She was alive.
“Lorenzo, we need to leave before the authorities arrive.” Merc said, walking closer.
Nodding, I helped Donatella to stand and when she turned to look at me, her face paled.
“Baby, what’s wrong?”
“Oh God,” she gasped, her hand quickly going to my stomach as she pressed hard.
That’s when I felt it.
The pain.
Looking down, I cursed. “Well shit,” right before my knees buckled.
“Declan!” Merc shouted, kneeling next to me. “Sweetheart, I need you to move.”
“I’m not leaving him,” my woman firmly said, ripping my shirt open as her hands pressed down on my stomach, I groaned. “I have more medical training than all of you combined and if you think for one second this gets you off the hook Lorenzo, you are sorely mistaken. We will finish our conversation and then I’m going to kick you in the balls.”
“She still loves me,” I coughed, looking at Merc.
“Sure buddy, I can feel the love from here,” Merc said, shaking his head. “Declan, get that helicopter back, ASAP. He’s losing too much blood.”
“You just had to save the day, didn’t you?” he asked, reaching into a bag, grabbing a handful of gauze. “This macho bullshit isn’t going to fly on this team Lorenzo. We work together. Always.”
“I like being the hero.”
“You’re an idiot,” my woman said, “This isn’t working. Where is the helicopter?”
“Five minutes out.”
“He doesn’t have five minutes. We need to get that bullet out,” she said, looking at Merc who nodded before handing her a set of wicked-looking tweezers.
“Uh baby? Whatcha gonna do with those?” I asked, right before she stuck them in my stomach. I didn’t remember much after that but I did remember screaming like a little girl.
Then blacked out.
Thirty-Five
Donatella
We were all standing around, waiting for any word.
I thought I knew fear but nothing prepared me for when he passed out. I thought I had lost him and when Merc told me he had just passed out, relief washed over me, allowing me to concentrate on what I had to do. It wasn’t easy getting the bullet out of him. It had embedded itself deep in his intestines. It definitely took longer than I liked but when I got it out, Merc and I packed his wound with everything he had in his bag, just as the helicopter arrived.
The flight from the warehouse took longer than I liked and when we landed on top of a building, I didn’t know what to expect. I thought we would take him straight to a hospital. Instead, we landed on top of a large building in the warehouse district of New York City. Apparently, the building was owned by the men who came with Lorenzo and waiting on the rooftop when we landed was two other men, one who was thankfully a doctor, that rushed Lorenzo straight from the helicopter and into surgery.
I was taken to another room and checked out from head to toe. Even though I wanted to stay with Lorenzo, the man named Merc refused to let me leave the room until a doctor gave me the all-clear. With only one broken rib and a badly bruised face, I was given the all-clear.
Now, I was pacing around a large office while the men worked at packing supplies, files, weapons, anything they could get their hands on. When Merc walked out of his office with Reagan Jessop behind him, I felt like crying. Rushing to her, I hugged her to me.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
“I’ll be fine but Lorenzo was hurt.”
“Lorenzo, huh?” Reagan grinned wiggling her eyebrows. God, I missed Reagan. She was fun to be around, nothing like the other smart geeks I’d known. Reagan was more down to earth. She never let her smarts interfere with the life she wanted. Reagan wanted to have fun. Lots of fun.
“How are you here, Reagan?”