Eloisa returned to the room, her face pale. She slipped into the chair again. It was obvious she had tried to compose herself and put her mask back in place. She looked both haughty and regal. Stefano wasn’t having any of it.
“Eloisa, I need you to go to the trauma facility with Henry and ask Dr. Elliot to do a scan on you immediately. I’ll have all the boys and Emmanuelle do the same. We need baselines for all of us. You may have saved all the riders, and for that I have to thank you. The world of riders will owe you a huge thank-you. No one has ever considered the toll what we do might take on our bodies.”
She had been shaking her head, but she stopped when he kept talking, as if he didn’t see her resistance.
“It always amazes me that the Ferraro family seems to pioneer the leaps in our businesses and the way we do things,” Severino said, “and thanks to you, Aunt Eloisa, we’re still going to be the family in the forefront. I’ll have my riders go in for scans. We’ll use your facility as well, Aunt Eloisa. You’ll have to tell us who the best doctor is, and how best to avoid any unwanted publicity. We’ll need someone to handle that end of things, Stefano.”
Eloisa made a little face. “That’s easy enough. Dr. Elliot is a pioneer in the field of head trauma. And Grace is our answer on how best to handle this. She puts on all kinds of charity events for the Ferraro family, Severino. We can make it a huge event and invite the New York branch as well to participate. We’ll do something with brain trauma, or PTSD awareness. Wearing helmets when riding motorcycles, maybe all of it.”
Her face lit up. “We can put a large event together and then show scans of brains before injuries and after. We can say we volunteered to be scanned as well, showing brains that haven’t been injured as opposed to those that have been, along with the various types of injuries. Naturally they won’t label whose brain is whose.”
She looked at Henry and then Stefano and Severino. “This is good. We could raise a lot of money for brain trauma centers all over. I like this idea. Trauma centers really need money.”
“That’s your forte, Eloisa,” Stefano said. “Please, I’m asking you, stay out of the shadows until we get this cleared up. I need you for this. Let’s keep all riders safe, Eloisa. It isn’t just our family we have to consider. It’s all of them. We’re going to have to figure out if it is a problem and then how best to counteract it. I’ll need your input for that. You can’t take chances by slipping up and going in anymore. First thing tomorrow, call Dr. Elliot and tell him you need to get in, that it’s an emergency. I want to know as soon as you do so he can call me in for the results.” He poured authority into his voice.
Eloisa nodded. “I will.”
“We’ve got to go. Taviano and I still have a job tonight. Benito Valdez is on his way to Chicago. I want the job done before he manages to get here. The hope is, we find his location before he makes his way here. We’ve stopped his army, so he’ll be alone with whoever he brings with him. Nicoletta has Archambault bloodlines, and it’s definitely showing when she’s in the shadows. She’s faster than anyone I’ve ever trained. He can’t have her. Her children are going to be amazing riders.”
Eloisa started to say something and then closed her mouth, pressing her lips together tightly. She just nodded.
The night air was cool on Taviano’s skin. He threaded his fingers through Nicoletta’s and stepped behind the dilapidated warehouse where the small band of Demons had tried to establish themselves. Stefano was on the other side of her, making certain she was always close to a shadow she could just slip into the mouth of and they would know she was safe while they positioned themselves where they could hear what was being said inside.
Nicoletta hadn’t been in the least sick as they rode the shadows fast through Chicago to get to the part of town where the investigators had indicated the Demons appeared to have a small group ready to support Benito when he came to Ferraro territory. She moved easily with Taviano, as if she’d been doing it for years. She breathed easily; the few extra practices they’d gotten in helped, as if they’d practiced together from the time she was very young. Those trips in the shadows moving through the house had clearly helped her as well.
Stefano indicated for Nicoletta to remain silent while they moved into position, and she did so, staying still. Taviano knew that was one of the most difficult things for her. It was for all of the riders. Still, she was quiet, none of her usual fidgeting, and he was proud of her. It was all he could do not to send his older brother a grin of pure pride.