Ivan ended the call without another word. Antonio turned to Liliana, found she’d walked away to give him privacy.
He rushed after her, caught her in a ferocious hug. “I have to go, mi amore. Emergency surgery.”
She almost jumped at his endearment, her eyes flooding with such exquisite delight. “Of course.”
“Do you know how I hate leaving you now?”
“If it’s as much as I hate you leaving, I pity you fiercely.” Her smile wobbled as she caressed his cheek. “But duty calls. To both of us. I’d better get back to work before the bright ideas I was working on evaporate.” He hugged her again as if afraid she somehow would. Seeming to read his paranoia right, she grinned. “I’ll be right here when you’re done.”
“From the preliminary report, I don’t foresee being done for the next twelve hours. If that.”
“Then I’ll see you whenever you can see me.” She brushed his hair back, her touch soothing and bolstering.
He got out his keys, pressed them into her hand. “I’ll text you my security codes and Paolo’s number. He’ll pick you up from your house after you get what you need. I want you there when I get home.”
Her eyes made him this promise, and so many more, all of which he knew she’d keep no matter what. Then she stood on tiptoes and kissed him, giving him a glimpse of the ecstasy they’d share.
Before he grabbed her again, she stepped out of his arms, turned him around and marched him to the door. “The sooner you’re gone, the sooner you’ll be back to me.”
As he stepped outside her lab, his heart lurched. Leaving her felt like leaving behind a vital part of himself.
“I’ll be home as soon as I can.”
“Oh, no, you’re not rushing a surgery on my account. I’ll be there no matter how late you are. And if you’re not home by tomorrow morning, you know where to find me. Now, shoo.”
At her grin, he groaned and turned away, forcing himself not to look back. He’d be late if he did, and Ivan would kill him. He’d do his job then rush home to her.
The anticipation kept him flying high all the way to his secret facility on the fringes of LA. It was only when he was entering it that he realized something.
When he’d given Liliana his keys, he’d been asking her to move in with him. He’d texted her nonstop on the way, but from her answers it was clear she thought he wanted her there only tonight. Even thinking that, she’d taken the keys happily. It pained him all over again that she didn’t have any expectations, was truly content with anything he offered.
It made him wonder how such unconditional passion was possible, and how he of all people was on its receiving end.
But even if he didn’t deserve it yet, he would.
He would deserve her.
* * *
It was 2:00 a.m. by the time he finished the surgeries.
It would have been much longer if he’d had to perform trauma repair and reconstruction on both patients. But by the time he had them on his table, he’d known one of them would not make it. Ivan’s friend. The sister was critical but could survive with a liver transplant. Her brother was a tissue match for her and Antonio could harvest his liver, which had been one of the few
things remaining intact in him. Ivan, who’d been watching everything in the gallery, had told him to do anything to save her. Which he had.
Letting his team take her to the ICU now, he tore his bloody scrubs off and stepped out of the OR. Ivan was right at the door, looking like he’d go on a rampage at any moment.
“Sorry about your...friend.” Antonio wouldn’t ask for details. Ivan would tell him if he wanted him to know. “I trust you know who did this to them?”
Ivan’s usually forbidding face turned positively demonic. “They’re already dead.”
That was quick, even for Ivan. But then, no one could hide from him. Ivan had always traced the untraceable. But being the lord of the cyber world wasn’t where his talents ended. His business rivals called him Ivan the Terrible, unsuspecting that Ivan was literally lethal. He was as accomplished an assassin as any of their other brothers.
“She will be fine, won’t she?”
Antonio exhaled, rubbing his stiff neck. Ten hours of operating on Ivan’s mystery woman had been extra grueling, mostly because of Ivan’s volcanic agitation. Antonio did everything he could for all his patients, but when one of his brothers was involved, the stakes were almost unmanageable. Something he didn’t relish while having a human life under his scalpel.
“She will be. But even after I discharge her, it’ll be a long road to recovery. Does she have anyone to take care of her?”