Walking into the establishment, my eyes scan over the tables. Seeing Elena and my aunt sitting near the window, I walk toward them.
Elena glances in my direction, and then a smile spreads over her face. She gets up as I near the table, and then glass shatters.
Screams erupt.
Franco grabs hold of me, and my body swings to the side as a bullet hits me.
Elena’s scream is sharp in my ears as Franco takes my weight, lowering me to the floor.
“Elena. My aunt,” I snap at him, pressing my hand to the side where it’s stinging like a motherfucker.
Franco throws one of the tables on its side to use as cover, and then Elena drops next to me on her knees with my Aunt and Leo right behind her.
Elena’s face is pale, and she takes one look at the blood seeping through my fingers, then she pushes her hand behind me and grabs my gun.
I watch as my wife’s face tightens with anger and worry, and then she yells at Franco, “You better keep him alive. If my husband dies, you die.”
She pulls Aunt Ursula further behind the table. “Put your hand on the wound. We need to stop the bleeding.” Elena grabs a table cloth and rolls it up. “Use this.”
Aunt Ursula does as she’s ordered, and pulling my hand away from the bullet wound, she applies pressure.
“I’m –” I begin to say, but Elena hushes me.
“We’ll get out of here,” she assures me, her features softening for a moment as she looks at me. “Just keep still. Okay?”
Even though we’re under attack, I have to admit I love seeing my wife take charge. It’s a potent turn-on.
I admire her for a second longer, then I say, “I’m okay. It’s not deep.” I take the gun from her and turn my attention to Franco and Leo. “What do you see?”
“Nothing. It could’ve come from anywhere,” Franco replies.
Fuck. We’re sitting ducks.
Chapter 22
ELENA
I take over from Aunt Ursula, and lifting the cloth away from the wound, I check it.
“I’m okay, amore mio,” Lucian says.
Seeing blood seeping from his side chills my bones.
Stay calm, Elena. Stay calm.
I press the cloth hard to his side, then lift my eyes to his.
God, let us get out of here alive.
Lifting my free hand, I place it against his jaw, and just in case things go horribly wrong, I lean into him and press a kiss to his mouth. “Ti amo.”
Sitting between shards of glass with only a table as cover, I say the words ‘I love you’ for the first time in my life.
Lucian’s eyes darken to midnight. He grabs hold of the back of my head, and he yanks me back to him, giving me a hard kiss. Then just as fast, he lets go of me and moves into a crouching position. He throws the bloody cloth to the side and barks an order at Franco. “Get men to search every fucking building from where the shot could’ve been taken. I don’t plan on sitting here the whole fucking day.”
Then he turns his intense gaze to Leo, Aunt Ursula, and me. “Crawl to the back of the restaurant. I want the women away from the window,” he instructs Leo.
When I look at Aunt Ursula and see she’s visibly shaken, I nudge her to move. “Come. You go first. I’m right behind you.”
“Dio. Dio. Dio,” Aunt Ursula chants as she crawls ahead of me while Leo secures our backs.
“We’re going to be okay,” I try to reassure her. We take cover behind a counter where two waiters are hiding, and I pull Aunt Ursula into my arms. “Lucian will get us out of here.”
Holding Aunt Ursula tightly, I glance around the corner of the counter, my insides twisted with worry for Lucian.
“Move back, Mrs. Cotroni,” Leo orders, and then he guards us as we wait.
Soon I hear sirens in the distance and send a prayer of thanks up.
Seconds later, there’s police everywhere. The surrounding area is secured, but we keep sitting behind the counter until Lucian comes to us.
“It’s safe to leave,” he says, but still, his eyes keep scanning the front of the restaurant, on high alert.
I help Aunt Ursula up, and then she signs the cross, whispering a prayer of thanks.
Lucian ushers us out of the restaurant to where Franco has parked the car right in front of the entrance. Only once we’re safely inside the armored vehicle do I manage to take a full breath.
My hands begin to tremble, and to keep my mind from wandering to the worst that could’ve happened, I focus my attention on checking Lucian’s wound.
My heart shrinks at the sight, and I’m instantly drowned in worry. “We need to get you to a hospital,” I say when I see how his button-up shirt has been stained with blood.