It was a sound assumption, one Angelo would have made on his own with the same information.
“So what we do?” Angelo asked.
Jared stopped pacing. “First, we get you out of here as soon as the doctor clears you. Then we get Kara to tell us who shereally is. Once we know what we're dealing with, we can create a game plan.”
“Dante is watching over Kara, but what if she is in real danger? That man knows she’s at my home with my family.” That had kept Angelo from sleeping for the last several hours, the thought that he might have put everyone he loved in danger.
“Roarke sometimes uses a security team to watch over his clients. I could ask him about some private muscle.”
Angelo nodded and laid his head back on the pillows. “Call them.”
“You got it,” Jared promised, then chuckled. “Can you believe he and Shana aredating?”
Angelo smile. “I can, actually. You and Thad were always so hard on him, but I knew he just wanted to be a part of our circle. Well, that and he was in love with Shana. You just had to get out of the way before he could make his move.”
Angelo had never missed Roarke’s longing looks at Jared’s ex-girlfriend, but it hadn’t been his place to interfere. Shana and Jared had to realize they weren’t right for each other in their own time. Once that happened, Roarke had a chance to show Shana he loved her. The pieces of their puzzle had been properly put in place. Angelo was glad for it.
“Angelo, do you really want to get involved in whatever this is?” Jared asked. “If Kara is on the run, we should get her to contact her handler and let the feds take are of this.”
The idea of Kara of vanishing in the night, never to be seen again, left his stomach in knots. “Do you remember how you felt when someone broke into Felicity’s apartment?”
Jared’s face paled. “Yeah, I remember. One of the worst days of my life.”
“How would you have felt about being told to step back and let someone else handle it.”
“Not great,” Jared admitted.
“That’s how I feel right now.” The thought of Kara in danger… well… he’d already gotten stabbed acting on his instinct to protect her. He couldn’t stop now.
“I get that, I do. But there are some things that are just too big to handle. If this is tied to the mob?—”
“If,” Angelo cut in. “Ifshe is in witness protection, maybe you’re right, maybe we should let the professionals handle it. But if she is, why hasn’t she already done that? What if she’s not in witness protection at all? What if this is something else entirely?”
The hospital door opened and Angelo tensed, but it was only his doctor.
Dr. Morales, the surgeon who’d operated on him, was a kind woman with eyes that told him she had seen a lot of pain and trauma over the years. “Good evening, Mr. Vertucci. I’m here to check on your drain and the incision area.” She glanced at Jared questioningly.
“He can stay,” Angelo assured her.
“Actually, I’d better go,” said Jared, taking his leave. “I’ll make that call to Roarke.”
Dr. Morales studied the drains connected to Angelo’s wound, then pushed up the hospital gown and examined the incision area. Five staples sank into his flesh, holding the incision together.
“Nothing looks inflamed. It’s not hot to the touch,” Dr. Morales murmured as her gloved fingers gently probed the area. “Any problems using the bathroom? Bowel movements coming back to normal?”
Angelo’s face flushed. “Yes. About two hours ago. Everything seems fine.”
“Good. Sometimes the surgery or the anesthesia can slow the gastrointestinal system. When we cut into you, we didn’t see any bowel injuries, but it’s important to keep watching for issues.”
“Can I start eatingrealfood yet?” he asked flashing the doctor a charming grin. The liquid diet they had him on had lost its appeal almost instantly.
“Not quite. Let’s give it until tomorrow, all right?” She picked up the chart at the foot of the bed. “White blood cell count looks normal. I don’t think we need to do a transfusion. How are you feeling overall?”
“Tired,” Angelo sighed. “Tired and sore.”
Dr. Morales smiled. “That’s normal. You had a massive adrenaline spike during the attack, then lost a lot of blood, before and during surgery. Then you had anesthesia given to you and general body trauma.”
“Body trauma?”
