A Mafia Man’s weakness

ChapterTwo

Alessia’s POV

My feet move before I even realize what I am doing. Bianca, my husband’s mistress, starts screaming, increasing the panic in the room. The music goes off in a dead silence, and everyone tries moving at the same time, scurrying out of the room.

I head in the opposite direction, following the sound of the gunshot. My eyes are frantically searching, the dim lights making it harder.

But then I see him, crumpled on the floor beside a table, his gun lying on the floor next to him. My father-in-law.

Vittorio Valenti.

Picking up my phone, the first thing I do is call for an ambulance, while a small crowd pools around me. My hands get to work as I turn him over to check for gun wounds.

But there are none.

The gun must have gone off when he fell to the ground. The pressure from his pocket, where the gun must have been hiding, set it off.

There is no gunshot wound in view, and I just hope the dislodged bullet is somewhere other than a person’s guts.

Pressing two fingers on his neck, I lean in to him. “Vittorio, can you hear me?”

He doesn’t answer. His pulse is growing weak by the second, and if the ambulance doesn’t get here in time….

My husband rushes to my side, his eyes taking in the scene in one quick glance.

“What happened to him?” he asks in a cold tone, detached from the worry and emotion any son in his shoes will exhibit.

I shake my head. “My best guess is a heart attack,” I whisper. “If the ambulance doesn’t get here on time…”

Nick doesn’t hesitate as he lifts his father off the floor, stalking outside with him in his arms. I grab the gun with a towel and follow closely behind.

The sound of the ambulance gets closer, arriving at the entrance just as we get out. Vittorio is rolled into a stretcher and taken in, while I accompany the ambulance, leaving Nick out there.

I don’t want to think about him right now, or whatever he feels. He and his father are not exactly the closest, but I know they love each other the best way they know how to.

However, it is not about that. It is about Bianca and the other girls who never leave.

“Male, late 60s,” I call as the stretcher gets wheeled in so the doctors in charge can take note. I can’t do anything since it will amount to a conflict of interest, so the moment the ER doors close, I stop moving, and the adrenaline from the last 30 minutes finally settles in.

I plop onto one of the benches in the waiting room, bringing my legs up and resting my chin against it. The door in the near distance opens, and my husband walks in.

Closely followed by Bianca.

“How is he doing?” Her voice quivers as she speaks. Her exposed arms have been draped by Nick’s jacket, and then, there’s me, shivering from the cold without a jacket. I take in the family’s crest on the collar and then allow my gaze to meet Nick’s.

What I find in his eyes kills me ten times over.

“Why are you here?” Bianca continues, a single tear rolling down her face. If the situation were any different, I would have burst out laughing. We all know Bianca doesn’t care about Nick’s father.

“Why aren’t you in there treating him yourself?” she screams, her voice echoing through the space. “I know you are trying to punish Nick because of the relationship we have, but you can’t take it out on his father. He has done nothing wrong to you.”

She rushes over to me and holds my hands in hers. My expression doesn’t change, watching her and wondering if she has a degree in performing arts.

“Bianca…” Nick tries to stop her. He tugs her towards him, and the softness with which he does it almost breaks me into pieces immediately.

“No,” Bianca whispers, shaking her head. “I have to convince her. She is the best surgeon in all of Sicily and Europe and…”

“Can you take your drama somewhere else?” I mutter, really not in the mood. Getting on my feet, I wrap my hands around my frame, shielding myself from the cold in the waiting room. It is not enough.

Nothing ever is.

“Alessia, you don’t have to punish Nick because of me. He has done nothing wrong.”

I look up at my husband. At the blank expression on his face. I guess I am all alone then. Looking back at Bianca, I murmur. “You said so yourself. I am a surgeon, not a cardiologist. And Nick’s father had a f*****g heart attack.”

Her lips fall open and then close. They shiver, and her tears pour even harder. Rolling my eyes, I get on my feet and move away from them, heading towards the doors. My hand is on the knob when the door leading inside opens.

Dr. Biagi strolls out, a familiar look in his eyes. In that split second, I know. They just don’t know it yet.

“Is he fine?” Bianca rushes over to him, holding his lab coat desperately. God! Her act makes me want to throw up by the side of the road. Nick stays close to her but doesn’t touch her.

“Who are you?” Dr. Biagi asks, angling his head. He is doing it on purpose because he knows Bianca. He is one of the few people I get to talk to about what I am going through. Enzo does not understand the world I belong to, but at least he tries, and that is more than I can say for my husband.

“I am…” Bianca stutters. “I …”

Nick steps in. “Is my father fine?”

“I think you will want to hear this news with your wife by your side,” Dr. Biagai mutters.

Nick turns his head a fraction to regard me, and then he does the one thing that shatters my heart into pieces.

“I don’t need Alessia.”