Total pages in book: 59
Estimated words: 54522 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 273(@200wpm)___ 218(@250wpm)___ 182(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 54522 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 273(@200wpm)___ 218(@250wpm)___ 182(@300wpm)
“No, no, no!” I howl at the top of my lungs. “Luciano! Alonzo! Help me!”
Instantly, Luc races around the corner and sees what has happened as I lift Isla into my arms.
“I’ll call an ambulance,” Gabriel says quickly.
“There’s no time for that,” Luc assesses. “My car is right out front.”
I run toward his car, cradling Isla gently in my arms. Luc speeds off toward the hospital, breaking every traffic law and running every red light. As soon as we get there, I push past the ER intake desk and demand to see a doctor. Isla’s eyes roll in her head as she loses consciousness.
There’s a flurry of activity. Doctors and nurses rush to take her from my arms and wheel her away. And no matter how much I try to assert myself, they refuse to let me into the operating room.
“You need to stay here and calm down,” Luc says in the waiting room as he puts his hand on my shoulder to still me. “Making a scene here will only interrupt what the doctors are doing to save her life. All we can do now is wait.”
I have never felt more powerless in my life, except for the moment when my sister was killed. It’s like reliving that tragedy and trauma all over again.
What good is being the most powerful, feared man in the city if I can’t protect and save the woman I love? What good is any of this for if my enemies are just going to take away the one thing that means the most to me and there’s nothing I can do to stop it? All the killing in the world means nothing if it’s done in vengeance after suffering an unspeakable loss.
Luc does his best to keep me calm, while terrifying thoughts of losing Isla race through my head and threaten to make me crumble for the first time in my life. I pace the waiting room like a caged animal, jumping at every sound of someone walking in or opening a door as I anxiously wait for news of Isla’s condition.
“It’s taking too long,” I say, frenzied and coming unhinged at the seams as I go to the hospital desk to demand an update.
“No, it’s not.” Luc stands in my way to prevent me from making a scene. “Vincent, you need to sit down and let them work. If you want them to save Isla’s life, you need to let these doctors and nurses focus on doing their job. She’s lucky to have survived the shot even thus far, so things are in her favor that we could get her here. They aimed that first shot at you, and you’re lucky to be alive.”
“Marco saved me,” I say in a stark moment of appreciation. “He sacrificed his life for me. I don’t know why he would have done that—he was young and had his whole life in front of him.” I look up at Luciano with anger in my eyes over having lost such a good man.
“He did it because he was loyal and decent,” Luc says. “And when this is all over, we will honor him.”
The loss and the still looming threat of more loss at the command of what can only be Angelo Barone and his sick quest for vengeance, is unbearable. Sitting down, I bury my face in my hands, sinking into the blue vinyl hospital chair. I thought I was done with all of this, with feeling and hurting and grieving the loss of people that I care about. I thought that losing my parents and then my sister was the most that I could take, and that I would never let myself be so vulnerable again. But here I am, palms sweating and throat dry as I grieve the death of one of my men and panic over the potential loss of the woman I’m madly and deeply in love with. I let myself care about Marco, and even more so about Isla. And despite how much it causes me pain, and how much I want to push it all away again, I can’t. Because it would be a disservice to what a good man and what a brave sacrifice Marco made to protect me and Isla. And it would be impossible for me to lessen the way that I feel about Isla now.
It's a turning point, one that I will never recover from this time. I’m refocused now, not only on fortifying my work in the mafia and ensuring my eventual vengeance against Angelo Barone and anyone else who would seek to undermine or damage what is important to me. But I’m also aware of an equally important priority—protecting those I love. I will no longer deny myself feelings, and I no longer see them as weaknesses. Instead, I’m going to let my love for Isla fuel everything that I do and protect her at all costs.