“Ambush at Fulton,” Don Luca answers, sparing him the preamble.
Giovanni’s eyes go to Nico. “You were with him.”
Nico nods once, then quickly goes over it again.
Bianca’s throat moves. “How long has he been in surgery?”
“Thirty minutes,” Elena says, checking the wall clock. “Maybe forty.”
Giovanni’s gaze goes distant for a beat while he works the timeline. “You think Russo?”
“It reads like them,” I say. “But the execution feels cleaner than their usual, and the entry point was a warehouse we don’t have history on. Could be a contractor. Could be a message.”
“Message received,” Luca says, low.
A volunteer in a green vest appears with a clipboard, calls “Conti?” to the room at large. We all turn. I step forward.
“Yes.”
“Family?” she asks, scanning faces.
“Yes,” Luca and I say together.
“They’ve started,” she says. “The attending will update you when he can, but they asked me to tell you that he arrived with significant bleeding. They’re controlling that now.”
“Thank you,” Elena says before I can bark something useless. The volunteer nods and vanishes.
“Any word from Cat or Vito?” Bianca asks.
Nico shakes his head. “I called Cat as soon as we got here. She said she’s coming. Vito didn’t want to stand around here, so he’s doing some recon at the warehouse.”
I’ll direct security to stand at the hospital, discreetly,” I say, then step away with my phone.
By the time I walk back, Nico has sunk into a chair. He stares at his hands, the blood staining them.
I sit beside him and tap my nephew on his knee once, a cue to breathe.
“It was a box,” he says, barely audible.
“You gothim out of it,” I answer.
“Not fast enough.”
“You were the difference between bleeding out on some warehouse floor and making it to the hospital.”
Nico nods without looking up, jaw working. “He kept talking. Even after he was hit. Gave orders. Called me ‘kid’ like I was ten again. Then in the car, he went quiet. He never goes quiet.”
“He’s stubborn,” Giovanni says from across the row. “He’ll bully a surgeon if he has to.”
Caterina arrives at a near-run, hair loose, clothes askew. Luca catches her first; she folds into him, holding on for a minute, then steps to Nico, fingers brushing the dried blood on his cuff before she pulls him into a quick hug.
“What did they say?” she asks, eyes jumping to me, to Elena.
“He’s in surgery now,” Elena answers. “They’re trying to control the bleeding.”
Caterina nods too fast. “Okay. Okay.” She turns, finds me, and walks straight into my space. I brace for questions, but she wraps her arms around me instead. I hold her, feel the tremor in her shoulders.
She lifts on her toes, mouth close to my ear. “I was with Olivia when Nico called,” she whispers. “She drove me. She’s parking. I wanted you to know.”
