“Soon to be actual family,” Benito interjected. “He's marrying my Vicki.”
“I see.”
I didn't actually see. Did that make him qualified to step in on these health matters? Or was he just riling up Noah? Either way, he was someone else I would carefully target.
“Vicki?” I asked Benito.
“My lovely daughter. She's the spitting image of her mother, God rest her soul. Younger than my boy here, and not afraid to speak her mind.”
“Talking about me behind my back?” a woman asked as she entered the room.
The way I managed to resist rolling my eyes should have won me an award. It looked like we were making it a party today.
“Just introducing Gio,” Benito responded.
“This the one?” she asked, ignoring what her father had said. “The doctor Noah doesn't trust?”
“Vittoria,” Gio chided.
Where I would have expected that type of censuring to come from her father, it came from her fiancé instead.
“What, I'm not allowed to say it out loud? We don't know anything about her.”
Lord save me, but this family was exasperating. As though I hadn’t already been through the same with her brother the day before, now the daughter wanted to put me through the wringer. “I'm more than capable of caring for your father, and in fact, he's better today than yesterday.”
“That's right,” Benito spoke up. “All the negativity you two are putting out is made-up bullshit.”
“Vicki, surely you can see that your father's face looks healthier today. His color has come back.”
She directed a rude noise at Gio. “Whatever good that does.”
I didn't like her, and I suspected that was by design. Noah had stood silently by the door while his sister disparaged me, making it clear they'd discussed me after I left yesterday. There wasn’t much I despised more than being talked about behind my back, but I suppose it was no different than the hospital. The only person here who trusted me was Benito, and since he was my patient, that would have to do. Gio seemed more interested in keeping the peace than anything else. I didn't get the impression his words were sincere.
“We're not doing this again,” Benito said strongly. “I ordered you to drop the matter, and I meant it.”
“Noah can attest to the fact that I'm not up to anything shady, can’t you?” He jolted when I said his name, his gaze narrowing in on mine. “What, you thought the man following me was discreet? He's not.”
I thoroughly enjoyed how red his face became. As I continued, he moved closer, but I would not allow him to intimidate me the way he’d done the day before. That was a mistake not worth repeating.
“What could he possibly have reported?Subject stopped at a grocery store on the way home, picking up kale and apricots.Her diet is unnaturally healthy and frankly suspicious.”
I shut up when Noah grabbed my shoulders, locking my jaw so I wouldn't bite my tongue when he shook me.
“You think you’re amusing, do you?” he shouted into my face.
“Take your hands off me,” I said through gritted teeth.
At the same time, Benito yelled at his son to let me go. Vicki’s hands flew to her mouth, but she stood otherwise frozen. Gio hovered, trying to speak in low tones to talk Noah down from his rage.
In his eyes, I saw the man he truly was. Murderous; vengeful. Hatred emanated from his pores, making it clear that he wasn't used to having anyone challenge him.
It wasn’t until Benito’s yelling caused a massive coughing fit that Noah dropped his hands. Spinning immediately, I supported Benito’s back and gave him his handkerchief. Noah tried to push me away, but I planted my feet.
“Dammit, boy, leave me alone!” Benito choked out. “What the fuck is the matter with you?”
His skin ashen, Noah backed up several paces before turning another vicious glare on me.
And in that moment, I knew I was nothing more than a target locked in his sights. Not a human being, but a faceless enemy. Was this what his rivals saw in the moments before they died?
