Page 22 of The Mafia's Surprise Gift

People were screaming. Crying.

Dying.

Oh, no. Oh, no, no, no!

Hot acid rushed up my throat, and I had no warning, then I was spewing onto the back of the seat in front of me. The bleeding man next to me didn’t even spare me a glance. He was too busy on his phone, yelling in Italian.

It felt like no time had passed when we suddenly stopped in front of a house so tall it blocked out the sun. Dino got out of the car and was by my side, pulling me out with him in such a hurry that one of my strapped shoes got caught in the door and slipped from my foot.

“Dino,” I gasped, trying to arrange my thoughts in a coherent attempt to ask him anything. Dino didn’t listen, or he didn’t hear me. He had his arm around my waist, and he dragged me into the house, still ranting on his phone.

Then he turned to me as we came to a stop in the hallway, and for the first time since the graveyard, he seemed to notice the blood on my hands.

“Mae!” Sheer panic flooded his voice and the phone slipped from his fingers. He was on me, turning me around and pulling at my dress, grabbing my chin and moving my hair. “Where are you hurt?” he demanded. “Where?!”

“It’s not mine,” I said quietly.

Both of Dino’s hands cupped my face, and he forced me to stare into his deep, ocean-blue eyes. “Where are you hurt?”

“It’s not my blood,” I managed again, tears flooding my eyes. “I think it’s Rocco’s.”

Night fell, and a deathly silence enveloped the house Dino brought me to. The study he sat me in after going over my body to ensure I wasn’t injured was filled with empty bookshelves and had a slightly moldy scent to it. It lingered in the air even after the scotch and three cups of tea he gave me. The blood definitely wasn’t mine, so I feared that it was indeed Rocco’s.

Dino also refused to tell me anything. He spent most of his time on the phone, talking so fast and angrily that I could only imagine what he was saying. In some strange way, it was oddly comforting just listening to him. The only word I recognized was Rocco’s name a few times, but other than that, I was in the dark.

Until, finally, the door opened and in walked Rocco. His shirt was ripped and stained with blood, and a makeshift bandage was wrapped around his upper right arm. His slick, black hair was a complete mess and his face was long and drawn.

“Dino, where is—Mae!” Rocco rushed to me the moment he saw me, just as Dino rushed to him.

“Rocco!” My mind had spun with theories for hours as to what the blood could have meant. Did Rocco get shot and we never noticed? Did he die out there, and I would never know?

“Are you alright?” Rocco’s grimy hand cupped my cheek, and his eyes darted over every inch of my face, then down to the spare shirt Dino had given me after tearing at my dress. “Are you hurt?”

“No.” I shook my head. “I’m not hurt, but I’m very fucking confused.”

Rocco offered me a small, relieved smile, and then he looked at Dino. “What did you tell her?”

“Nothing.” Dino held both hands up. “I’ve been on disaster control since we got here, but I told her nothing. Not for her lack of trying.”

“It’s true.” I grabbed at Rocco’s hand as he turned away, causing him to stop and glance down at our joined hands. “Rocco, what is going on?”

His attention lingered, then his gorgeous honey eyes snapped up to mine. He looked sexy like this, all roughed up and filthy, and I scolded myself internally for even daring to think such a thing.

“It’s complicated.”

“How?” I snapped, and the relief that he was okay quickly bled into anger. “Do you have any idea how fucking terrified I was? There was gunfire—fucking gunshots in Baxton!—and everyone was screaming, and there was so much blood, and all I could think about was not making it home to my son! Do you have any idea what that’s like?”

Rocco’s face tightened and his brows pinched together. “I don’t,” he replied, accepting a glass of scotch that Dino pressed into his other hand. “But Mae, I would never let anything happen to you.”

I scoffed. “Then tell me the truth. What happened? Do I need to talk to the police or something?”

Dino scoffed in the corner. “The police? Please.”

“Dino,” Rocco warned. Then he turned to me. “Mae, please?—”

“No! Tell me what the hell is going on! I can’t stop shaking, my stomach feels like all my organs have ripped apart and tied themselves up the wrong way, and I feel like I need to shit constantly. I’m scared, so fucking tell me what’s going on!”

“Fine!” Rocco snapped sharply, then he took a deep breath and pulled his hand away from my touch. “Fine. Mae? I’m in the Mafia. More than that, I lead the Mafia.”

---