Page 46 of Blood Lust
“What? Why?” I asked as I gripped his arm. I didn’t know what was going on, and I needed his strength.
“I have something I need to deal with. I’ll take care of it, and then I’ll be there. Okay? Pietro will take you.” He looked to Pietro for confirmation, and he nodded firmly. “You keep her safe. Understand?”
“I will protect her with my life,” he solemnly vowed.
Gabriel pulled me into his hard chest and kissed me with such a ferocity and desperation that a small insecure part of me worried that it was the last I’d ever have from him. It made me search his gaze when we separated. He ran his tongue over his lower lip.
“You’ll come?” I asked uncertainly.
He cupped my cheek and looked me in the eye. “I promise. Now, go. I’ll see you soon.”
After one more quick kiss, I hurried to the door. As I went out, I cast one last glance back. He stood there staring at me with an intensity I didn’t know how to process.
Then Pietro and I left. We rushed to the basement garage and piled into the SUV. I was surprised to find three other men climbing in with us. One drove, one took the passenger seat, and the other sat next to me. Before I could say a word, we raced out of the garage on squealing tires. Curious, I turned to Pietro, but he was deep in thought as he stared out the window.
Thanks to the insanely early hour, traffic wasn’t too bad, and we made it to the hospital in record time. After we parked, the men all surrounded me, and we hustled inside.
Pietro handled everything, guiding me to the elevators and up to a floor he already knew. The doors swooshed open, and we were on the move again.
Several men in suits stood outside a door at the end of the hall. They all looked our way, and their hands went to their waists until a familiar face pushed through them. I recognized him from the book signing.
“Alessio, what do you know?” Pietro asked him, confirming he was Gabriel’s brother. But I glanced through the window of the room and saw my father lying there, eyes closed and paler than I’d ever seen him. I didn’t stick around to see what they said because I was already pushing into the room.
“Daddy,” I cried when I saw one side of his face and down his neck was bandaged up and the same with the arm that lay still on top of the blindingly white sheet. He didn’t stir, and panic crept into and up my throat. “Dad!” I repeated, but it elicited no more response than the first time.
Tears coursed down my face as I took his unwrapped hand in mine. “God, what happened?” I whispered. Of course, no one answered.
The door clicked, and my head swiveled immediately to see who it was, praying it was someone who had answers.
The man Pietro called Alessio stood there studying me. “I’m Gabriel’s younger brother, Alessio. My men are outside, and they won’t let anyone but the doctors and nurses in.”
“But what happened?” I cried.
“He was jumped when he left his addiction meeting last night. Whoever it was took a blow t—they burned him and left him for dead. A homeless man that your father had given money and food to found him and went into the corner store to have them call for help,” he explained.
“They don’t know who did this?” I asked in horrified exasperation.
“No, but Vittorio is following up on several leads.”
“Okay. Okay,” I whispered, nodding repeatedly. A bit of relief that they might catch whoever did this eased the tension in my shoulders. My next thought embarrassed me a bit with its violence, but I couldn’t help it. I stared Alessio in the eye as my lip curled in fury.
“I hope that Gabriel makes them pay,” I bit out as I trembled with the overabundance of emotion. “Dearly.”
He pressed his mouth flat and nodded in agreement.
“Heaven (Little By Little)”—Theory Of A Deadman
Rage burned through me at the unfolding events and my lack of control or knowledge. Letting Lia leave without me was one of the worst things I’d had to do. Worse than watching my men being gunned down in that warehouse and narrowly escaping with my life.
There was a rat in my midst. Vittorio was dealing with another lead on Antonio’s attack, but Mario was on his way with information regarding the warehouse debacle last night. He told Vittorio he couldn’t discuss it over the phone but that he wasn’t far from my place.
“Davide,” I said to thesoldatoVittorio had sent. He immediately looked up from his phone and dropped it into his pocket. “Check to see how far out Mario is. I need to get to the hospital.”
“On it,” he replied and made the call as I restlessly paced with my own phone. I didn’t want to call Mario and risk the chance that Lia would call and I would miss it. Pietro had texted me to let me know they were at the hospital and that Alessio had his men there. That eased my mind somewhat, but unless I was with her, it still wasn’t good enough.
“He’s coming up the elevator,” Davide informed me, and I nodded.
I checked my security system and saw Mario getting off the elevator. There were three of his soldiers with him. I waited.