Series: Renee Rose
Total pages in book: 59
Estimated words: 56583 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 283(@200wpm)___ 226(@250wpm)___ 189(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 56583 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 283(@200wpm)___ 226(@250wpm)___ 189(@300wpm)
“Dude, I don’t want blood on the seats of the Beamer.”
“You’d rather go in an ambulance?”
He makes a growling sound in his throat. “Fine.” Marco reluctantly gives up his keys.
“Can you hold him up for a minute, Flowers? I’ll pull the car around.”
“Of course.” My voice breaks. I’m still shaking all over, in total shock.
Armando must catch the fear in my voice because he pauses, gaze roaming over me again, as if he’s still searching for any sign of injury.
“I’m okay,” I promise. “Go get the car.”
Worry clouds his dark eyes. “Are you sure?”
I nod, trying to ignore the lingering fear that clings to me like a second skin. “I'm fine. Really. Go!”
He gives a jerky nod and jogs away.
A few minutes later, a BMW zips into the alleyway and stops. Armando throws open the passenger door, then climbs out to help me get Marco into it. I climb into the back seat.
“You should just dump me in the front,” Marco says when Armando takes off. “I wouldn’t want this to affect your parole.”
Armando’s jaw tightens. “This is my fucking fault,” he snaps.
“Quit your pity party, stronzo. I’m the one who got shot. You’re gonna drop me in front and drive away. Call Leo and make sure he keeps it from our ma then come in with him when he arrives, like you just found out.”
Armando looks grim, but nods. I see him checking the rear view mirror at me.
“I’ll go in with him,” I say. “I’m not on parole.”
“No,” Armando says immediately. “I don’t want you tied to this in any way. Capiche?”
At the hospital, Armando speeds up to the curb of the Emergency area. “Hey, primo,” Marco rasps. “Don't worry about me. Just a flesh wound.” He throws open his door and tumbles out, somehow managing to stagger toward the entry.
“I should go with him.”
“Stay,” Armando growls, his gaze on his cousin for a moment longer before he guns the car and peels out.
He circles the hospital then pulls into the parking area and shuts off the car. Armando's hands shake as he pulls out his phone. “I need to call Leo,” he mutters, gaze darting around the parking lot as if expecting another attack at any moment.
“Leo, it's me." Armando's voice is thick with urgency when Marco’s brother answers. “Marco's been shot…. In the alleyway at Garden of Eden. He was protecting Hannah. It was meant for me. Yeah, we're at Cook County now. Meet me here. And Marco said to keep this from your ma.”
The conversation ends quickly, and Armando slips his phone back into his pocket.
When we get out of the car, he’s still scanning me for injuries, like he thinks I secretly got shot and didn’t tell him.
“Are you hurt?”
I shake my head.
“Let me see,” he insists.
He wraps an arm around my waist, guiding me closer to him. His touch sends shivers down my spine, but it’s exactly what I need to quiet the shaking in my limbs. It grounds me.
Armando's hands move gently over my body, checking for any injuries. He growls at the scrapes on my knees from the pavement. “Fuck, Hannah. Thank God you weren’t hit.” He drops his forehead against mine.
“Armando...” I begin, unsure of what to say or do.
“I’m sorry, Hannah.” Armando's arm remains wrapped around me, his breathing ragged as he surveys our surroundings, his gaze darting from one shadowy corner to the next. I sense the tension building in him. “Sorry you’re caught in my web.”
“I’m not,” I say softly. And it’s true.
If Armando hadn’t killed a man in my shop last week, I wouldn’t have the privilege of knowing him. Of knowing what it means to be possessed by a man like him.
And I wouldn’t give that up for anything.
But his expression is blank, like the shooting tweaked his PTSD. He just shakes his head. “I wanted you safe from all of this.”
“Hey.” I place my hand on his cheek, forcing him to look at me. “I am safe. And Marco will be okay too, Armando.”
His dark eyes meet mine, and for a moment, I see something raw and vulnerable there. “I don't know what I'd do if that had been you, Hannah.” He swallows hard. “I can't stand the thought of you getting hurt because of me.”
“Everything’s going to be fine. I’m fine. Marco soon will be.”
Armando shakes his head. “Nothing is fine right now. But I’m going to make damn sure it will be.”
Chapter Two
Armando
Hannah’s colorful platform heels click against the sterile floors, echoing in the emergency room as she paces.
Leo sits with his ankle across his knee, his foot jiggling. “Have you told the don?” he asks.
I shake my head. “Not yet.”
There was a time when I would go to Don G in a heartbeat. About everything. But I feel so disconnected from La Famiglia now.