by Alexa Land
“You still wouldn’t have approved.”
“Well, no, but I would have been wrong. I never in a million years expected Dante and Vincent Dombruso to be so reasonable. I thought my brother was walking into a viper den.”
We were soon to find out his fears weren’t entirely misguided.
*****
Luca came out of surgery after three and a half hours. He awoke briefly, then slept for the next several hours as I sat by his bedside. I’d intended to stay awake, but I awoke in the evening with my arms and head on the edge of his bed. He was awake and stroking my hair gently, his hand trailing cords from an IV.
“Hey,” I said, taking his hand carefully and brushing his dark hair back from his eyes. “Are you in pain? Do you need me to call the nurse?”
His mouth was dry when he tried to talk, so I quickly poured him a cup of water from the little plastic pitcher on his bedside table and held the straw to his lips. He took a couple sips, then asked, “What happened?”
“Your brother accidentally shot you. He would have accidentally shot me, but you got in the way of the bullet.”
He thought about that for a few moments, then said, his voice a raspy whisper, “There was a car, a black one. It crashed into the furniture store.”
“Right. That was my cousin Jerry and a few of his men. They came running when the alarm to the store was triggered. When they saw everyone with their guns drawn through the glass wall, they decided to create a diversion.”
“Is everybody okay?”
“We’re all fine.”
“Where’s Andreo?”
I tilted my head to the upholstered chair in the far corner where his brother was sleeping and said, “I think he’s pretty jetlagged, he’s been sleeping since you got out of surgery and the doctor told him you’d be okay.”
Luca seemed groggy, probably because they had him on a steady narcotic drip. He asked after a moment, “Is he giving you problems?”
“No. We reached an understanding.”
He looked relieved at that, and murmured, “Good,” as he closed his eyes.
A nurse came in a few minutes later and took his vital signs, then told him, “I’m supposed to call the police station now that you’re awake. They want to ask you about the shooting. Do you feel up to that?”
When Luca nodded, she left the room and I filled him in on the story they’d put together to keep Andreo from being arrested. The same officer showed up about twenty minutes later and took Luca’s statement. When she finished, she handed me a business card and said, “Seems pretty straightforward. Tell Mr. Dombruso he can pick up his weapon at impound tomorrow. I don’t anticipate any further investigation.” Andreo, who’d awakened when the officer arrived, waited until the woman left before letting out a sigh of relief.
*****
Dante and Vincent returned around midnight, after being gone several hours. Both men were tense and on high alert. They’d left after Dante received a text that seemed to concern him. “We’ve got trouble,” he told me.
“What’s going on?” I asked as Luca’s grip on my hand tightened slightly.
Dante said, “It’s Jerry. Apparently he didn’t buy my story about Andreo’s identity, so he did some digging. Our family has files, too, on a lot of people we’ve done business with, and on everyone we’ve ever identified as being a part of the Natori organization. That includes a couple old photos of Andreo. There are hundreds of pictures in the files, which is probably why Jerry didn’t remember Andreo when he first met him. I guess he still looked familiar though, or maybe our story was flimsy enough to make our cousin head for the archives. Now that he knows the truth, apparently he’s furious that we lied to him.”
“Shit,” Andreo mumbled.
“It gets worse,” Dante said. “He wanted to know why you were in town, so he traced your men to the Oberon Hotel.”
Andreo stood up quickly. “How?”
“He’d noted the license plate of your SUV and has a contact that can hack into all the traffic cams in the city. I guess they were pretty easy to track down, because they were parked on the street right in front of the Oberon. Once he found them, he went to their hotel with a bunch of men and roughed them up until they started talking. One of them folded like a house of cards, apparently. He told Jerry you’d come to San Francisco to get your brother Luca, because you were afraid we’d find out he was a Natori and kill him.”
“Oh God,” Andreo mumbled, his face going pale. “All these years of keeping my brother hidden, and just like that, it’s all gone to hell. It’s totally my fault, too.”
“How do you know all of this?” I asked Dante.
