If he died…
“I’ll contact Aidan—” The head of the Five Points, the Irish Mob, and Lucas’s direct boss. “He’ll— Fuck. Is Valentini going to die?”
“He’s through the worst. It definitely came close. When he ODed, it triggered a heartattack.”
My eyes bugged when I saw how long he’d been in our care.
“Jesus.” Lucas’s curse drew my attention back to him. “I need you to keep this under wraps, Kitty.”
“I will. I only told you because he’s alone.”Andbecause the Irish and Sicilians were allies.
The notion sat uncomfortably on my heart.
If they were enemies, would I have made this call?
It was another example of how my brothers’ bullshit encroached on my life. My morals. Assholes.
“You did good, KittyKat,” Lucas stated, shattering my thoughts into a million pieces.Thank God.“Leave this with me. Love you, sis.”
“Love you, Lucas.”
He cut the call only after I’d shared the sentiment. That was our family through and through. We said those words to one another because we knew what it was like to lose someone close to us.
One day, that person bickered with us at the breakfast table, then the next, they could be lying in the morgue…
My throat grew tight as memories plagued me, grief swelling and surging like a tidal wave in my soul.
Work usually helped reset my feelings, but this hit differently.
I’d already intended on hiding on Currau’s floor and stealing his pudding for the forty remaining minutes of my shift, but now the purpose of my visit had gone awry.
No way in hell would I leave Custanzu alone until I could shepherd him into the annoying clutch of his family’s bosom.
Then, my duty would be done.
If something happened and hedidpass away, my conscience would be clear. Someone’s Vinny would have a person who cared at his bedside.
I shuffled over to the seat next to his bed, not wanting my squeaking sneakers to wake him, but he released a deep sigh that immediately drew my attention.
Quickly flicking a look at him, I stilled in place when I saw his eyeshad opened.
And that they were pinned on me.
The freakin’ Capo of theCosa Nostrahad his gaze locked on me like I was in his crosshairs!
“Àncilu.” He breathed the word like an invocation.
My lips trembled as I gaped at him, caught in the freeze portion of flight or fight, half-certain he’d attack from disorientation and?—
His eyes closed.
My fear waned with it.
Shoulders sagging, I tumbled into the armchair that wasn’t standard hospital issue—thank fuck for VIP perks, my feet were killing me—and willed my heart to slow down beforeIhad a heart attack too.
Then, to myself, I sniped, “Goddamn mobsters.”
It didn’t make me feel any better.
