Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 83755 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83755 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
“Oh, my god,” I spoke through gritted teeth, struggling to wrap my head around their attitude. “So, no one’s got the guts to give me something? Anything?”
I had been hoping that my insult would yield some results. I didn’t know about Leonardo yet, but Matteo and Cesare’s egos were bigger than monster trucks. Again, though, my hopes were disproved. Matteo gnawed on his bottom lip, while Cesare and Leo selected to stroll away from my spot.
“Your brother’s a big boy, Piper,” Matteo spoke out, still avoiding making eye contact with me. “He knew what he signed up for. I know we should have asked him his last name, but still, you can’t blame us for this mess.”
“Shut up!” I shouted, turning quite a few heads. “How the hell do I know?” I lowered my voice. “The way I see it, if he hadn’t met you, he wouldn’t be in that OR. Know this, you sons of bitches. If he doesn’t make it, I’m holding you personally responsible. I’m sure the cops would just love to hear what you have to say about tonight.”
I spun around at the end of my sentence, something else coming to mind.
“I’ll be at the chapel, praying for Felix. If any of you grow some balls, come talk to me.”
I strode off, wishing I could just disappear from that waiting room in the blink of an eye. I couldn’t stand being around those gutless bastards. They had put Colby’s baby brother in harm’s way, and none of them had the courage to disclose what had come so close to killing him. Tough guys my ass… A man’s strength wasn’t in his muscles. It was in his heart. For all their posturing, those three were acting like they didn’t have one.
20
LEONARDO
Tough words.
Real tough.
Coming from a nurse, too.
If I had one reason to admire Piper before, I had two now.
It wasn’t every day that I got to meet a woman who didn’t take any shit from anybody. Matteo and Cesare wouldn’t admit this, but I couldn’t hide this from myself. Keeping the truth from Felix’s sister was just that. Giving Piper shit. Sure, we had to protect ourselves. We had to keep whatever we had been up to secret, but she wasn’t wearing a badge, was she? She wouldn’t go to the cops, either. She proved that on the night I got shot. So, not telling her what had gone down at the docks was one hundred-percent wrong. And, even knowing those two wouldn’t approve, I decided to head up to that chapel and have a conversation with Piper.
A real conversation.
Not a joke like the one we’d had earlier.
I left the busy hall behind me, a large crucifix against the far wall meeting my gaze. On its left, there was a picture of the Virgin Mary holding baby Jesus. Two rows of pews were stretching across the chapel, a small chandelier hanging from the ceiling. Two candlesticks were in front of either row, Piper sitting down on the first pew. I stepped into the flickering candlelight, watching my shadow on the hardwood floor.
“If you’re not here to come clean, you might as well leave,” she said, staring down at her interlocked fingers.
“Actually, that’s just what I wanted to do,” I said, my voice steady. “We tried to buy some guns but got caught in a turf war. There was an explosion. Felix just happened to be closest to it. It could have been either one of us.”
“An explosion,” she muttered, her eyes shut as she shook her head. “Dear god.”
“Look, I don’t mean to pour salt into the wound or anything, but your brother’s a big boy,” I pointed out. “He knew what he signed up for; he knew the dangers. No one forced him into anything.”
“You should have asked him his last name, Leonardo,” she suggested, scratching her cheek. “If you’d known, you wouldn’t have hired him. I hope.”
“I know, but…” I paused for a moment or two. “Would that have made a difference? I mean, we needed a trustworthy weapons’ expert, and Felix was in the army. Some street guys vouched for him, and voila. We hired him.”
“I wouldn’t have Okayed that,” she went on, turning her head left to face me. “I would have told you to find someone else.”
“Nope. That wouldn’t have happened,” I told her, my confidence bringing about her next question.
“How can you be so sure?” she asked with a squint.
“Because Felix was broke,” I explained, remembering what we had heard about him out on the street. “The people we talked to were positive. He’d been living on scraps for weeks. I thought you’d know all that, being his sister and all.”
She let out a long sigh, taking her eyes off of me to look into the void. “We’ve been estranged ever since he got discharged from the army. Felix’s been bouncing from job to job throughout his entire adult life. I got tired of the same old excuses.”