She stepped out of my hold. “If you get caught—”
“I know, I know. You didn’t tell me a thing. I haven’t talked to you in over a year. You hate my guts. You’d kill me if you had the chance. I think that about covers it, don’t you?”
“Thanks for understanding.” She rubbed her hands together. “I want to be clear that my coming here tonight doesn’t mean I forgive you or that I approve of whatever you have going on with Carmela.”
“Don’t worry. You’ve made all of that crystal clear more than once.”
CHAPTER
TWENTY-TWO
I sat around the corner from Carmela’s room in a small waiting room with a Yankees baseball cap pulled low over my eyes and a magazine in my lap. A man in the corner slept with his head propped against the wall. The steady purr of his snore had started an hour ago.
Midnight had come and gone, and the man guarding Carmela’s door hadn’t left his post. I suspected he was far more attentive than Evie gave him credit for. The constant chimes of the nurse call button and smell of burnt coffee were the only things keeping me awake.
I’d lost all hope I would be able to sneak into Carmela’s room. I should give up on this nonsense and go home. Nothing good would happen if someone from the Trassato family spotted me.
“Hey, man,” someone said in a hushed voice right outside the door to the waiting room. “What are you doing here?”
“We have some stuff to discuss.”
I leaned forward and caught the profile of Carlo’s face.
“I can’t talk here. Let’s take a walk when my shift ends,” Carlo replied. “You know how Gian is about his sister. He’s probably paying the hospital staff to call him if I leave my post. He’s such a Mustache Pete these days.”
“Yeah. He has more to prove now after marrying a Madigan.”
“Stupid fucking move.” Carlo shook his head. “But it doesn’t change the fact that he’ll beat my ass if I disappear.”
“Ten minutes. That’s all I need. If Gian calls, tell him you ate some bad food in the cafeteria and had to take a shit.”
Sighing, Carlo said, “Let’s talk in the bathroom to make it look legit.”
“You’re such a pussy.”
“Va fa napole.”
When the shuffle of their leather shoes faded, I tossed the magazine on the end table and took off toward Carmela’s room. There was no way I could get in and out of her room in ten minutes, but fuck it. I needed to see her. I’d deal with the fallout later.
I closed the door softly behind me. For a few beats, I stood at the entrance of the room, watching Carmela in her bed. She was on her side, facing away from the door.
Nervous to move further into the room, I rubbed my hands down my thighs. I didn’t know what to say to her. Someone shot her. She was probably scared shitless, and I wasn’t there to protect her. In all likelihood, I’d never be there. Her family wouldn’t accept me, which was a big fucking deal in Carmela’s world. She acted tough, she went behind their backs on occasion, but she loved them fiercely. I could see that, and she wouldn’t consider marrying Nico if that weren’t true.
She rolled onto her back. “Kon, is that you?” Her voice was weak and gravelly.
“Yeah.” I walked over and balanced my hip against the plastic railing on the side of her bed, studying her face. A purplish bruise covered the right side of her forehead along with a few scratches, and dark circles stained the fragile skin underneath her eyes.
“I don’t get it.” Her head moved haltingly from side to side. “Why are you here?”
“I was worried about you.”
“How’d you find out I was here?”
“Evie told me what happened and where I could find you. I’ve been sitting down the hall for over three hours, waiting for an opportunity to slip into your room.”
“Sorry about that. Gian’s freaking out and acting like his usual overbearing self. He wanted to put two guards outside my room and one by the elevator. Evie had to drag him out of the room earlier, and I didn’t really believe she’d get in touch with you.”
“I can’t blame him.” I swallowed, my throat clogging with emotion. If I were in charge, I would have people crawling all over this place protecting Carmela. One fucking person wasn’t enough to keep her safe, especially when the jackass didn’t need much persuasion to abandon her. A lot could happen in ten minutes. “Does he have any leads on the shooting?”
“No. Not that I heard, and he wouldn’t tell me anyway. He treats Evie and I like we’re made of glass.”