Giovanni stepped closer to her. Protective. "You did good, kid. Great."
The ambulance arrived, and the next couple of hours were a blur. Vittorio was raced to the hospital. Ricco lied and said Mariko and he had been together all along with Vittorio, watching the house because they all feared Nicoletta hadn't quite settled. Vinci was once again there and refused to allow Nicoletta to be questioned more than absolutely necessary. She went to the hospital with Amo and Lucia. Stefano sent two bodyguards with them. The doctors – and Stefano – insisted Ricco have a CT scan because of the blow to his head. He reluctantly agreed, mainly because Stefano wouldn't budge. Fortunately, aside from a whopping headache and blurred vision, he didn't have any significant damage that they could see other than the concussion he already knew he had. Ricco insisted Mariko could watch him at home.
Emilio and Enzo drove Ricco and Mariko back to the house with orders to stay no matter what Ricco said. No one, not even the little rebel Emmanuelle, defied Stefano when he was in such a mood. Ricco didn't feel defiant in the least. If Stefano wanted to send an army to defend him, he wouldn't argue. He wasn't up to defending himself let alone anyone else. His head hurt like a son of a bitch and every muscle in his body was screaming at him.
"Did Stefano say he had guards on Vittorio?" Mariko asked anxiously.
"Stefano will guard Vittorio. Taviano will be with him, and Emmanuelle and Giovanni will guard Nicoletta, Lucia and Amo," Ricco assured as he closed the front door to his home and leaned against it. "They weren't riders attacking us, but they knew to stand just outside the shadows." He made it a statement.
No one outside their family knew about the riders other than other riders and their families. There were very few of them in the world. Mariko stood in front of him, turned away from him, her head bowed, that sweet, vulnerable nape of her neck inviting his touch. He'd have done it, too, the craving was that strong, but he hurt too much to extend his arm.
"Were they targeting Nicoletta or me, Mariko?" He waited patiently for her answer, even though the room was spinning and it felt as if spikes were being driven through his head one slow beat at a time.
Several seconds went by before she slowly raised her head and looked at him over her shoulder. "You, Ricco. I have something to show you." She pulled a paper folded into a small square from inside the pocket of the pin-striped suit she wore, indicating to everyone in their world that she was a rider.
His eyes on her face, he took the paper from her, unfolded it while still looking at her and then dropped his gaze to read the contents. The message was typed in a bold font: Kill Ricco Ferraro, a rider in the States, or your brother Ryuu dies. You have three weeks to complete this task.
"You haven't killed me." He made that a statement as well. There was the faintest humor in his voice, because, after all, it was pretty evident she hadn't. He was standing there. He'd known all along she was a rider and probably there to kill him, but not for the reasons he first thought. Still, he was just a little hurt and more than worried that she'd slip through his fingers.
"I am a shadow rider. I can't kill unless it is in the defense of my life, the lives of those unable to defend themselves or when I bring justice to those escaping the law. Killing you would go against everything I hold sacred. The very code my life is built on. You're too good a man. I can't trade one life for another."
He almost sagged with relief, and the part where she thought him a good man felt great, but then he realized he was sagging because he almost went down. Alarm spread across her delicate features. She stepped forward and circled his waist with her arm, fitting under his shoulder. He didn't pretend he was all right, because frankly, he was going to fall on his face if he didn't let her help him.
"You should have stayed in the hospital, Ricco," she murmured, placing one foot carefully in front of the other, leading him toward the master bedroom. "I can call Emilio and ask him to bring the car around."
"Not going to happen," he said. "It's just a fucking headache. The scan said I was fine. I still get the headaches and once in a while blurred vision. One of those bastards kicked me in the head." So much for impressing her. She'd had to come to his rescue. "Did I thank you for saving me tonight? For saving Nicoletta?"
"I don't need thanks." She sat him on the edge of his bed and bent to untie his shoelaces. "Who is Nicoletta? Where does she fit in?" She tugged his shoes off. "Get out of the jacket and shirt."
"Don't think you're going to get out of the contract you signed with me just because you're a shadow rider," he said decisively, pouring his bossy tone into his voice. He shrugged out of the jacket, flung his tie onto a chair and began to unbutton the shirt. "After we find your brother, I'll expect your full attention." He tossed the shirt aside and lay back, trying not to wince as his shoulder and back encountered the mattress.