Page 30 of His Broken Queen

“They’re not going to get a second chance at me, baby. I promise.” He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Fuck.”

“Can’t we give him something for the pain?” I asked.

“Brett’s on his way up,” Gio said. “He’ll take care of him.”

How was he going to take care of him? This wasn’t a hospital. Romero needed a sanitary space with pain medicine and sterile equipment.

“I think we should go to the hospital.” I pressed my lips to Romero’s. “It’ll be safer for you. Please.”

“I’m okay, baby girl.” He rested his palm against my cheek. “Just don’t leave me, okay?”

“I would never.”

“What do we have?” Brett came into the room with his black bag and glanced at Romero’s shoulder. “It doesn’t look too bad.”

“The bullet didn’t go through,” Gio said. “Do you think you can remove it?”

When my knees buckled and I trembled a little harder, Romero smiled at me, trying to comfort me. It wasn’t working, and I should be the one comforting him.

“He needs to go to the hospital.” I said as Brett went to the kitchen and washed his hands. Shouldn’t a doctor know that?

All the guys gathered around the table. This was Romero’s operating room team? My stomach churned and I thought I might be sick, but I couldn’t leave his side.

“Luciana.” Brett came back into the room and put on a pair of gloves. “If Romero could go to the hospital, I wouldn’t be here. I promise I’ve done this before. I won’t let anything happen to him.”

“I will kill you myself if something happens to my brother.” Gio warned him. “Get moving so he can settle down and rest.”

“Everyone back up and let me work,” Brett said. “I don’t need a team.”

“Let’s stop fucking around and get this done.” Romero gritted his teeth when Brett examined his shoulder.

“Gio help me sit him up.” Brett slid his arm under Romero’s back as Gio assisted getting Romero into a seated position.

Romero gripped my hand as he scooted into a seated position. His damp hair fell onto his forehead as the sweat trickled down his face. His jaw tightened when Brett injected him with something I assumed was for the pain.

“Let’s cut this shirt off him.” Brett handed Joey a pair of scissors. “Then I can get to work.”

“Lu, you need to switch places with Gio.” Romero’s voice was weak.

“What? No, I want to be close to you.”

“Don’t argue with me.” He took a breath as Joey cut the shirt off him. “I don’t want to break your hand.”

“I don’t…what do you mean?” I asked.

“Beauty.” Gio placed his hand on the small of my back. “He’s going to have to squeeze really hard when that bullet comes out. He won’t break my hand, and if he does, he will forgive himself a lot easier than if he breaks yours.”

“I might break yours, Gio.” Romero jumped when Brett did something to his wound. “Just for a few minutes, Lu.”

I reluctantly let go of his hand. I wanted to make this easier for him, but I wanted to be as close to him as possible.

“Stay where I can see you, baby.”

I stood next to Gio as he took Romero’s hand. I wiped the tears away from my cheeks as the doctor did his thing.

“Don’t cry,” Romero said. “I can handle this.”

I didn’t watch what Brett was doing because I wanted to stay focused on my husband. When all the color drained from his face, I knew he was in a tremendous amount of pain, but he pressed his lips together and gripped his brother’s hand as Brett worked to dig out the bullet. I placed my hand on his thigh so he could feel me.

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