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I pulled out my phone, but I didn’t have any messages, which made sense. I wasn’t even sure if Leo was conscious. Everyone had assured me he’d be fine, but what if they were wrong?
32
Leo
I came to in a car and lay still for a moment, not sure if I was safe. Then I remembered the satisfaction of cracking Swain’s neck and watching his body fall to the ground.
Ezra. Had he really been there? I opened my eyes enough to see that X was driving and Giorgio was in the passenger seat.
“Ezra?” I asked, levering myself up on my arm. My entire body hurt, and I felt like I was weighed down, but I didn’t want to lie there. I wanted to see the man I loved.
“He’s fine,” X said.
“Why isn’t he with us?”
Giorgio snorted. “Because your big-ass, unconscious self was taking up the whole seat.”
X gave me a quick glance. “You need a doctor, so that’s our priority. Niall will bring Ezra to the Marchesis’ when he’s done supervising cleanup.”
“Swain’s dead?” I needed confirmation.
“Very,” Giorgio said. “You were epic, and so was your man.”
My man? “Ezra? What do you mean?”
“Your weak ass was unconscious, so you missed it.”
I growled. “Weak? You fucking slept through—”
“Enough,” X snarled.
Giorgio just laughed. “Don’t be so damn sensitive.”
“What. Did. I. Miss?”
“After you killed Swain, Niall was untying me, and one of Swain’s men burst in. Ezra shot him right through the heart without hesitating.”
“He did what? How did he get a gun?”
“Niall gave him one,” X said.
“What? Why?”
Giorgio huffed. “So he could save our asses apparently.”
“I didn’t even know he knew how to shoot.”
“He did target shooting in his teens,” X said.
“I… I thought…”
“You thought he couldn’t handle this. Well, you were wrong.” Giorgio sounded so fucking satisfied with himself. I would have punched him if I had the strength.
“What the fuck happened? How’d Swain know we were there?”
X blew out a long breath. “I pushed Emilio too hard. He warned me he was treading on dangerous ground. Someone who works for Swain had tracked some spyware back to him. They fed him misinformation, and worse, they exposed him to his rivals.”
“Fuck. Where is he now?”
“He showed up at my house, and I brought him with me. He’s with Niall too.”
“Wait. He came to your house?”
“He’s known who I was all along. I assumed he did, so I wasn’t all that shocked.”
I supposed if he couldn’t find out X’s real identity, he wouldn’t be the hacker we needed.
X parked in front of the Marchesis’ house, and I didn’t get a chance to ask any more questions. Giorgio hobbled in front of me, and X insisted on helping me stay upright. I wanted to insist I could walk on my own, but I wasn’t sure I could. Between the tranquilizer, the blood loss, and the beating, I wasn’t doing so good.
I faded in and out of consciousness as Dr. Morelli cleaned my wounds and assessed the damage to my ribs.
“You’re going to need to rest for several days. Maybe a week. You need time to heal.”
“It’s really not that bad,” I insisted.
She narrowed her eyes at me. “It really is.”
“I’ll make sure he takes some time off,” X said.
The scowl I gave him made Giorgio laugh, but the doctor turned to him next.
“The tranquilizer did a number on you too. You’re not in good shape either.”
I was focused on Giorgio’s attempts to convince the doc he was fine when I felt a jab in my arm and glanced over to see her injecting me with something. “I’m giving you a pain killer. It will help you—”
“No!” I knew it was too late, but I didn’t want her to knock me out. “I need to—”
“Where is Leo? I want to see him.” It was Ezra. “I need to know he’s all right.”
As soon as Dr. Morelli pulled the syringe from my arm, I swung my legs over the side of the bed and pushed to my feet.
“Wait. You can’t—”
I lurched forward before she or X could stop me.
“Ezra!” I managed to make my way down the hall to the foyer. When Ezra saw me, his face lit up. I wanted to run to him, but I had to lean against the wall to stay on my feet. “You… you came to see me.”
“Where the hell else would I go?”
“I need to tell you something.” My words slurred. The pain medication was already taking effect.
I tried to focus on Ezra, but there seemed to be two of him.
“Leo, are you supposed to be out of bed?”
“No.” X grabbed me from behind. I winced as his fingers pressed against one of the deeper wounds.
“Sorry,” he said. “I can’t let you fall over.”
I tried to grab his hand to pull it off me, but my fingers didn’t seem to work right. “’S’ok. I can w-walk.”
