Page 2 of Cavaliere

“Uh… is this Alessio?” I ask, suddenly scared that I may have dialed the wrong number because the man on the other end sounds scary as fuck.

“Who in the fuck is this?” the man demands, his tone oozing with menace.

I clear my throat before answering because, damn, this man isn’t even here, and he’s making me nervous. “I’m Wren. I just need to know if this is Alessio. I have a… pressing matter.” That’s a safe answer, in case this isn’t actually him. Bloody Man obviously wants this under the radar, and the adrenaline from all of this is making me almost too happy to oblige.

There’s a long pause on the other end of the line until the man bites out, “This is Alessio. Now, tell me why in the fuck you have my brother’s phone.” Ah, that makes more sense now.

Choosing to ignore his murdery tone, I continue, “Hi, Alessio. I’m calling from your brother’s phone because there’s been a little accident, and he asked that I call you instead of the cops. I’m not sure it’s the best id⁠—”

“What kind of a little accident?” He cuts off my rambling with the same tone.

“Uh, he crashed into a tree?” I say as my voice goes up an octave. Like I’m scared he’s going to think I’m the one that did this.

“Tell me where you are,” he demands without missing a beat. I rattle off the location and let him know that his brother is kind of conscious before he disconnects the phone without another word.

“I guess I’ll just wait with you…” I trail off as I sit down on the ground, feeling lost on what to do. I have a man next to me covered in blood that’s now passed out but still breathing, and another man on his way that sounded like he wanted to kill me just for saying something happened to his brother.

I hate to say it, but I really think today’s events are about to be added to the list.

Chapter

Two

WREN

“It’s going to be okay,” I tell the bloody, passed-out, but still alive man. At this point, I think I’m trying to reassure myself more than him.

I plop down on the ground next to the car, not even caring that I will probably be pulling little pieces of glass out of my ass tonight. Something in my gut keeps telling me to hold his hand until Alessio arrives. It’s hanging out the window anyway, so technically, it wouldn’t be moving him in case he is injured. Internal bleeding and stuff.

“You’re okay,” I say softly as I lightly stroke my thumb back and forth over his large, muscular hand, trying my best to comfort him.

I’m glad I’m getting this guy some help, but at the same time, why me? I’m really living on a hope and a prayer that not calling the cops doesn’t come back to bite me in the ass. I can only take so many kicks while I’m down before I stay there.

About ten minutes of me sitting here, whispering reassurances in this man’s ear that he probably isn’t even hearing, go by before I hear the sound of a car approaching. I can’t help but tighten my grip on the bloody man’s hand. The uncertainty of whether it is Alessio is getting the best of me.

And do I know that Alessio isn’t going to hurt me? Not exactly. I want to think that because I stopped to help his brother, he would just let me be on my way.

The sinking feeling in my stomach grows deeper as the black town car slows down as it passes but doesn’t completely stop. I can’t see anyone inside because the windows are blacked out, but I would bet my next month's rent that they were scoping everything out.

“Well, that’s weird…” I mumble, not letting up on the bloody man’s hand. To someone just driving by, it looks like we were both in an accident and need help. The bloody man’s groaning as he moves slightly breaks me from my thoughts. “Hey, it’s okay. Just don’t move, okay? Alessio is coming. In fact, I think this is him right now,” I say as I see a black Audi screeching to a stop next to the bloody man’s car.

“Holy fuck.” The man, I’m assuming is Alessio, curses as he slams his car door shut, quickly advancing on me. I drop the bloody man’s hand and jump to my feet, taking a step back for every step he takes toward me. “You didn’t tell me it was this bad!” he says, his voice rising and tone accusing.

Is he serious right now? “You’re the one that hung up on me when I was still talking! I told you he hit a tree!” I exclaimed, throwing my hands up in the air. I cannot believe this man right now.

“You should have told me,” he bites out while quickly typing away on his phone before looking back at me. “Tell me what happened.”

I raise my eyebrow as I look at him like he’s stupid. “How would I know? I literally ran up on your brother.” I gesture to my outfit. “I was out for my usual run when I saw smoke and came upon this.” I wave my hand at the whole scene.

“So you didn’t see the crash happen?”

“No.”

Alessio lets out a frustrated sigh as he runs his hands through his hair. “Alright. Thanks for calling me. Do you need a ride back to…?” He trails off, waiting for me to fill in the blank, just as an ambulance and a tow truck pull up.

“I live in Ravenna Heights, but I didn’t call them,” I say, pointing to the two new vehicles.

“I know. I did. But why didn’t you?” he asks, suspicion swirling in his eyes.