Milli pointed over his shoulder. “I was just talking to the doctor and he says you actually got pain meds quite a while ago, so if you’re uncomfortable, you can have more.”
“That’s good,” I said. “It feels like I’m in a lot more pain than I should be, though. My head is killing me, my back keeps spasming. Did more happen than just the shot.”
Gio frowned and shook his head. “No. Did you tell a doctor or nurse that all of that was happening?”
“Not yet. Maybe these are just symptoms.”
“A nurse did tell me that the bullet pierced an internal organ,” Gio explained. “I imagine that sort of thing affects your entire body. I’ve been shot before, but never in a vital place.” He looked over his shoulder. “You got shot in your lung. Was it bad like this?”
“You got shot in your lung?!” I screeched.
Milli shrugged like it was nothing. “Certainknuckleheadswent running off into enemy territory without backup. His father would have killed me anyway if I’d let him die, so…”
Gio smiled. “I feel like I’ve never really repaid you for that.”
“You bought me an island,” Milli huffed back.
My eyes widened and my jaw dropped. “A … whole island?”
Suddenly, I was gathering just how little I truly knew about Gio and his world. The kind of violence that leads someone to getting shot in a lung; the kind of money that allows someone to buy a whole island. There was a lot I had to learn if I was going to work for Gio. Just fumbling around as a sassy, independent woman wasn’t going to cut it anymore.
I twisted and let out a whimper and Gio released my hand. “I’ll go get the doctor about your medicine.”
“Thanks,” I said, and watched as he walked off.
Milli kept a curious watch on me, and I battled back and forth with whether or not I should ask the big question swirling around my brain. How did Gio really feel about me? “Um… how… er… is…” Then I just stopped.
I didn’t even knowhowto ask the question.
“I don’t know what to do with that,” Milli joked.
“It’s nothing,” I said. “I’m mostly wondering if we knew who tried to kill Gio?” It was a side-step, but a good one. I was curious about that too.
He crossed his arms and lifted an eyebrow at me. “You’re assuming they were trying to kill him and not you?”
That took me aback. I hadn’t even considered that the shot was meant for me. I assumed someone tried to kill Gio and I got caught in the crossfire. “Um … you don’t think that?”
“I don’t know. Idoknow that you were standing between the gunman and Gio. It was a far-range shot, but notthatfar-range that someone wouldn’t be able to see that you were in their way and stop from shooting until they had a shot on him. That just doesn’t add up to me.”
“So you think they were trying to kill me?” I asked. “I don’t know who would be trying to kill me. Or who would know I was theretokill me.”
“I think there’s one, pretty obvious option.”
The room went silent as I considered what he said, but it didn’t take a genius to know what he was insinuating. “You think my brothers tried to kill me.”
“My working theory is that your brothers sent someone to kill Giovanni, but were instructed to kill you if that was an easier reach. Either way, they get what they want, either Gio dead, or they can blame your death on him.” His gaze narrowed at me. “Did your brothers say anything while they were in here with you alone?”
“No. They tried to figure out what happened, but I didn’t say anything.” I frowned. “You think they tried to kill me and then showed up to the hospital like it wasn’t them?”
Milli let out a little chuckle. “You and I both know your brothers are ballsy and pretty fearless,” he explained. “I wouldn’t put it past them.”
He wasn’t wrong. Even if my brothers were just politicians, they’d done more than their fair share of shifty things, the least of which was making an actual attempt to kill me not that long ago at their estate. In many ways, they felt like mobsters too, and I had to imagine the best way to avoid guilt was to show up and act as if they were legitimately worried about me. Hard to suspect the brothers who rushed to their sister's side.
"Well, I didn't say anything, and I'm having them removed as my emergency contacts, so they won't be able to control things anymore. At least not with me," I explained.
An unreadable smirk knitted between Milli's cheeks. "That's the hope anyway."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
