Page 9 of Dangerous Contract: Part 2

“What happened to you?” Orazio asked, nodding to Leo’s side.

Leo looked down. “Shit. It’s bleeding again.”

“Did you not get it stitched up?” Don Cattaneo asked.

“I’ve been busy. So, I just slapped a bandage on it.”

“Go get it stitched,” the don ordered.

Leo nodded.

“What happened to you?” Orazio asked again.

“Oh, it’s nothing,” Leo stammered. “One of Tatum’s guards stabbed me two days ago when I returned to the crash site to make sure no evidence pointing to you or Cas was left behind. Apparently, Tatum had sent his guards there to search for clues. An altercation occurred, and I ended up stabbed. It’s nothing a few stitches and some painkillers can’t fix. I’ll be back. I need to take this call.”

Orazio watched Leo head toward the door. Raz knew when he was being lied to. And Leo had just told him a fucking lie. Orazio’s gaze drifted to his father. What was his dad and Leo hiding from him? If it had something to do with Monique...

Raz took a deep breath and released it slowly. They didn’t want to see what he’d do to protect his woman. They didn’t want to see that side of him. Sure, they’d seen him get crazy. But even he didn’t know how crazy he could get over his Rosa.

Asking questions wasn’t going to get him the answers he needed. Raz’s gaze flitted around the room, landing on the end table beside him where a phone was. Raz reached for the landline as if he was about to make a call. Instead of picking it up, he knocked the phone over.

“Shit!” Raz cursed when the phone hit the floor. “Can you get that for me?”

Leo rushed over to help. When the guard bent down to pick the phone up, Raz lifted Leo’s shirt and ripped the bandage away. Leo jumped back, spilling some of the hot coffee on Raz’s arm. Raz ignored the burn as he glared up at Leo.

“That’s not a stab wound. That’s a gunshot wound,” Raz growled. “Who shot you? And why the fuck did you lie about it?”

Chapter Three

ORAZIO

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Orazio stared at the bloodstained bandage wrapped around Leo’s abdomen, his eyes narrowing as he questioned his longtime friend.

“Who shot you?” Orazio demanded, suspicious and not trying to hide it.

“Does it matter?” Leo asked, glancing down at his wound as if it were nothing more than an annoyance. His gaze returned to Raz. Raz glared at him. Leo sighed before saying, “If you must know, it was one of Tatum’s guys.”

“Why the hell did you say you got stabbed?” Orazio snapped.

Leo looked Orazio dead in the eyes and lied. “We all have enough on our plates right now. I didn’t want to add my issues to it.”

Orazio gritted his teeth, not believing a single word coming out of the guard’s mouth. This wasn’t like Leo. Normally, Leo would rub it in his face if he took a bullet while working for the family.

And then he’d demand that Orazio increase his pay. Something wasn’t adding up. As if on cue, Leo’s phone started ringing again. Leo glanced at the screen, his brow furrowing.

“Raz, I really need to take this call and go get stitched up. Because of you, my side is hurting again.” Leo turned and headed toward the door.

Orazio’s eyes followed Leo as he left the room. The door clicked shut behind him. Though Leo was gone, Orazio’s doubts and suspicions about him remained behind. Orazio’s eyes narrowed as he glared at Don Cattaneo, who sat in the corner of the room.

“What’s really going on, Don Cattaneo?” Orazio demanded.

“Things are at a standstill at the moment,” the don replied, clasping his hands together in his lap. “The Tatums think Jacob is missing. They don’t know of his death yet, and we’re trying to keep it that way until you and Cas...”

“Enough about the damn Tatums!” Orazio snapped, slamming his fist against the bedside table.

The pain in his ribs flared up, but he didn’t care. All he wanted was answers about Monique, and he wasn’t getting them. Everyone was talking around the subject, which let him know they were keeping something from him.

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