“And Christmas?” Salvatore prompted. “She seems to think she will just get herself a scooter and continue to do it all herself.”
“No, you’re not.”
“I have things to do.”
“Like lay your ass in bed and recover, yeah,” Venezio said, sighing.
“If it makes you feel better,” Salvatore said, “Venezio is an awful patient too.”
“How often am I changing bandages?” Venezio asked, neither agreeing with nor denying the allegations.
“Probably twice a day at first. I’ll write down a whole list, step by step. And give you all the supplies.”
“Pain meds included?”
“I don’t need—”
“Of course.”
“Is this a thing with you guys?” I asked, looking between them. At their blank looks, I added, “Talking over someone like they haven’t said anything?”
“Only when what they’re saying is stupid,” Venezio supplied, making a surprised laugh escape me.
“Fine. I’ll take the pain meds.”
“Good girl,” Salvatore said. “I’m just wrapping up. You wanna make sure you got a way to get her home?”
“Yeah. I’ll be right back, babe.” He gave my wrist a squeeze. “Then we’ll go home.”
We.
My heart squeezed.
And this time, I went ahead and let the hope swell.
Maybe I did have someone after all.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Venezio
By the time I came out of the exam room, leaving Steph with Sal for care, Brio had already joined Lorenzo, Emilio, Cosimo, and Miko.
“What the fuck, Venezio?” Lorenzo asked.
I walked over to the seating area and dropped into a chair, exhaling hard.
Something about that had the men exchanging glances.
“That bad?” Miko asked.
“You got no fucking idea. It’s been like some fucking action movie the past day.”
“Well, let’s rewind it back to the beginning,” Lorenzo said. “That’s the charity woman.”
“Stephanie, yeah.”
“I’m assuming she now knows all about us.”
