Page 89 of Tesio
“I was only trying to-”
“Offer up a worthless platitude, while you’re probably the one who’s going to be putting a bullet in his head later. Excuse me if I don’t feel-”
“Whoa. Do you bust his balls this much?” He laughed suddenly, and that unapproachable meanness seemed to dissipate with it.
“Sorry. Yeah. I think he likes it though.”
Another chuckle. “Yeah. Masochistic fucker probably does. I’m Luca.”
I’d heard his name before, of course. Luca Vanotti, probably, the Don’s second in command, if my limited knowledge could be relied on.
“If you’re planning on killing him, you should know that I’ll get between him and any bullets you aim his way,” I hissed at him, despite his suddenly friendly demeanour. He was still an enemy in my eyes, and not because he was a bad guy, and I’m a cop, but because he was a threat to Grease.
“I’m glad you’re in his corner, Jamie. Truth be told, I don’t think anyone wants to see him die. He’s a good man. And uh…” he glanced around us, and lowered his voice, “I’ve never seen him happier than he’s been undercover. That slobby biker life seems to agree with him.”
I swallowed hard, fighting a ton of emotions, ranging from terror and heartbreak, to frustration at having to hold aconversation right now, especially with someone from the Don’s camp.
“He loves it there,” I gritted out, and Luca nodded, dragging a hand down his jaw as he groaned.
“Yeah. Look, some of us will be here for him until he’s out of surgery. Beyond that, I uh…”
“I’m going nowhere, so feel free to fuck off back to whatever pretentious mansion you live in.”
He laughed again. “Starting to see why he threw it all away for you. Anyway, I know you both got in the way of bullets to save the Don, so thank you.”
I lifted my head to watch him as he stood up.
“Will it save him?”
He lifted his shoulders, smoothing his jacket as he seemed to straighten up and get even taller. Why was everyone in these bad guy groups so bloody tall?
“I hope so.”
He tipped his head at me, and turned to leave, joining the other suited men once more, and that’s when a woman sat beside me next.
“Jamie, I’m Sophie, Micro’s wife.” Oh, that’s right. We’d met briefly once or twice, but only spoken once, I think.
“Hi. Thanks for letting us borrow Micro the last few nights. He and Torch were… well, not exactly nice, or pleasant, but… well, not really helpful either, but…”
She giggled, patting my arm. “I completely understand. They’re like a double act, right?”
I clasped my hands in my lap, wondering if being joined by people was really any more preferable to sitting alone to wait for news.
“Grease will be okay, Jamie. He’s a stubborn son of a… I mean, he’s strong, and they say the bullet went right through.”
That still didn’t sound like a good thing, did it?
“I just need him to wake up, so I can call him all the assholes under the sun for getting himself shot. Shot, Sophie. He was shot!”
She nodded, shooting a glare across the room at her husband, of all people.
“Yeah, tell me about it. I’m actually surprised it wasn’t my damn husband this time. He’s like a bullet magnet.”
Micro had stood up to join us after that glare, and he rested his hand against his chest.
“Oh, baby, that hurts. I’ve only been shot a few times. You say it like it happens weekly.” I couldn’t enjoy their banter, not until I knew Grease was okay.
That doctor guy from the ambulance stepped in from the corridor, and headed for me, dropping down into the seat beside me, as others crowded around us, mafia and bikers alike.
