Page 42 of Vicious Rule

I fight the urge to shrug, knowing how bad that will make me feel. “Not as much as you’d think, although when the doctor comes back I’m going to ask for something stronger. I had the strangest dreams last night, and I don’t want them to keep me up tonight.”

“Well, you were talking gibberish, so I’m not sure you need anything stronger,” she says with a chuckle.

I know what she’s referring to, and it wasn’t gibberish. I hadn’t planned on letting her know how crazy I’ve been about her for years, but the drugs had a different idea and made my tongue loosen last night. I should correct her and tell her I meant every word I said, but now’s not the time.

Maybe after Salvatore leaves.

She starts to say something when the man himself throws open my bedroom door and marches in like he owns the place. Typical Salvatore. I swear if he wasn’t so good at what he does for me, I would have killed him long before now just for the liberties he takes.

“Well, fuck me. If I knew you were in here getting all cozy with your secretary, I would have knocked.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Sasha give him an ugly look. She’s never liked him, and that secretary bullshit isn’t going to help matters.

Nearly a foot taller than her, he towers over Sasha, but that doesn’t stop her from walking directly toward him and poking her finger in his face. “Still unable to get the concept that I’m his right hand? Jesus, they sure did break the stupid mold when they made you.”

While I tend to enjoy the sparring between Sal and Sasha on most days, today I could do without it since my shoulder is starting to throb again. “Enough. Salvatore, you know she’s my assistant. Try to remember, okay?”

He points at her still slightly wrinkled clothes and smirks at her. “By the looks of you, I’d say you’re more his girlfriend. Next time, bother to take the clothes off first. It makes things easier that way.”

Sasha throws me a look before storming out of the room. Sal, of course, thinks all of this is hysterical and throws his head back in laughter.

“She’s a spitfire, that one. I have to know. Is she wild in bed? If you tell me she’s some shrinking violet, I’m going to be fucking depressed. I’ll lose all faith in women.”

I smile at the memory of Sasha and me together but don’t say a word. Not that he needs anything more than a simple grin to tell him my answer.

“I knew it! Too bad she hates me. I’d love to give her a ride on little Sal.”

As he takes a seat across the room, I try not to be disgusted by his suggestion. If Sasha was here, she’d likely make some joke about him calling his dick little Sal, but since she’s not, it’s time to get down to business.

“Yeah, well, focus on the issue at hand. Some motherfucker shot me last night. I don’t know who has the balls to do that, but I want to know and fucking fast. Got it?”

Stretching his long legs out in front of him, Salvatore nods. “Yeah. Any thoughts on who might be behind it?”

I take a deep breath in that kills my fucking shoulder and let it out in a rush, desperate to have the pain go with it. “No fucking idea. It could be any number of people around here. It’s not like I’ve made a lot of people happy in the time since I took over the Rule family business in this country. Fuck, I’ve pissed off more than a handful of people, to be honest.”

Salvatore smooths back his slick black hair and looks up at the ceiling. “Okay, that means the Tracinis, Mirobellos, and who else? Olivettis?”

Instantly, I dismiss that idea. “No way. Not the Olivetti’s. I’m close with one of the sons, so I can’t see them taking a shot at me.”

“Okay. Then I’ll check on the others. Whoever did it is going to be talking shit about it. You know that.”

“I do.”

He sits there all pensive for a long minute before frowning. “If this was meant to kill you, do you think it might be a good idea to play possum for a while? You know, flush out whoever pulled this stunt?”

I shake my head at the idea this was meant to kill me. It wasn’t. “No. Even a shitty shot would have been able to take me out. No, this was meant to scare me. Maybe give me a warning, but it wasn’t meant to kill me. If it had been, I’d be dead, and you’d be visiting a corpse.”

“Fuck that!” he jokes, throwing his head back in laughter again. “I don’t make visits to dead people. I don’t even go to funerals. Nope. It’s bad luck.”

Whatever he means by that, I don’t bother to ask. I’ve got more important things to worry about.

“Just find the motherfucker who had the balls to do this to me. I want to know fast too. No fucking around on this. Get the info so I can act. I don’t want the world thinking I’m sitting here nursing my wound and not knowing who to retaliate against.”

He stands up and cracks his neck. “I got it, Alex. I bet I’ll have something by nightfall. Nothing stays secret around these parts, and I’m guessing whoever did this is talking up a storm. All I have to do is listen.”

I gingerly move my shoulder and feel a jolt of pain. Nope. That’s not good. Not going to do that again.

“Just find out and give me the goddamned name so I can give him something even worse.”

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