Page 17 of Consequences
“What do you plan to do?”
“This is not only my decision,” I whisper quietly. “This is on us both. We have an alliance. It appears we’re being given an ultimatum—merge…or else.”
Cristian shakes his head in disbelief. “For now, we will need to play this by ear. I think we need to discover how far it goes. I will not hurt my son. I don’t agree with his choices, but if Ignacio is the right person for him…”
I grunt, unable to promise the same. At least, not yet. Still, I let it go. There’s plenty of other things to focus on right now.
“Let’s find out where we are with the doctors, and then I’ll work with your artist. I certainly need my Emilio here.”
“And it appears I need Tennant. There is a lot to answer for right now.”
We meet each other’s gazes without another word. Finally, Cristian shifts and reaches for his cellphone. He only taps it a few times before putting it down again. Now, we wait.
Hopefully, there is good news. Fuck knows we need some… I need Emilio to keep my sanity in check. Especially right now.
Waiting for permission to enter Cristian’s office is weird. I’ve never had to, always having the same rights as Tennant, to come and go as I please, but this situation isn’t a normal one. I need to at least pretend I have manners in front of Allesandro.
When the call to enter rings out, I open the door, but gesture for Sarah to go first. When I step in behind her, the tension in the room is almost staggering. For a moment, I wish I had brought my Daddy with us, because facing down not one but two pissed off Bosses doesn’t sound like a good time.
I only have so much self-control. And with tension this thick, how long that control lasts before I respond to it is anyone’s guess.
We stand before the Bosses, and the weight of their stares has me standing ramrod straight, my mother’s lessons in etiquette and proper posture coming out to play.
“Please, tell me you have good news,” Cristian says, with an edge to his voice that I don’t like.
Narrowing my eyes at my friend, he gives me a miniscule shake of his head. Fine. Later. But if he thinks he’ll get out of telling me…
“Depends on your definition of good news,” I say carefully. “I’ll let Dr. Ranlen go first.”
She shoots me a look that isnotgrateful at all, but neither of us is stupid. Allesandro already looks ready to kill someone, like hell am I making him wait.
“We’ve narrowed down the window of opportunity to break Lio out of the hospital,” Sarah tells them.
“Why hasn’t that been done already?” Allesandro barks, and I deserve a fucking cookie for keeping my mouth shut.
“It’s a…delicate situation,” she says carefully. “He’s in rough shape. We have him in a medically induced coma. It's necessary to give his body time to heal, and for the swelling in his brain to go down.”
Allesandro goes to stand, and Cristian sets a hand on him, staying his friend.Please don’t tell me Cristian has a death wish.
“I need to see him!”
“You know why that’s impossible while he’s at the hospital,” Sarah replies. How she keeps her cool is something I admire. “We are already dodging questions from the staff and police inquiry, the last thing we need is for you to show up. The swelling is going down, and he’s proven to be stable since his surgery.
“If there are no changes overnight, we will take the first available opportunity to transfer him out of the ICU to here. Doc and I have worked hard on making sure we have everything hewill need to finish his recovery. You know I would not take any risks with Lio’s health. I need you to trust me.”
“I'm running very short on that,” Allesandro says caustically. But he does sit back in the chair, waving Cristian’s hand off. “Ineedto see him.”
Sarah’s tone gentles. “I know. And you will be the first person who does, as soon as he’s settled. By tomorrow afternoon, you will be able to see him.”
I don’t like the promise in her tone. There are never any guarantees with this type of thing, but…we’ve finally got our friendship back on track, so I don’t bother contradicting her.
When it’s my turn, I say, “Your Emilio is strong, sir. I don’t foresee any issues with transferring him tomorrow. He still has a long road ahead of him, but he has proven what a fighter he is.”
Something soft plays on the Martelli Boss’s face, before his expression smooths out again. His love for the boy is clear, and that will both make the recovery easy and hard on them both.
Knowing Cris is as desperate for answers on Tennant as Allesandro has been for Emilio, I continue. “I am keeping Tennant sedated until at least the day after tomorrow. I don’t believe we have to worry about any internal bleeding, but I wouldn’t rule it out once he’s up and moving, which is partly why I’ve kept him under for so long. I’m waiting until after Emilio gets here, and Allesandro has been able to sit with him for a while, in order to try to reduce the number of people and stressors in the room.”
“Have you let his lovers in to see him yet?” Cristian asks.
