Page 16 of The Woman with the Target on her Back (Grassi Family)

“Well, let’s try to keep it that way,” I said, getting a nod out of her.

“Who would try to kill my dad?” she asked aloud. “If he’s the one keeping all of them out of the cells they should rightfully be occupying?”

“I don’t know, babe. When he wakes up, hopefully he can tell you that. You want to go see him now?” I asked, even if my stomach tensed at the idea of taking her out of the hotel when the streets could very well be dangerous for her right now.

“Yeah,” she said, nodding, then following me numbly toward the door.

I wasn’t allowed up to the ICU with her, and she visibly tensed at the idea of having to go alone.

“I’ll be right here,” I promised her, waving toward the seating area. “When you’re done, come right down to me, okay?”

“Okay,” she agreed, nodding, then turning and walking stiffly toward the elevators just a few feet away.

Then and only then did I pull out my phone.

I ignored the calls and texts from my brothers.

But immediately opened the one from, of all people, Aurelio.

Aurelio was Lucky, Sofia, Milo, and Elisa’s brother.

A cousin.

Not someone I typically heard from on some random day out of nowhere.

Where are you? Luca and Nino sent me.

Fuck.

I guess I was going to have to face consequences a lot sooner than I’d anticipated.

Hospital,I texted back.

Then waited.

It wasn’t long before he made his way down the hall toward me.

There was no mistaking the family resemblance between Lucky, Aurelio, and Milo.

All were tall, black-haired and fit. Aurelio had warm brown eyes and lashes that chicks were always commenting on. The last few years had put a small bit of gray in his hair and chiseled out his jawline even more than usual.

“Tell me she’s worth all the shit you are going to get for this,” he said, dropping down in the chair next to mine.

“She was in trouble. I had to help her,” I said.

“She in here?” he asked, waving around at the hospital in general.

“No. Her old man.”

“This sounds like a long story,” he decided.

“It is,” I agreed.

“I’m getting coffee first then,” he said, moving down the hall toward the machine.

Then when he came back, I launched into it.

“I see,” he said when I was done recounting everything that seemed pertinent. And quite a few things that definitely weren’t.

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