He scowled, but continued to carry me to a nearby car that was waiting.
“Stop, or I’ll shoot you in the back of your fucking head!” Joaquin screamed, and I exhaled with relief.
Simon turned, placing me on the ground and quickly yanking his gun from his belt. He and Joaquin stood firm, both guns aimed, as I coughed and sputtered on the ground. I was severely injured and could feel blood pulsing in my thigh, my arm, and my side, where the damage was worst.
“Let her go,” Joaquin said through clenched teeth.
I saw Simon’s finger move on the trigger, the action seeming to happen in slow motion, as he released the bullet. Joaquin’s gun fired immediately after, the sounds ominous to my ringing ears. Both men dropped to the ground, and I wailed in pain as I crawled on the asphalt toward Joaquin.
“Are you...” Blood trickled from his arm, and he was unconscious, causing me to wonder if he’d hit his head when he fell to the ground.
Fueled by adrenaline, I picked up his gun and turned to face Simon. Holding the weapon high, I placed my finger on the trigger.
Simon approached me, gun aimed between my eyes as I lay on the ground. A maniacal grin curved his lips as blood trickled from the bullet wound in his shoulder.
“We both know you won’t shoot me, Bianca,” he said, edging closer as we both aimed at each other. “We just need you for leverage so you’ll give us Alexis’s location. We won’t hurt you.”
Pain surged through every cell in my body, and I knew I only had moments before the adrenaline depleted and I lost consciousness. Once that happened, I would be under Simon and John’s control. And God help me, but I would never let that happen.
Clenching my teeth against the pain, I aimed for Simon’s heart and did my best to remember the shooting lessons my grandfather had given me when I was a teenager. Tightening my finger on the trigger, I pulled.
Simon gasped, and I realized I shot him in the neck instead of the heart. Blood spurted form his neck as he clutched it before falling to the ground. I knew there was no way he would survive the blow. I’d killed one of Victor’s top remaining capos.
My head fell back on the pavement and I clutched my side, weakly touching the glass shards impaled there.
“Michael...” I whispered, battling to retain consciousness. “I’m so sorry... God, I’m so fucking sorry...”
And then, under the cold November sky, everything went dark.
Chapter 24
Michael
Irushed inside the hospital and headed to the ICU desk. “My wife was in a car accident. Bianca Caruso.”
The nurse behind the desk consulted the computer. “Yes, she’s here, sir. Please have a seat in the waiting room and I’ll send someone out shortly.”
“Can I see her?”
“Have a seat, please. I’ve paged a nurse and she’ll be out soon.”
Fear thrummed in every nerve of my frazzled body as I sat in the one of the ugly waiting room chairs, Enzo and Rocco close behind me before sitting in nearby seats.
“Mr. Caruso?” a woman wearing scrubs called as I rose.
“Yes.”
“Your wife is in emergency surgery,” she said, compassion lacing her features. “She has injuries in multiple organs, mostly in her mid-section, and they need immediate attention.”
I covered my mouth as the words sank in. “I need to see her.”
“The surgeon will come out and update you when he’s finished, mostly likely in two to three hours. Until then, we have a cafeteria on the seventh floor where you and your...” she eyed Enzo and Rocco, “friendscan get some coffee.”
“Is she...” I swallowed thickly, terrified to lose Bianca when I’d only just begun to build the life I desperately wanted with her. “Is she going to be okay?”
“The surgeon is one of our best. I know it’s distressing, but that’s all the info I have. He’ll come and find you when he’s out of surgery.”
She gave a sympathetic nod before turning and heading through the double doors that led to the ward.
