Page 190 of Vita Mia

Chapter Thirty

Past - 1996

Bagheria, Italy

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NICO WALKED OUT OFthe room with the screaming man on the table. The doctors were doing the best with his leg but it was pretty mangled. He saw two men who didn’t work for him waiting in the hall. He nodded in their direction.

“Dominic is here?” he asked.

One of the men gave him a single nod.

Nico walked out of the hall and took the stairs up. He found Dominic above in the place that covered as a sweets and limoncello shop during the day. Below, the owners left the place open to emergency services for the Camorra.

“Is he alive?” Dominic asked Nico while he sampled candies. “We need him alive.”

“Barely. He took a hard hit in the accident. Doctor says he lost a lot of blood. They’re trying to fix his leg.”

“Leg? What’s wrong with it?”

“Broken bones. He’s young. He’ll pull through.”

“He better,” Dominic said. He ran his hand back over his hair. He paced. “Did you know she planned to sneak into Rome? Did you?”

“She never said anything to me.”

“If Sera hadn’t have warned me all of this would have blown up in our face. Do you know how close we came? I barely got to the airport in time. Fuck!” Dominic grunted. “We’re close. Really close. I’m sending more men to secure my place. They aren’t to leave, you make sure of it. For nothing. No more school for Eve. Nothing!”

“What about our Russian big baby down there. I’m supposed to be headed to the Ukraine tomorrow or sooner if the doctor can patch him up.”

“I’ll go in your place.”

“You?” Nico frowned.

Dominic narrowed his eyes on him. “This can’t fuck up. Giovanni life depends on it. We have to get Lorenzo back. And I don’t fucking trust you. I don’t fucking trust anyone!”

Nico threw his hands up in defeat. “We’re all stressed Domi. We’ve all lost too much. But we have to rely on each other. You stay here and deal with Mirabella. Trust me to go for Lorenzo. I can handle it.”

Dominic wiped his hand down his face. He stared at Nico for a long moment. Nico wasn’t sure of what more he could say to win his trust, so he said nothing. It took Dominic longer than a minute to think through his temper.

“Heard anything on Gio? If he’s... okay?” Nico asked when the silence became too long.

“He’s alive. It’s all I can say.” Dominic mumbled. “Carlo has made his move. We’re close Nico. Too close to blow it.”

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