Marco turned on his heel and jumped into the back of the ambulance. I took a step, and Ashley grabbed my arm. “Come on,Sasha. I’ll drive you there.”
The taillights disappeared around the corner before I yanked my elbow fromAsh’sgrasp and ran to her car.The ride to the hospital was silent. For the second time, I was heading to the hospital because Luca was fucking shot.
Marco’s words ran through my mind. I wasn’t Luca’s wife, but when he said it, my whole body rebelled. Luca belonged to me! I should’ve been the one holding his hand, telling him everything would be okay, promising that I’d be there.
Instead, I was sitting shotgun in a Prius, hoping we didn’t hit too many red lights.
Ashley dropped me at the front doors, saying something about parking and being right up.The smell of antiseptic hit my nose, and it transported me back to the last time I rushed to the hospital, wondering what the hell Luca had done.
I didn’t listen to the nurse’s directions but eventually stumbled upon the Moretti clan in the emergency waiting room.
“Sasha!” Dante’s small body smacked into my legs. I held my hands up to avoid touching him with crusted blood.
“Hey, buddy.” His big brown eyes, so much like Luca’s, were ringed in red, and he was wearing thestar warspajamas I bought him for his birthday. He cried as his tiny fists held onto my dress tightly.
Looking up for some help, or at the very least some hand sanitizer so I could comfort my little guy, I locked eyes with Luca’s mom. Her black hair was haphazardly up in a bun, and instead of her usually tailored outfit, she wore yoga pants and a hoodie. Rosa’s eyes were puffy and her skin red and splotchy, but she mustered up a smile for me as she came to claim her sobbing grandson.
“Come on,buddy, Sasha needs to get cleaned up, and then you can visit with her.” She looked at me for permission, and I nodded.
I found the floor’s bathroom and tried to get all the blood off my skin. In a fit of stubbornness, I refused to clean up at the restaurant. I was too concerned about getting in the back of that fucking ambulance. My reflection let me know that was the wrong choice.
Specs of blood covered my entire body and face, staining my arms and hands pink even after vigorous scrubbing. The only saving grace of the whole debacle was that the black dress I wore hid the blood drying against my skin.
Instead of crying or getting sick, the blood made me angry. Every speck of Luca’s blood on my face only reinforced the desire to find these assholes and end them. I’d never been a violent person, never even hit another human, but that night I could’ve murdered a man and been cool to brunch the next morning.
Taking an emergency makeup wipe from my purse, I cleaned my face and pulled my long hair into a ponytail. A little less bloody, I joined the ever-growing number ofMorettisin the waiting room.
As soon as my ass hit the plastic seat, Dante climbed into my lap. Placing a blanket between us, I wrapped my arms around him, nuzzling him under my chin. Rosa came and took the chair next to me.
“How are you,dear?” Her brown eyes shone with tears.
“I’m okay. How’s Luca? At the restaurant, he . . .” I glanced down at Dante and found him staring right at me. “He had to be revived.”
Nodding, Rosa grabbed my hand. “They rushed him into surgery as soon as they got here. We should know more soon.”
Adriana ran into the waiting room and scooped Dante into her arms, grunting with the effort. Dante was a tall eight-year-old, something I’m sure he got from his father, as his mother barely managed his weight.
With a quick hello to me, Adriana focused on her mother-in-law. “Oh,Rosa, I’m so sorry I couldn’t come sooner.”
“It’s okay, dear.”
As Rosa filled Adriana in on the little we knew, Mr. Moretti and Marco walked in. Both men immediately spotted me, but while Mr. Moretti scowled, Marco bit back a smile.
“Rosa, come here.”
Mrs. Moretti rolled her eyes but gracefully went to her husband. Pulling her to his chest, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When his lids opened, there was less fire there than before. Well, that is, until he looked at me.
“What’s she doing here?”
Rosa patted his chest. “Dante, come on. She was there at the restaurant.”
“And?”His black eyes never left me.
“She practically fought me to get into the ambulance,” Marco added with that same irritating smirk from the restaurant.
“Why would she do that?”
Taking a step back, Rosa looked between her husband and me. “Because she loves him, you idiot.” She then proceeded to light his ass up in Italian.