“No!”
I landed on the floor at Allie’s feet. That jolted her awake. She rolled me over and quickly checked the bandages for damage. “Did you fall out of bed?”
Ringo was nowhere to be found. And Allie was whole.
My breaths were too frantic, and my skin was too warm. “He said he’d kill me, and he did.”
“You’re not going to die.” She helped me get back into bed and straightened the sheets before retrieving another cold washcloth.
“Allie—”
“Nope, shush. I’ve got you.”
But who would protect her? I tugged the ring on my pinky off. It was a simple token, one I should have given her earlier. “Put this on. The crest points away from your hand in this way so others know who you belong to. Do not forget.”
Her forehead creased with concern.
I cut off her objections before she could voice them. “When we land, if I’m unconscious or unable to stay with you, you will speak for me, and with this ring positioned so, as me. Do you understand? You will show this ring to whoever you need to. Tell them?—”
“No, here’s what’s going to happen. You’ll take the medicine I’m giving you, sleep if you can, and by the time the fever and pain seem like it’s too awful to survive, we’ll be on the ground and go to the nearest hospital. I’ll need to tell the flight?—”
“No!”
“Mario, you need a hospital.”
“I need a phone.” Why hadn’t I thought this through earlier?
Allie rummaged through her bag and tugged out her cellphone.
It couldn’t be that simple, could it? “Does it have a signal?”
She checked it. “No.” Her shoulders slumped.
I didn’t expect it to. “There is a satellite phone in the conference area. It is secure. I will get—ow.” A wave of dizziness knocked me onto my back.
“I’ll go.”
If there was a woman out there for me, Allie had ruined their chances, because she was everything I needed. “Do you have paper, a pen?”
Allie pulled the items from her bag. I jotted down my father’s number. He’d be closest. And the most brutal, but I couldn’t delay longer. “Ask for Signore Niccolò Valentini. Confirm the line is secure and that he understands you are calling on behalf of me. Tell him I asked for Zio Tommaso to meet us at the penthouse. When the call is complete, bring a bottle of wine and some food back here. Do not tell anyone I’m injured. Do not let anyone help you. Show them that ring if you have to.”
“Don’t you trust them?”
“I don’t trust anyone.” I couldn’t anymore.
She glanced at the bandages. “I suppose you don’t.”
I caught her hand. “I am sorry.”
Her hand fisted. Despite that, her tone was soft. “For what?”
Maybe it was time? “For not being a good husband.”
A silent laugh shook her shoulders once. The smile it caused faded. “You’re not going to die.”
“Zio Tommaso. Understand?”
“Your uncle, he’s a doctor?”
