ChapterFour
Ilooked as horrible as I felt. Staring at my reflection in the mirror above the sink in my bathroom, I could see the damage done to me at the docks. There were dark circles under my eyes, my cheeks were sunken in, and my hair looked as if I’d walked out of an ‘80s music video. Jasper had given me his shirt as soon as we made it out of the warehouse and pulling it up and off myself when I walked into the bathroom had hurt something fierce.
Running the tips of my fingers across the wraps of gauze across my chest, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to unwrap myself to see what had been done to myself. Nico admitted to shooting me. I couldn’t imagine what their doctor did to me while I was unconscious. From my experience, slice and dice field doctors didn’t care too much about making the wounds pretty. It was probably the worst hack job that ever existed. I couldn’t see Nico or his boys making sure the doc did a clean job on the person that was going around killing off their men.
“You okay in there?” Jasper asked from the other side of the door. I knew he wasn’t going to move too far away from me, but I didn’t expect him to stand guard on the outside of the bathroom door.
“I’m trying to decide if I should take the bandage off and see what’s going on under there.” I didn’t try to hide the fear or worry from my voice. Jasper knew me better than he knew anyone else, and he’d call bullshit if I pretended it didn’t matter to me one way or the other.
A quick rattle at the doorknob had him pulling open the door and stepping into the bathroom with me.
I shook my head at him. I’d locked that door, but he wasn’t about to let that keep us separated when I needed him. I did need him right now. I wouldn’t be able to unwrap myself, and whatever support he could offer me was appreciated.
“Why don’t you go ahead and get in the shower then we’ll see what’s going on under here. You’ll need to be covered up for the shower anyway.” He stood behind me with his hands on my bare shoulders as he stared at me in the mirror. I knew he was right. I couldn’t get in the shower with the wound uncovered, so it made sense to wait.
He wasn’t ready to see what was under the gauze any more than I was. My throat clogged up as I looked at him. A quick nod was all I gave him before moving away from the sink and turning on the shower. I didn’t say anything to him as I removed the thong I’d been wearing for far too long and stepped into the shower.
A sigh pushed past my lips as the warm water cascaded over my head and down my back. The wetness of the gauze was uncomfortable, but I refused to let it detract from the enjoyment of getting clean. I felt as if I hadn’t showered in a month. As the dirt and blood from last night washed down the shower drain, tears leaked out the corners of my eyes.
My movements were slow, and ginger as I slathered my body with the vanilla and peach body wash. I didn’t let my mind wander back to that little room in the back of Nico’s warehouse. I wouldn’t let myself think about what it meant that they knew about me and what I’d been doing. What they found out was going to change everything, and that wasn’t something I could deal with now.
Jasper left comfortable clothes on the counter while I silently cried for myself, and the shower spray washed away all the evidence. Pulling on the underwear and soft joggers, I kept the soft white terry cloth towel pressed against my chest as I moved into the living room. It was time to remove the wrappings and find out what kind of damage Nico had done to me.
“Where is everyone?” I questioned Jasper as I sat down on the couch in the living room. He’d already set everything from my first aid kit up on the coffee table ready to patch me back up.
“Angel and Dom are with your uncle at Santiago’s. We’re expected to be there as soon as you’re all cleaned up.” He didn’t sound happy about that. I couldn’t blame him. Going to Santiago’s didn’t make me a happy girl either.
I wanted to curl up in my bed and feel sorry for myself. I was achy and in pain. Not in the best of moods, and in serious need of some coffee. I also had too much on my mind to be polite and walk on eggshells for the mafia boss. I certainly wasn’t going to be able to hold my tongue when I needed to.
“It took all the threats of death and dismemberment to get Milo to head over to Alicen’s place and keep her there. She was already on the war path when she found out about you being shot. Your little friend is a spit fire when she’s pissed off.”
I couldn’t help but smile at the thought of Alicen getting up in Jasper’s face about coming here to see me. I knew without a shadow of a doubt I would be hearing all about my stupidity and how thoughtless I was for going to the docks and getting myself hurt; as if that had been my intention the entire time.
“Let’s not keep Santiago and his men waiting then.” I lowered the towel and found the end of the gauze. We worked together as we slowly removed the wet material. I felt my heart begin to pound heavily in my chest. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to know what was under there. I’d had more than a few close calls over the years, but this was closer than I’d ever been.
The gauze fell away, and I held my breath. The white square bandage was smaller than I thought it would be. From the way my insides were searing every time I moved, I was imagining a hole the size of a golf ball right through the center of my stomach.
The water had taken some of the stickiness of the tape away. Removing it wasn’t a hassle, but the pain was still there. The moment the air from the room touched the wound a burning started that I wasn’t sure was real. It was possible seeing the small seam that had been closed with little black stitches cause my mind to fracture a little bit.
“It doesn’t look too bad. The doc did a good enough job to put you back together. I’m guessing since he sewed you up that he was able to remove the bullet. Your insides probably feel like ground meat, but you should be fine if we keep an eye on it.”
I could see the red tinge around the edges of the wound, but Jasper was right. It looked a lot better than I expected it to. It would scar, but I had plenty of those. At least I was alive. From the pain I was feeling on the inside of my torso, things could’ve been worse.
Reapplying fresh bandages didn’t take long. We didn’t wrap me as high as the guys had, so I pulled on a bra and a shirt. My outfit wasn’t anywhere close to what I would usually wear when going to face off against Santiago and his men, but I wasn’t in the mood to try and squeeze myself into the clothes I would generally wear as my armor.
The ride from the apartment to the condo Diego Santiago had in the high end of town was made in silence. Jasper was still bothered by the way he found me, and I was still reeling from what happened at the docks. I kept my eye on the side view mirror. It was completely possible that Nico and his boys would follow us.
They might know about me, but I didn’t think they knew anything about my connection with Santiago. I wanted to keep it that way. There was no telling when I would need an ace in my back pocket, and for the moment Santiago was all I had.
The large cream-colored double doors to Santiago’s penthouse apartment were guarded by one of his men that I’d never met. Angel and Dom were the only two I’d had any real dealings with, and to be honest I didn’t pay much attention to the rest of his crew. Probably a mistake on my part, but I had enough on my plate. I didn’t need to be worried about his men. We weren’t part of a sewing circle or seeing each other every week at the fucking country club. I didn’t need to know anything about them if they were actively trying to kill me.
Of course, just because Nico said that he’d shot me didn’t mean that was the truth. I knew Nico was a good shot. I’d watched me at the gun range. His accuracy was pretty on point. Doesn’t mean he was the one that hit me. I doubted Santiago gave the order for me to be taken out by his men when I was still useful to him though.
My brain was breaking just trying to think about all this right now.
Did I mention I needed some fucking coffee, and my stomach hurt like a bitch.
I held my arms out to my side and spread my feet apart so the guard could search me. I knew going into Santiago’s condo armed wasn’t going to happen, but that didn’t stop me from trying.