“Even though I stepped down from running the organization, a lot of our family has remained loyal to me, especially those who’ve questioned Jerry’s leadership and decision-making since he took over. That includes his sister Carla. I texted her earlier today and asked her to keep an eye on her brother for me, since I had a feeling he wasn’t fully buying what we told him,” Dante said. “Turns out I was right.”
“So, what happens now?” I asked him. I was on my feet, one hand on Luca’s shoulder.
“I’m getting all of you out of here. I have a private ambulance on the way to transport Luca, I don’t think he’s safe in this hospital. I sent my husband to Nana’s house, Nico, and told him to locate your passport and pack a bag for you.”
“My passport? Where are we going?”
“I’ll tell you in a minute,” Dante said. “Andreo, do you have what you need to travel?”
Luca’s brother touched the pocket of his suit jacket and said, “I have my passport right here. Just so you know, I’m going wherever my brother does.”
“We planned on that,” Dante said. His phone buzzed and he took it out and looked at the screen, then said, “The ambulance is five minutes out. Let’s move.”
“Luca’s in no condition to travel,” I said.
“I realize that, but the good news is, his bed is on wheels. He doesn’t have to move a muscle,” my cousin told me.
“And you think the hospital staff is just going to let us roll him out of here?”
“They’re about to get really busy,” Dante said. I could have sworn there was a little spark of amusement in his dark eyes.
While his brother was talking, Vincent released the wheel stops on the bed and slid the table out of the way. He turned to Andreo and said, “Your job is to stay right by your brother’s side and hold this up.” He unhooked the IV bag from its metal stand and handed it to Andreo, who took his post with a solemn expression.
“Alarms are going to go off as soon as you unhook him from these machines,” I said, then quickly went around the room and powered down all the monitors before disconnecting them from Luca.
A minute later, a blood-curdling scream came from down the hall and Dante grinned. “That’s our cue. We’re going in fifteen seconds, everybody be ready.” Doctors and nurses were running past our doorway, heading toward the scream, which had come from somewhere to the left of Luca’s room. Soon my cousin said, “And we’re out of here,” then swung the door open and held it while Vincent pushed the bed.
Andreo and I followed. When I looked to my left before we ran in the opposite direction, I caught a glimpse of Dante’s friend Christopher Robin and his husband Kieran. They were both in full zombie makeup and covered in fake blood, yelling and flailing hysterically while a group of doctors and nurses tried to calm them down. When we boarded the elevator and were on our way to the ground floor, I looked at Dante and said, “Zombies? Really?”
My cousin shrugged, still grinning. “I didn’t tell Christopher to show up in zombie makeup, I just told him to cause a diversion. What can I say? He’s an artist, he got creative.”
On the bottom floor we got lucky, because no one saw us as we slipped out a staff entrance. Or for all I knew, maybe there were more zombies downstairs distracting the staff, too. In the parking lot, a man and woman stepped forward and transferred Luca int
o the ambulance so quickly, carefully and efficiently that they had to be medical personnel, even though they were dressed in street clothes. Andreo climbed in with his brother and hung the IV bag from a hook on the ceiling of the ambulance. The medics climbed in too and immediately began hooking Luca to a bank of monitors.
Dante’s husband came up to me and handed me my backpack and a small suitcase. “I packed in a hurry,” Charlie told me. “Sorry if I forgot anything important.”
“Thanks, I’m sure it’s fine.” I checked the backpack and located my passport in the front pocket.
Dante told me, “The ambulance will take you, Luca and Andreo to the airport. We gave my brother Gianni a heads-up, and he and his boyfriend will meet you in the South Pacific. We thought it was best that you go somewhere with family, in case you need a hand.”
“Luca’s in no condition to travel that far.”
“He’ll be fine,” Dante assured me. “I had to fly once right after surgery, and I’m setting him up with a doctor and nurse on a private plane, just like I had. They’ll keep him stable.” He pulled a thick envelope from his pocket and handed it to me, which proved to be full of cash. “I didn’t have time to exchange this for the local currency, but you’ll be able to do that at the concierge desk at the hotel. Don’t use your credit cards while you’re away, just to be on the safe side. I’ll handle your financial transactions from here, call me if you need anything.”
“Do you really think Jerry’s going to come after us?”
