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I hang up and toss my phone in my purse, then dig in the bowl of keys by the door until I find the ones to the sports car he drove on our first date. I need something fast.

The only thing holding me together is pure adrenaline, and as I wait for the elevator, my legs start to shake, but I hold it together. I have to for Santino.

I’m Mia Antonucci.

I’m the wife of a mob boss, and I’ll be damned if I don’t fucking act like it when I need to be strong for my husband.

Squaring my shoulders, I step into the elevator and ride it down to the garage. I click the key fob to find the car and then run over to it. I start it up and the engine roars to life. It takes me a few seconds to figure everything out, but when I do, I put the hospital into the GPS and tear out of there.

Please don’t die. Please don’t die.

I repeat it over and over in my head, needing God to hear me. I can’t lose him. Not yet. Not when we just started our lives together.

Pressing down on the gas pedal as soon as I hit the highway, I weave in and out of the lanes to bypass everyone in my way. I get a few honks, but I don’t give a shit. And the cops wouldn’t dare pull me over right now, either.

My grip on the steering wheel is so tight, that when a call comes through on Bluetooth and I loosen my grip to answer it, my knuckles pop.

“What do you know?” I ask Nico right away when I answer.

“He was ambushed.”

“Ambushed?!” I yell. “Ambushed doing what? He was supposed to just be in a meeting. What did you guys make him do?”

“We didn’t do anything, Mia. This wasn’t us.”

“Then who?”

“We don’t know yet, but Leo, Dante, and I are headed down now in the helicopter and will sort it out. I wanted to call to see if you knew what happened yet and if you’re okay.”

“No, I’m not okay. My husband has been shot and is in surgery fighting for his life, and he could very well die. I’m far from okay.”

Nico falls silent, and all I hear is the whooshing of the helicopter blades in the background. He must think I’ve gone crazy.

“I have to go. I’m on my way to the hospital now, and I need all my concentration.”

“Please drive safe, Mia. We’re touching down in five.”

“Okay, bye.” I hang up, now pissed off.

They had to have known what happened right away if they’re almost in Philly already. I must’ve been an afterthought call by his brothers once they got Santino to the hospital and relayed the situation to everyone more important than me.

I know Santino needs me, though. No one else may know, but I do.

I drive a little faster than before, and shave at least ten or fifteen minutes off the GPS’s original estimated travel time.

The moment I pull into the garage beside the ER, I park in the first spot I see and run into the waiting room and straight to the desk with a nurse.

“Please, I need to know where my husband is. Santino Antonucci. He was brought in with a gunshot wound and his brother told me he was in surgery.”

She types something on her keyboard. “Yes, he’s in surgery right now, but that’s all the information I can give you. You can wait in the lounge down the hall for the doctor to come out and tell you more.”

“So, he’s alive?” I ask tentatively, playing with the keys in my hand.

She gives me a soft smile. “Yes, he is as of right now, and he has one of the best surgeons in the country working on him.”

“Okay.” I nod. “Thank you.”

I blindly walk down the hall to the lounge she referred to and find it empty. His brothers aren’t here? They must be meeting Nico to handle whatever went wrong.

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