intervene for my protection.
If Benny died, his death would be my fault. If we lost him, it would be because I wanted to be taken seriously in a world where I didn’t even belong. Where I had no place, no history, and no future. That realization slapped me across the face when Matteo was performing his exam on me. His innocent jest about Carrie and Lorenzo having kids struck me—hard. Their kids would be forced to choose a side…to pledge their allegiance…to be part of the family. But they couldn’t win, because the opposing family would find a way to take their vengeance. It was a never-ending cycle of death and destruction.
That meant the same, and more, would be expected of my children. As hard as I tried to picture strong young men like Damon or fearless young women like Carrie, I couldn’t shake the fear that gripped my heart. The knowledge that, one day, my children would be in Benny’s present situation, and I’d be on the receiving end of a phone call to relay the horrible news.
During that moment, I realized I couldn’t live in Damon’s world, no matter how much I loved him. My children wouldn’t live in his world. I wouldn’t allow it, because if I did, the burden of burying my children would fall on my shoulders. That was too much to ask, too much to bear. Knowing how well Damon could read my thoughts, I didn’t even question if he knew I’d made up my mind.
He knew.
That particular fight with Damon would have to wait. After we knew Benny would be okay, I’d broach the subject and try to explain my reasoning. Once everything calmed down, his father would be back to reconcile. Mama Lina would make sure of that. I wasn’t under any delusions that Damon and I would have any future together, that he’d leave his family business and join me in suburbia. But I wholeheartedly believed he’d put our babies first. He’d do what was best for them no matter what it cost him.
In the meantime, I wanted him to know he wasn’t alone. He wouldn’t face the mess Carrie and I dropped at his feet solo. For as long as I was able, I’d stand by his side and give him the strength he needed to face whatever happened. Losing Benny would be a significant blow on top of his exile from the family, however long that lasted. I reached over, placing my hand on his shoulder, and waited for him to glance my way.
“I’m here for you, Damon. Whatever I can do to help, to take any of the burden off your shoulders. This is all my fault, and I’m sorry you have to clean up the mess I’ve made. But I promise, I won’t leave you to do it alone. I’ll be beside you every step of the way until your family is whole again.”
He pulled my hand from his shoulder and laced our fingers together, resting them in his lap. “As much as I appreciate your offer and would love to milk it for all the amazing guilt-sex I can get out of you, I can’t let you take the blame for what happened with my father. He knows how much I’ve given in my life to this family. And he knows Uncle Leo was completely wrong in what he did to you. That doesn’t happen, Jillian. It’s part of that mandatory respect rule we have—that also extends to you, to a degree. Even if they didn’t recognize you as mine, I still wouldn’t let him get away with shit like that.”
“What’s going to happen now? Will your dad change his mind and take up for you?”
“I really don’t know what he’ll do, doll. This has never happened before, so your guess is as good as mine. I wouldn’t count on it though. I’m sure the rumors of my actions have rippled through the ranks by now. There’s no scenario I can see that allows both Leo and me to live and return to the same dynamics as before.”
“You would kill your uncle? Or he would kill you?” I couldn’t believe my ears. Damon was so matter-of-fact about the whole situation, while I couldn’t imagine how the family could ever be the same after.
“No need to worry about any of that right now, Jilly. Tomorrow will bring trouble soon enough. I’ll deal with it when I have to.”
His stony expression turned thoughtful, and I knew exactly what he was thinking before he asked the question. “What was on your mind when Doc was teasing Carrie and Lorenzo about having kids?”
“Now really isn’t the time to talk about that.”
“No time like the present, doll. It may be all we have.”
My heart raced because he already knew the answer—he’d read my thoughts from the expression on my face. “I was thinking I’d never allow that scenario to play out with my children. As much as I love you, and I do, I don’t know that I can stay with you if you’re in this lifestyle. If they’ll be expected to follow in your footsteps. If you put the family ahead of your immediate family the way your father and uncle do.”
He nodded slowly as he considered my words, but he wasn’t surprised in the least. We both knew his question was a test of sorts. He already knew the answer and wanted to see if I’d tell him the truth. I’d planned to anyway, but not while rushing to the hospital to check on his critically wounded friend.
An ambulance pulled into the emergency room bay just as we arrived, so we followed the paramedics through the restricted entrance. We frantically searched the exam rooms but didn’t find Benny. Damon stopped one of the doctors, who obviously recognized him on sight, and asked about his friend.
“He was taken to emergency surgery, Mr. Marchetti.”
The doctor gave us directions to the surgical waiting room where the nurse in the operating room could reach us for status updates, but he explained Benny would be taken straight to the trauma ICU floor after surgery. We wouldn’t be able to see him until the first designated visiting time later in the morning.
“How’d he look, Doc?” Damon asked. His voice was even. The ticking in his tight jaw was the only outward indication of his unease.
The doctor hesitated for a second, understanding what Damon was really asking. “He was in bad shape when he came in, Damon. You both should hope for the best but prepare yourselves for the worst.”
The only other person in the waiting room with us was asleep in the far corner, oblivious to our presence. Damon moved the phone from the front desk to a small table beside a few chairs, stretching the cord as far as it would reach. Then he rearranged the chairs until he’d created a makeshift bed. When we finally took our seats, the fatigue I’d held off all night hit me with full force.
“Stretch your legs out on that chair and lay your head in my lap so you can get some sleep. I’ll wait up for the call about Benny.”
Without waiting for me to move, Damon wrapped his arm around my shoulder and gently pulled me toward him. Swiveling in my seat, I lifted my feet up onto the extra chair as my face lowered to meet his leg. I vaguely remembered his hand brushing my hair off my cheek before I closed my eyes. Then I went out like a light.
A sudden loud noise startled me in my deep sleep, making my whole body jolt at once. Then it stopped, and I settled back into the warmth Damon naturally provided and allowed a peaceful slumber to overtake me once again. Somewhere in the back of my mind, the low murmur of Damon’s voice registered, though, so I fought against the fog clouding my thoughts until I was awake enough to comprehend his words.
“No, I don’t have any other questions. Thank you for…everything.”
Then he placed the phone receiver back into the cradle. But he didn’t move or try to wake me. I forced my eyes to open, though they revolted against me with what felt like a thousand pinpricks, and I pushed up until I could see his face.
“Oh my God. Damon, no! Please don’t tell me he’s…” I bolted up from my reclining position and faced him. But I couldn’t say the word. I couldn’t finish my thought.
Damon nodded. “They did all they could to save him, but the point-blank shot did too much internal damage. The surgeon was surprised he even lived long enough for the ambulance to get him here, much less into surgery. But he refused to bow out easily. Benny was a fighter till the very end.”
“Damon, I’m so sorry.” My voice broke, and tears sprang to my eyes then steadily flowed down my cheeks. There was no point in trying to wipe them away. The constant stream wouldn’t stop anytime soon anyway. “This is all my fault. If I hadn’t been so stupid, so set on doing everything my way, none of this would’ve happened. Your family. Your best friend. You’ve lost everything because of me. I’m so ashamed. And, this sounds so hollow, but I’m so fucking sorry, Damon. I’m so sorry.”
Warning [Part Three] Page 3
