She leads us to an elevator, where she punches in a code. The doors slide open and she waves for us to go ahead. The doors close and she hits the button, the elevator purrs as it starts to ascend. “Holy shit, this is like some James Bond type shit.” Romero breathes and I want to rip his fucking head off for the look he’s giving my wife.
“Angela?” Makenna yells as soon as we’re out of the elevator.
“Mrs Bianchi…” A woman in her late fifties appears, wiping her hands on a cloth that’s attached to her apron. “I have the room set up, please let me know if you need anything.”
The two women start walking and I’m getting fucking annoyed; I hate being in the dark. Finally we reach a door and Makenna opens it. “Put him on the bed,” she instructs gently as her eyes survey the room and the instruments at the side of the bed. “Angela, the doc will be arriving soon, please let him in when he gets here.”
“Of course, Mrs Bianchi.”
“Shit,” Makenna groans as she rubs her head. “Angela this is my husband, Dante, and his brothers, Romero and Alessio.”
“Mr Bianchi.” She grins at me and shakes my hand, taking my attention away from my wife and to the woman shaking my hand as though she’s just met the damn pope. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. Can I get you anything? Coffee, beer, whiskey?”
“Whiskey neat, please, Ma’am.”
She nods, “Certainly sir.” She turns on her heel and leaves the room.
“Dante, take your belt off please.” Makenna asks and I see her looking over Alessio. She’s taken off his jacket and ripped open his shirt, blood pooling from his wound. He’s lost a lot of blood; too much blood.
I frown but do as she asks. As soon as I hand it to her, she folds it in half and turns her attention back to Alessio. “I’m really sorry, but this is going to hurt. I’m going to need you to bite down on this.” As soon as he does, she goes silent, putting on a pair of disposable gloves and picks up tweezers. “He’s going to end up passing out. There’s no other way, I don’t have anything to give him for the pain.” She looks at me and I see the depth of despair in her eyes, she’s worried about hurting him. Does she think that I’ll punish her for doing so? I nod, unable to say anything.
I watch in sick fascination as she gets to work, pulling the bullet out of him; Alessio grunts around the belt, his eyes full of pain. Romero slides up beside me, he too hasn’t been able to take his eyes off the scene in front of him. “Angela?” Makenna yells and instantly the lady is rushing into the room, two glasses of Whiskey in her hands and passes them to Romero and I.
“Yes, Mrs Bianchi?”
“Jesus, Angela, how long have you known me?” Her tone isn’t impatient, instead full of love.
“Since you were six.”
Makenna nods, “And yet you still won’t call me Makenna.”
Angela shakes her head, “Oh no, I can’t do that.”
Makenna grimaces before sighing. “Fine. Will you please call the doc and see what’s taking him so damn long?” She glances at me, “What blood type is Alessio?”
I stare at her in confusion, how the fuck am I supposed to know that shit?
“Angela, find out his blood type and inform the doc, he’s going to need a transfusion.”
“Of course, I’ll do that right away. Do you need anything else?”
“No, thank you. I’m okay. I’m almost done here, I just need doc and the blood.”
Angela nods and runs out of the room. “I just have to stitch him up, thankfully, it didn’t hit anything major. He’s lost a lot of blood but he’ll be fine as long as it doesn’t get infected. Once the doctor gets here, he’ll give him the antibiotics and transfusion.”
“Jesus, how the hell do you know how to do this shit?” Romero asks as she begins to put stitches in Alessio.
“Practice, years and years of practice,” she murmurs, her attention fully on what she’s doing.
I’m wondering even more what secrets she holds; this woman is a mystery, one I intend on solving.
Hearing my phone ring, I reach into my pocket, pull the phone out and quickly answer. “Yeah?” I bark, not in the mood for pleasantries.
“Boss,” It’s Stefan. “We’ve got a fucking problem. Those assholes we brought back to the warehouse, well they’re dead.”
“How the fuck are they dead?” I clip. What the fuck is wrong with these motherfuckers? They had one job. Just one and they can’t even do that right.
“Fucker’s must have had it planned. We were ambushed, fuckers shot up our vehicle. But they managed to hit the three bastards in the back and not Marco or I.”
Fucking Bratva. How the fuck are they one step ahead?
“I’ll check in tomorrow. I want every man on this. I want to find the bastards who shot up my wedding and then shot the prisoners we had.”
“On it, Boss.”
I end the call and look back at Makenna. Today has been a fucking clusterfuck. My wife has too many fucking secrets, but I’m going to find out every single one of them.
Six
Makenna
I stare down at my hands, Alessio’s blood coats them, even with the disposable gloves on. Alessio passed out once I removed the bullet. For the first time in my life, I was worried. Usually I’ve only had to stitch myself or Kinsley up. But today I had to do it to Alessio, my new brother-in-law, knowing that there was two people watching as I did; two men that wouldn’t hesitate to put a bullet in my head if I messed up. I was worried that if I did mess up, what would happen? I hate this unnerving feeling I have. It’s not me. I don’t care what people think, I never have.
Growing up with older brothers it helps shape you, they take you under their wing and teach you to take care of yourself. Show you how to be strong and resilient, show you what it’s like to not be afraid and I wasn’t. Until that day. The day when the facade fell and I came face to face with the devil incarnate. Then the young girl that was fun and outgoing became the woman I am today. Since then I’ve learned a lot of things about myself about the world and I’ve used every single thing to my advantage.
“Kenna?” His warm tone makes me look up from my hands.
“Mrs Bianchi…” Angela calls out just as Dante’s hand grips hold of my hip. Having him so close makes me shiver. “The doc’s here.”
I nod, “Thank you, Angela, you may go home now.”
She glances between me and Dante. “Thank you, I have dinner for you all, and the guest rooms are made up.”
I give her a soft smile, one that she returns. “Send the doc up and have a good evening.”
Within seconds, the doc is walking into the room, he takes a sweeping glance at us before moving to Alessio. “Nice work, Makenna, not that I should be surprised. You’re an old hand at this now. Must make a change from stitching yourself up.”
The hand on my hip tightens as the air in the room changes, this is more dangerous.
I ignore everyone and focus on what the doc’s doing. Hanging the antibiotics, before giving him the blood transfusion. It takes a while, nobody says anything we’re all watching the doc intently. Well Romero and I are, Dante however, has his gaze firmly on me. I glance up and I’m shocked by the intense gaze he has on me. My hand reaches for his and I hold it tight. Up until today, I hadn't really had anyone to lean on, but right now, in this instance I have Dante. I’m not sure how long it will last but I’ll take whatever is on offer, for however long it lasts.