Page 87 of Fight Me Daddy

Gabriele

I paced back and forth.Calix wouldn't even let me get him into the shower when we made it to Amadeo's house. He was stretched out on the bedroom floor and was still there tossing and turning and mumbling in his sleep. There was blood all over him and I wanted to scoop him up and drop him into a damn bath. But for now, I had to let him sleep. What he'd just seen and done? It would stay with him for a long time.

Knock. Knock.

I glared at the doorway until Amadeo stepped through. He gazed at Calix before he nodded behind him. I didn't want to leave Calix, but I didn't want to wake him up either. Slowly, I followed Amadeo out into the hall after giving Calix one last glance. I closed the door slowly before we moved down the hall.

"He's asleep?" Amadeo asked.

"Yeah," I said. "I don't know how he can sleep after that."

"You know how it is. Some people's brains just shut down after something like that," he sighed. "The medicine didn't help."

"I told you not to do it," I hissed.

"He was hysterical," Amadeo pointed out. "A sedative was exactly what he needed before he ended up hurting himself."

I ran a hand down my face. Calix had been a mess by the time we arrived to Amadeo's. Amadeo had insisted on slipping a sedative into the drink he offered him and I had to admit Calix sleeping was better than him freaking out. I didn't want him to hurt himself either.

"There were people outside your place?"

I frowned at Ama. "Yeah. There's always a few men stashed over there to keep an eye on the place and they noticed them." I pushed my fingers through my hair and tugged until pinpricks of pain danced along my scalp. "This is my fuckin' fault."

"How?" Amadeo asked. "You didn't know this would happen."

"No, but someone must have followed me that night. I led them right back to Calix's place. He could have been killed."

"But he wasn't," Amadeo pointed out. "He's alive, you both are. Everything else we can handle."

Ric walked up the stairs and nodded at us. "Had a chat with Conor," he said as he pushed his hands into his pockets.

I balled up a fist and stepped toward him. "Where is that piece of shit?"

"He said he would have come, but he knew you were still too fired up. Conor didn't mean for any of this shit to happen when he recruited Calix. It was just-"

"If you say just business, I swear to god I will rip you to pieces with my bare fucking hands, Riccardo."

He nodded. "They're not having any easier of a time over there. He's got problems of his own. Or at least that's what he said. But in a day or two he wants to meet."

"Good," I said. "Because I plan on beating his ass."

"No," Amadeo said. "We both know that's a horrible idea. The peace we have is tentative at best and it looks like we're about to be in one war. No need to start two."

I scoffed. "If it were Six-"

"I'm well aware of my shortcomings," Ama bit back. "But I'm telling you this isn't going to happen. Conor will try to make up for it to keep us on his good side and you'll accept whatever the fuck he throws your way. He might have recruited Calix, but he didn't put a gun to his head, Gabe."

Amadeo held my gaze as I fought myself not to punch him instead. If Six was the one that had almost died, he would have lost his fucking mind. But I was expected to keep it together. Double standard bullshit.

"I'm not trying to fuck you over," Ama said. "I don't want you killed. Or Calix. If you're this messed up over a close call, imagine how you would feel if you made the situation worse and he ended up dead."

The pain that flared in my chest was enough to tell me he was right. I couldn't lose Calix or there would be no reason to keep doing this shit. My family meant the world to me, but I'd be damned if I went back to being lonely. If I returned to that place where the missing piece in me was even bigger than it was without Calix around.

"There's one more thing," Riccardo interrupted us. "Gonzalez and Son's gym was also burned down. We went over to protect it, but it was too late."

"Fuck!" I yelled and my fist connected with the wall. I pulled it back out of the hole I'd made and shook my hand out. "This is going to destroy him."

"So you need to keep him together," Amadeo said. He reached out and laid a hand on my shoulder. "That's your job now."

---