Page 27 of Soulmate of the Mafia King
“—son of a?—”
Voices swam in and out of focus. I blinked again. The blackness receded just a little. Night sky above me. No stars, like I was in the city. The fronds of a palm tree leaned into the edge of my vision. Details filtered back in. Cairo. Zahur. I drew in a gasping breathing and choked on the thick scent of diesel in the air.
“Doc, he’s?—”
The world dimmed again. I swam through a nothing space, almost a dream, but it didn’t have any shape. The blackness threatened to swallow me. I fought, not like the man I thought I was when I last opened my eyes, but like the boy I used to be. Kicking, scratching, fighting dirty. No holds barred.
When the world grew bright once more, Carp leaned over me. Oh, shit, I was in the middle of a raid. I needed to get up.
My legs didn’t react when I moved them. Tied down, then.
“Hey, Tommaso, there you are,” Carp said.
More pieces clicked into place. The woman with the knife. Killian. Paige! I had to warn everyone about the hotel, about Paige.
Like my legs, my tongue didn’t move. That, however, was my fault. Somehow.
“There’s nothing to worry about,” Carp said in what seemed to be his best approximation of soothing. It was rough around the edges, bumpy and awkward. His voice was more suited for war cries and calls to drink. He didn’t belong here.
I didn’t belong here. I had a fucking raid to run, a bastard to find. I tried to get up again, and very, very far away, I thought my fingers moved. Fuck! How the hell had they tied me up?
Another face appeared in my vision. One I didn’t recognize. I fought to hold onto the details. Light brown hair. Matching eyes. Skin that made her look Mediterranean. One of the doctors! I’d seen her profile once, a million years ago.
“I’d advise you not to lie to the patient, Mr. Carpaccio,” she said.
Who was lying to me? Who the hell was Carpaccio?
“I told you, it’s Carp,” Carp said. “And I doubt he’s hearing half of this, so I’ll lie to whoever I goddamn please. You’re gonna be fucking fine, Tommaso.”
I’m hearing it now, I said.
“Anyway, Doc, what’s the harm in cheering him up a little?” Carp said to the doctor like I hadn’t said a word.
Had I? Now that I thought about it, I hadn’t heard myself speak. Shit. I needed to figure out what the hell Carp was doing here, why he wasn’t racing for the hotel with every fucking other hired gun he could get hands on.
The world outside started to float away again. I clung to consciousness with whatever I had left. Zahur was with Paige. Mostafa had betrayed me. Paige was in danger. I was about to break my promise.
My vision swam back, a little sharper than last time. I could see more around me. People rushed in my peripherals. Some held guns. Others, medical bags. I was outside, lying on the grass. If I could just turn my fucking head, I could see more, but something restrained my neck too. It was like they wanted to fuck me over.
Fine, I’d been left with no other options. I just had to convince my lazy tongue to work. I sucked in another breath and choked again. Acid poured into my lungs, threatening to drown me on dry land.
“Shit!” the doctor said. “Stop trying to talk, for the love of God. You’re only making it worse.”
Fuck off, I said.This is more important.
Once again, the words remained inside my head. My eyes fluttered closed as the acid intensified.
“Level with me, Doc,” Carp said quietly. “How’s he looking?”
“If I don’t get him into surgery in the next ten, maybe twenty minutes—” She sighed.
The doctor had to be the one who’d tied me up. Carp never would have. If I could just get his fucking attention, he could untie me, and we could go save Paige.
Wait, surgery?
I can’t go to a hospital!I yelled.I’m here illegally.
Through the sheer, overwhelming burn of the acid in my lungs, I felt a tiny pinch in my arm. Something squeezed my ankle in the strange, faraway space I seemed to be in and started dragging me down. The noises around me grew dim. I fought with everything I had left. I needed to get to Paige. I’d promised her I’d always, always find her.
