Page 94 of The Doctor

“No.” He stepped back toward the door to the room. Jet’s spare room. There were rubber mats and punching bags, and over near the corner, tiny specks of blood that reminded me of the man I’d killed. “Mario went to check on Cosimo and Ida. They’re worried about the lieuten—”

“No!” I yanked at my hair again, feeling strands being pulled from my scalp. “It’s not safe, Mic. It was him. It was Cosimo!”

He pulled me into a hug, but it wasn’t the comforting kind. It was a tight hold. A strong hold. The kind I was sure I’d be getting more of if I couldn’t get myself under control.

“It’s okay, Clara.” He pressed his face to the top of my head. “Cosimo’s not going to hurt his son.”

That’s not his son.

A horrible realization came to mind: What if Paulo was wrong? What if the last thing he said to me wasn’t true at all?

Cosimo doesn’t know.

That’s what Paulo had uttered as he lay dying on the sidewalk.

Cosimo doesn’t know.

Maybe Paulo didn’t think so, but what if he did? What if Cosimo knew the truth? What if it had set off the crazy old man who had murdered the former kingpin?

“Did you take your pill, Clara?” Mic said, tightening his grip as I tried to shimmy away.

Take your pill, Clara. There’s two left. Take a pill and let it all melt away.

“Not yet,” I finally managed. I finally managed to make myself stop. To hold myself still and not struggle against his hard grip.

“Do you have any?”

Nodding, I edged back enough to look up at him. “Zee gave me two. They’re in my purse.”

“Shall we go get it?”

Terror struck through me. “Who else is here?”

His brow furrowed, then he pointed toward the door, as if I could see through the walls and know it myself. “Santini and his girls, Eliza, and us. I heard they’re bringing Sarah and Chaya and your mother so they can free up some men.”

“My mother?” My fingernails tore at the skin on my chest, opening old wounds. “What about my father and brother?”

Mic grimaced. “They can’t find Berto. He’s not answering his phone.”

“And Stephano?”

He shook his head. “I don’t know. I don’t think they’ve gotten that far yet. They’re still trying to find Berto and Arik.”

I swallowed hard and let the sharp bite of my fingernails remind me to focus.

Focus.

I had to get myself under control.

“I need my pill.” If it came out as more than a whisper, I wouldn’t have known. Not with the screaming monster inside my head.

Mic must have heard me anyway. He nodded, then reached for my hand, tugging me out into the hallway and toward the front door.

Santini stopped us before we could pass the couch, dragging his bloodshot and vacant eyes from the floor. “Where do you think you’re going?”

Mic froze, but Santini didn’t scare me. Not with little Laney cuddled in his lap.

“I need my purse.”