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“Do you think I give a shit that the café closed because you got injured?” my boss asked.
“I don’t know, Sir,” I answered truly, and he sighed, regret filling his eyes.
“Well, I don’t, son. People come before money, you understand? If we close for an hour or two hours, or if we don’t open until tomorrow,chissenefrega?La famiglia viene prima, capisci?” he scolded, gesturing adamantly with his hands. “You’ve been working for me for over a year, Braxton. We are all family here.”
Both warmth and relief coursed through me with his words. “Yes, Sir.”
“Good.” He nodded, gesturing to my hand. “Nicola said you put ice on it right away.”
“Yes. I grabbed a handful of ice with the cleaning towel and wrapped it around the burn.”
Concern weaved through his expression while processing my words. “You might have to go to the emergency room. Let me see.”
Holy hell. I didn’t want to touch it.
Glancing at me like he expected me to spew foam from my mouth and bark at him, Josh slowly reached for the towel while Nick angled the cellphone toward my right hand. Every cell in my body became rigid.
“Just rip it off,” I told him through gritted teeth, expecting the worst, and apparently so did they.
Josh, Nick, and Mr. Di Rossi all exchanged a glance, and Josh ignored my suggestion, gently uncovering the wound instead. The moment my hand became visible, all three of their brows creased in confusion. The skin was loose and wrinkled over it, white as though it had pulled off completely. The layer underneath was still an angry red, but it didn’t seem raw like it normally would after a severe burn, and there was no perspiration from the heat either.
Checking with me, Josh took the corner of the damp towel and gently cleaned a section of the injury. As the terry cloth rubbed my hand, the white skin rolled off it from the friction, leaving a smooth, though highly sensitive surface underneath it.
“You lucky bastard,” Josh scoffed, rubbing at a larger section.
“Does that hurt?” Nick asked, but it truly didn’t.
“No. It’s fully numb now,” I answered honestly. “But it wasn’t before… I don’t understand.”
Sighing in relief, Mr. Di Rossi nodded. “I agree with Josh. You were lucky. I think you might have reacted so quickly that you were able to avoid a deeper injury, and cooling the burn might have helped.”
Part of me wanted to agree, but I remembered the blatant scalding of the heat tearing through me when it happened, practically reaching the bone. My entire body had been weakened by the assault; I had felt it. There was no way it had been only a superficial burn.
“Thank you, Mr. Di Rossi. Don’t worry, I’ll go back to work now.”
“You are not going anywhere,” he scolded, turning to look at his grandson. “Nicola, can you close tonight?”
“Yes, Nonno.”
“Good. Please stay and make sure Braxton eats something. He looks exhausted.” He leaned into the camera. “Are those dark circles under his eyes?”
When my fingers lifted to check the probably fading makeup that covered my bruise, I realized I had been gripping the golden ring over my chest like it was my lifeline. My gaze fell to find the head of the glowing Dragon basically imprinted onto my palm.
“Josh, are there people outside the Subway?” my boss asked, tearing my bewildered eyes from my palm to follow Josh as he made his way to the front.
“Yes!” he yelled on his way back. “The hotties are making a line outside.”
Chuckling, Mr. Di Rossi shook his head. “Nicola, make Braxton something to eat and then go open the café again with Josh. I want you two to take care of things until the afternoon shift arrives. Braxton should probably take the rest of the day off, it will help him calm down from the scare.”
“That is not necessary, I can—”
“Nicola, was I talking to him?”
A cheeky grin stretched Nick’s mouth. “I didn’t hear you say his name, Nonno.”
“I didn’t think so.”
Rolling my eyes, I sighed. They were ganging up on me now.
