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CHAPTER27
“Is she okay?”I asked Elise as soon as I saw her.Her face was tearstained, red, and splotchy.
“She got hit by a cab.”She chewed on her bottom lip.“They said she was unconscious when she got here.They still have to update me on everything that’s happening.”She looked behind me at Stefano and stilled.He walked over to her, pulled her into his arms, and hugged her.He kissed the side of her head.
“I’m sorry, Elise.I’m here for you.”
“Thanks, Stefano,” she said.She looked up at him with big, sad eyes.“I can’t believe we’ve been arguing over something so stupid.”
“I know.”He let out a deep sigh.“Bradley is stupid, but …” I stared at him for a couple of seconds, and he recoiled.“I’m sorry.This is not the time or the place to get into that.How’s your mom?”
“I’m not sure yet.She wasn’t conscious when they brought her in.She was crossing the street with some groceries, and I guess a cab ran the light and hit her.”Her face crumpled, and she started crying again.I rubbed her back as Stefano rubbed the top of her head.We gave each other bleak looks.Santino and Sergio were standing behind, looking nervous.
“You guys want to go and get some coffee for Elise?”I asked them, and they both nodded silently.“Where’s Dad?”I suddenly realized that I wasn’t sure where my father was.
“Giving hell to the administrators downstairs,” Stefano said.“He wants information on Sienna, and he wants it now.”
“Of course he does,” I said, rolling my eyes.
Elise looked at me with a small smile.“I hope he can get some information,” she said weakly.“I’ve been waiting for them to come tell me something.And so far, no one’s come and told me anything.I don’t know what I would do without her.She’s my rock, my family.”
“We’re your family, too, Elise,” I said.“Don’t ever forget that.”
“I know.That was the best day of my life, meeting you four boys,” she said.“I’d always hoped that our parents would get married and we’d be officially related, but we’re as good as.”She gave a sweet little smile, and I nodded.
I heard my dad’s loud footsteps approaching, and I turned to him.“Any information?”
“Not yet.And I’m not sure what’s going on with her.”He pressed his lips together.He walked over to Elise and gave her a huge hug.“How are you holding up, my dear?”
“I’m okay.Thank you, Lorenzo.Thank you, all, for coming.It means a lot.”
“There’s nowhere else we would be right now,” Lorenzo said, shaking his head.I stared up into his face, and I could see he was nervous and worried.His eyes looked bleak, and he turned away from me quickly.
“You okay, Dad?”I put my hand on the back of his arm, and he nodded.
“I’m fine.We just need some information on Sienna.I told them if anything happens to her, they will have,” he pressed his lips together and turned to look around the room before he continued, “every single known Mafia member I still know in this hospital raising hell.”My lips twitched.
“Dad, really?”
“What?They have to know that if anything happens to her, there will be consequences.”
“You can’t threaten an entire hospital with the Mafia, Dad.You’re not even a part of it anymore.”
“I still have my connections,” he said, his eyes twinkling.“And anyway, where are your brothers?”
“Santino and Sergio went to get some coffee.”
“Good, good.I hope they get some donuts as well.”
“Really, Dad?”Stefano asked.
He shrugged.“What can I say?Coffee and donuts go together.”I pressed my lips together.
That's what my dad ate when he was stressed out.He’d always gone for coffee and donuts, but I wasn’t going to say anything in front of him to the others.That was his tell.And I was pretty confident he didn’t want everyone to know.I sat down in a chair and picked up a newspaper.I read a story about a woman who died in a studio apartment with five cats, and they hadn’t found her for three weeks.The only reason they’d known to go in was because her neighbor said a horrible stench was coming from the apartment.Sad.I wonder what it would be like to have no friends or family who would miss you if you died.No friends or family to check in with you for three weeks.I guess she supposed her five cats were her friends.I turned the page and saw a huge ad for Ford Motors.Hamilton Ford's picture beckoned at the bottom of the ad to come and buy a new car from him.
My heart stilled for a second as I thought about the evening, the look on Valentina’s face, the sadness in her eyes, the betrayal, the hurt.And there’d been a glint of something in Hamilton’s.It was almost as if he’d known I would be there.It was almost as if he’d done it on purpose.Not that I could blame him.I wouldn’t want me for a son-in-law either.I pulled out my phone and stared at it.I wanted to call Valentina, but I knew she wouldn’t answer.And I wasn’t sure I could take much more pain at this moment.Not while I was waiting to see if Sienna would be okay.If she died, that would upend all our lives.She was a key figure to all of us boys and to my dad.
I knew my dad had underestimated how much Sienna meant to him.I knew he undervalued and didn’t comprehend just what she was in his life.But he’d figure it out soon enough.And then it would be too late if she passed.Why were us Valenti men so stubborn and stupid that we couldn’t even see what was in front of our noses before it was too late?
