Page 38 of Vicious Vows

“Good, because this fucking hurts.” She leaned back into the pillows. “I’ll just rest for a minute.”

“Get Ricardo here,” I said.

“Really?” Milo looked as surprised as I felt, but it was the only thing I could do for Lissia in this helpless moment.

“We’re going to be busy hunting down the motherfucker who did this. I don’t want her to be alone.”

“You don’t think she’d rather have Rosalie with her?”

“No.”

“Why not?” Milo asked.

“Because we don’t know what’s going on here. We have to keep this quiet until we figure out who the bullets were meant for.”

“We can both guess who tonight’s target was supposed to be.”

“If that’s true, they made a grave mistake when they hit Lissia instead.”

Lorenzo and two men—one I assumed was the doctor, and the other I wasn’t sure—entered the room.

“Marchello, this is Doc Vingroni. I trust him with all of these matters.” Lorenzo joined me by the bed. “How is she?”

“How do you think she is?” I snapped. “She was shot.”

“I need everyone to back up and give me some space,” the doctor said. “I need to see what we’re dealing with.”

The other man, who had a black bag, backed Milo away from the bed so he could get closer to Lissia. He replaced Milo’s hands with his, applying pressure to her bleeding hip. Lissia groaned.

“Marchello,” Lorenzo said.

“I have to stay here.” I pointed to Lissia. “She needs me.”

“Right now, Mr. Accetti, I’m sure she needs me more.” Doc Vingroni, a man four inches shorter than me and who I was quite certain didn’t have a gun, ushered me out of the way.

“He’s right.” Milo looked up from his phone. He was probably making arrangements for Ricardo to get here, and he didn’t seem to mind that Lissia’s blood was all over his hands. “Get out of his way so he can do his job.”

I glared at the doctor before leaning down and kissing her drenched forehead. By the time I stepped away, he’d already taken a syringe from the black bag.

“It’s okay.” Lissia smiled at me. “I’ll be okay. It doesn’t even hurt that much.”

“I don’t believe you.” I shook my head. “Try to relax.”

“My dress,” she said. “Is it ruined?”

“I’ll buy you a new dress.” Of all the things to be concerned with.

The doctor approached her with the syringe.

“What is that?” I asked.

“Just something to relax her,” he said. “She’ll appreciate it.”

I stepped back and joined Lorenzo and Milo, but I couldn’t keep my eyes off Lissia. I’d vowed to keep her safe, but every time we were in public, she stepped into danger.

“How did this happen?” I asked. “Your security failed.”

“My security is stellar, but I’m looking into it. I’ll find out what happened, but there’s something waiting for you in the basement of the hotel,” Lorenzo said. “My guys caught two men fleeing the property about ten minutes ago. They were armed.”

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