Page 102 of Of Desire And Deception

“What’s wrong?” he asked, even as I heard him rousing his wife. “You’re on speaker.”

“Remi’s shot.” I looked over at her, where she weakly pressed the towel to her side. I didn’t stop at the next light or the one after that. “Shit went sideways at Madden’s.”

“How bad?” Olesya asked, sounding every bit the doctor she was.

“Side. Below the ribs.” I held on to Remi as I took a sharp corner. “Losing blood, but not enough to be fatal. For now.”

“I’ll meet you at the clinic,” Olesya said. “How far out are you?”

“Maybe ten minutes,” I answered, glancing at my surroundings. “Five if I hurry.”

“Don’t get fucking pulled over,” Dante warned. “You don’t want to explain how an ex-fed got shot at an agent’s house. Get her here safely.”

“Yeah.” I disconnected the call and lifted Remi’s chin. “You still with me?”

“Uh-huh,” she muttered weakly. “Getting shot… is damn… exhausting.”

“You know when I told you not to talk?” I asked.

“Yeah.”

“Fuck that.” I squeezed her shoulder, supporting her, so she didn’t slam into the door as I turned. “Breathe for me. Keep talking. I need to hear your voice.”

“You’re a fucking psycho,” she whispered, rubbing her cheek on the back of my hand. Her face got heavier as she struggled to stay awake. “But… you’re my… psycho. And I… love you.”

“I love you, too, Remi.” My voice cracked, and I cleared my throat.

Remi slumped, unconscious, and I swore, hitting the steering wheel as I raced toward Dante’s house. The gate was already open when I pulled up, and I flew past the main house and out back to Olesya’s clinic.

Dante’s men were already waiting, and Stefano pulled Remi’s door open before I’d even put the car in park. “Seatbelt.”

I clicked the button, and he pulled her into his arms, rushing down the steps to Olesya’s makeshift triage. I cut the engine and jumped out of the SUV, running after him. Olesya had already cut through Remi’s shirt and was poking around a wound that still seeped blood with her gloved hand.

“Cosimo, can you start an IV?” she asked, not looking away from her task.

“Yeah,” I answered, washing the blood from my hands at the sink and grabbing nitrile gloves.

She nodded to the metal tray with supplies. “Go ahead and get it going. Let’s get her under before she feels what I’m about to do.”

I willed my hands to stay steady as I placed the catheter and drew a syringe of the sedative, pushing it through the IV. Remi was paler than I’d ever seen her, breathing shallowly. I grabbed an oxygen mask and turned on the flow, holding it over her face.

“Bullet’s still in there,” Olesya said, reaching for serrated forceps. “Not too deep. I can get it. You going to be okay?”

“I’m fine,” I answered curtly. “Just get it done.”

“You look like you’re going to murder somebody,” Olesya murmured dryly, leaning over Remi.

“I am.”

Olesya glanced at me warily, and Dante stepped away from the wall, where I hadn’t noticed him before. His voice was low with warning, “Cosimo.”

“Not you,” I clarified, shaking my head, letting them know I wasn’t a threat. Not to family. Especially not while my sister-in-law worked to save my wife.

My face hardened, and my vision turned red at the edges. I smiled at the thought of what I would do next. “I’m going to slit the throat of every man I hunt down and spill blood until the fucking River Raiders beg me to take Madden from them.”

Chapter Thirty-Two

I shifted on the couch, wincing when the sutures in my side tugged. Getting shot was no joke, and bouncing back wasn’t as easy as I hoped.

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