“You were rude and abusive.”
“Sorry I was rude and abusive,” Hudson parrots. “Really,” he adds, and he sounds a touch more sincere.
“Mm-hmm,” she says disbelievingly.
I take her hand and give her my biggest, most charming smile. “Pleaseforgive us, Darla?”
“If it happens again—”
“It won’t,” we both say together, and I give Hudson a push to start walking.
The Family members have been conferring. Celia has disappeared into Connie’s room, and the men look up as we approach, falling silent. Family business, no doubt. Not for Hudson’s ears.
“Why don’t you go in,” I suggest to him, and he does as he’s told, thankfully. “Well?” I ask, looking at Luca.
“Word is spreading about what happened in Chicago,” he tells me. “We can’t be sure who Fuscone’s turned, or even if they’vebeenturned, versus just deciding they’ll have better luck with him.”
“Well? Whocanwe trust?” I ask, and we all look to Angelo. If anyone would know, it would be him.
Angelo looks pained. “I’ll have to make some calls.”
“Make them,” Luca says. “Capos first. Then the rest. And reach out to our associates, too. I want to hear who’s with us from their own lips.”
With a nod, Angelo moves apart from us, phone in hand.
“I’ll stay here, Georgie,” Frank says, before Luca can say anything else. The two of them exchange a look, and I know what they’re thinking. Frank’s kid is potentially in danger.
“For now,” Luca agrees. “When Angelo comes back with intel, we’ll work out new shifts.”
“I’ll stay too,” I say.
“No offence,Principessa, but you won’t be any use in a firefight,” Frank says, but he grins as he does.
“Not on your life,” Luca tells me. “You and I will be holing up in a safe house for a while.”
“What the fuck? I—”
But before I can tell Luca exactly what I think of that idea, we hear an alarm go off. For a second I think it’s Fuscone, blazing his way into the hospital and coming to kill us all, but then Celia yanks open the door to Connie’s room.
“There’s something wrong,” she says, her face pale. “Get the nurse—”
But the staff members are already running, heading down the hallway towards us and shouting at us to move. We all hit the walls to let them through, and I catch Luca’s eye.
He’s calm. Watchful. Speculative. I can see him running the numbers, considering the possibilities, drawing up contingency plans. But the truth is, if something happens to Connie—to my unborn sister—to Celia and Frank’s baby—I’m not sure if we’d all come through it and out the other side.
There’s been so much death lately.
Too much.
And I feel like I’m the common denominator.
Chapter Fourteen
Luca
“It’s not your fault,” I tell Finch wearily. This is not how I hoped to spend my weekend, especially given what happened during my last one, but at least we’re finallyinbed, Sunday night, exhausted and hollow after snatched sleep in hospital waiting rooms.
But we’re still not able to sleep.
