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Silence ensues, and I open my eyes. The light blinds me, but I blink through it. “Where is she?” I growl as I plant my hands on the mattress and push myself up. “Why the fuck am I in this damn hospital bed?”
“You need to be careful,” Jade whispers. “Please, Elio, your chest needs time to heal.”
I shake my head, trying to shake away the pain. “It’s a few fucking cigarette burns, Jade.”
Her face is pale as she glances at her husband. “Roc?” I ask, wondering what the fuck I’ve missed.
“There are cigarette burns,fratello, but there’s more.”
I grit my teeth. What did those cunts do while I was unconscious?
“They poured lighter fluid onto your chest,” Jade whispers. “Thankfully, a witness saw someone running from the scene and the cops and ambulance were on scene really quickly.”
“They set me alight?” I ask, and Jade nods. No wonder my fucking chest feels as though it’s burning. Those fucking cunts. “Where’s Chloe?” I ask again.
“They took her,” Jade tells me. “It’s been three days, Elio, and we have no idea who took her.”
Fuck. Three days… I’ve been unconscious for three fucking days?
“Fratello,” Rocco says as he steps closer, his arms crossed. His eyes have a glint of hardness. He’s ready to kill. “Tell me what you remember.”
“It was bikers,” I say through clenched teeth, as my chest burns yet again. “No cuts, no insignia, nothing. The fucker who did this to me knew who I was, but they were in masks. I didn’t see their faces.”
Jade nods, turns on her heel, and leaves the room, no doubt to call her family and update them.
“They’re going to pay for what they’ve done to you, Elio,” Rocco assures me. “Swear to you,fratello, we will get you revenge.”
My jaw clenches. “How bad?” I ask him, knowing that if anyone is going to give me a straight answer, it’s him.
“Bad. You needed surgery. You had to have skin grafts. It’s why you’ve not been awake. It’s going to take some time to heal.”
I don’t give a fuck. I’m alive. I want revenge. “Find out who did this,” I hiss. “I want their head on a platter, Roc. I want them to fucking pay for what they’ve done.”
“We will. No matter what, Elio, we’ll get our revenge.”
Something about the way he’s saying the words pisses me off. He’s not telling me we’ll get our revenge on the man who did this, just that we’ll get it. The question is, why?
“Makenna and Denis are still trying to call all of their contacts, trying to see if they can help uncover who took her,” Jade says as she re-enters the hospital room.
It clicks. The only reason my brother wouldn’t say it is because of his wife. “When you say we’ll get our revenge, you mean after the Gallagher’s have gotten theirs?”
Rocco’s jaw clenches, and that right there gives me the answer. “Denis’ daughter was taken.”
“I was fucking set alight,” I hiss at him, just as Dario enters the room. “When the fuck did you stop putting the Famiglia first?” I question him with disgust. Famiglia comes first, always. I get that Jade is his wife and has to be his priority, and I have no problem with that, but I sure as fuck have a motherfucking problem with the Gallagher’s being put ahead of us.
“That’s my family,” Jade says, crossing her arms over her chest in defiance.
“That’s mine,” Dario snarls. “The fuck, Roc? Why the fuck did you ever agree to this shit? If the men find out about this, there’s going to be uproar.”
Rocco nods, his jaw tight as he stares at me. “No matter what, you’ll have your revenge.”
“Fuck you, Roc. You made a fucking deal without even thinking about what’s best for the Famiglia. When the hell did you become Dad?”
“But—” Jade begins.
“Nothing, Jade,” Roc says, his voice low but filled with anger. “They’re right. That deal should have never been made. But I had to. It was what was right at the time. But if the tables were reversed, I’d be just as pissed as Elio.”
“He doesn’t know the full story,” she says, throwing her hands in the air.
