Page 13 of Merciless Attraction

“I don’t work for Verducci or any family,” Ronan growls. The exhaustion in his eyes is visible. Antonio’s colleague continues to defend himself. “Ididcontract work for Vito Dacosta. Contract work that required the wounds of his people patched and gave me enough money to cover some of my debts.”

Antonio shakes his head as he works on treating Bash. “You have to put the gun away, man, and relax. Let me see what’s going on.”

“Fuck.” Bash sets his gun on the exam chair beside his leg.

“I have to go, Antonio.” Ronan says in a low tone.

Antonio nods. “It’s fine, go. I got someone to cover the top of my shift at the hospital, but you might need to head in to finish it out.”

“Fine, I’ll try to make it in to finish your shift. Maybe I’ll sleep next week,” Ronan growls as he leaves the room, but turns to say, “Tell Camilla when she comes in that I’m sorry for the mess. Make sure that asshole pays the bill.”

“The oldest Canella sister doesn’t like a free clinic under these circumstances,” Antonio explains as he cleans out Bash’s wound. “Are you going to tell me what happened?”

Bash continues to grunt through the pain while he speaks. “We caught up to good old, Frankie. We had a polite conversation about how to respect women and not drug them when he got offended and took a shot at me. I took a few more shots at him, but I was the one to walk away. Casper’s cleaning it up.”

“Better him than me,” Antonio huffs.

Bash grips him on the forearm. “Thank you, Toni. You know I’m going to cover this for you, right? All of my debts get paid.”

Antonio grimaces. The history between them is more like myth and legend whenever I hear about it. I don’t know the details but I can see the frustration in Antonio’s eyes. He works feverishly to stitch the open gash across Bash’s ribs.

Bash chuckles between deep breaths. “This is going to match the other scar. Did you ever get the tattoo to cover yours?”

When he says that, it makes me flash to our moment this morning. Being so lost in the connection between us, I didn’t pay attention to any scars on his body. With every replay of our time together this morning, the less I remember of his back. What scar is Bash talking about?

The way Antonio cuts his eyes toward me and back to treating Bash makes me wonder what he’s hiding about his past. It’s obvious he and Bash have a shared history but how much of that will affect our relationship?

I don’t have much time to dwell on it as Damian and Natalie show up together. I don’t know what to feel about this because it answers the question of why she wasn’t at our place this morning. I walk away from Bash and Antonio, heading with Natalie to a bathroom in the waiting room.

“What the fuck, Nat? Damian! Really?” I hiss at her. “You know how I feel about my brothers, who they are and what they do. I don’t want you any more caught up in this shit than you already are.”

“It’s not what you think, Gemma,” she assures me as she hands me a small duffel bag of my clothes.

“It’s not? You were into Damian while you lived in New York. I know that much,” I tell her, happy to not think about myself or Antonio, or this shit situation which seems to be getting shittier by the minute.

“Gem, I love you, but you’re so annoying about your brothers. I’ll admit that Damian is hot. I’m attracted to him, but we haven’t slept together. We’re not dating or fooling around. I know the kind of guy he is, but you need to remember that we have a lot in common. I’m a songwriter and he’s a talent manager.”

“Natalie Marie Bersani.” I say her full name to make sure she’s paying attention.

“Gemma Marie Marzano,” she replies, equally snarky.

“You know why he's a talent manager."

She sighs as I slide on a pair of jeans and slip my feet into some sneakers. I take off Antonio’s shirt to slip into the bag and catch Natalie smirking because she knows.

Natalie shakes her head. “We’re a mess. I know why Damian’s a talent manager, but that doesn’t change the connections he has that can actually help my career. You need to see what he pulled off that club’s security footage, too. How was your night with the doc?”

“The night was quiet, but this morning was more than I ever imagined.” I admit. Heat flushes my cheeks as replays of my first time with Antonio whirl around my mind. Even with my brother in a room close by.

“Don’t fall for him, Gem,” she warns me. “Falling for him would be as catastrophic as me falling for Damian.”

“I don’t care if you and Damian hook up. What I care about is this lifestyle putting you in danger.”

“I can take care of myself, Gem. I’ve been doing it since we were kids.” Natalie’s childhood experiences don’t hold a candle to what she could go through dealing with one of my brothers. Let alone all of them. Once you belong to a man of the Marzano family, by association or by blood, you belong to all of them.

I continue to tell her my worries. “Everyone those guys care about becomes a liability, a weakness to be exploited. It’s not the same with me and Antonio. Antonio’s not a part ofLa Familia. Damian, Casper, Bash, they’re made guys. For fuck’s sake, my brothers are split between two cities until things are settled over here. Natalie, I love you. I just don’t want you to get hurt.”

“I know,” she says, and pulls me in for a hug. “Don’t worry about me. Let’s talk to Damian.”

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