“I wouldn’t put it past him,” Dante said. “Now you should get going. We’ve been lucky so far, and I don’t want you to be detained by hospital security.”
“Yeah, okay. Thank you so much for all your help.” I hugged him and Vincent before I climbed into the ambulance. “I’ll talk to you both soon,” I said, and pulled the doors shut behind me.
The moment I sat down, the ambulance started moving. Luca was taking in everything with wide eyes. “You’re going to be okay,” I told him, making a conscious effort not to look worried. “We’re going to take you somewhere safe.”
“Just stay close, okay?” His voice still sounded raspy.
“I won’t leave your side. I promise.” He nodded and let his eyes slide shut as he exhaled slowly. I took his hand after I forced mine to stop shaking.
Chapter Fourteen
The flight to Tahiti took all night, including a stop-off to refuel in Hawaii. Dante had booked us on a private jet, and the doctor and nurse who’d met us at the hospital went with us. They kept Luca comfortable with a steady drip of pain meds, and closely monitored his vital signs. He ended up sleeping through most of the flight, and so did Andreo.
I couldn’t fall asleep, though. My worry kept me up. I watched Luca closely, taking his pulse every few minutes and reading the machines that had accompanied us onto the plane, even though the medical professionals were already doing that.
They were an interesting pair. I found out Julie (the doctor) and Peter (the nurse) were husband and wife, both in their late fifties, and I got the impression they specialized in less than legal medical emergencies. I wondered how long they’d been mob doctors for my family, or if this was a new arrangement.
“Are you a doctor?” she asked me when I took Luca’s pulse for probably the twentieth time and recorded it on a chart I’d made for him.
“No. I used to be an EMT,” I told her.
“Why’d you quit?”
I shrugged and told her honestly, “My personal life imploded, and my career became collateral damage. I’m in law school now.”
“Why law school and not med school?”
I shrugged and said, “I never believed I had what it took to make it through medical school.”
“I think you probably sold yourself short,” Julie said before going to sit with her husband at a little table by the window.
The young, attractive flight attendant brought them coffee and asked me if I needed anything. “Just to get there already,” I murmured. She assured me it wouldn’t be much longer.
My cousin Dante never ceased to amaze me with his ability to get things done quickly, and with perfect attention to detail. Another private ambulance was waiting for us on the island, along with a car and driver since that ambulance was quite small. Only Luca and I could fit in the back of it, and everyone else followed in the town car.
Both the airport and the medical facility where Dante had made arrangements were in Papeete, and it was just a short drive. Soon Luca was tucked into bed in a modern, private room. I’d have been willing to bet it was the most state-of-the-art facility in all of French Polynesia, just because Dante would have made sure of that.
Luca fell asleep again almost immediately, and I sent a text to my cousin Gianni. It said: Hey. So, I’m in Tahiti. I assume Dante told you I was coming, and that basically everything back home is a complete disaster. Where are you and your boyfriend?
He wrote back just a minute later: Zan and I are en route, we should be there tonight. We were at sea when Dante called us on the satellite phone yesterday. How’s your boyfriend? By the way, you’ve told me nothing about him so I’m ticked off at you!
I answered with: He seems to be okay. You and I have a lot of catching up to do. Looking forward to seeing you. I assume your freakishly thorough brother told you exactly where to find us.
Gianni replied: Of course he did. See you soon, Cuz.
I returned the phone to my pocket and watched Luca as he slept. Andreo and Julie, our doctor to-go, came in a few minutes later. They were both speaking fluent French with one of the doctors on duty. As he made a few notes on Luca’s chart, Julie told me, “We’re leaving your boyfriend in capable hands, Nico. Good luck to both of you.”
“Thanks for everything. Are you and Peter flying right back?”
“No. We reserved a cozy cottage on the beach for the next couple weeks. We’ll be following up with Luca when he gets out of the hospital, and in the meantime, we’ll be enjoying a nice little vacation, courtesy of your cousin Dante.”
Once she and the other doctor left, Andreo came up to me and said, “Why don’t you take a break, Nico, and get yourself something in the cafeteria? I don’t think you’ve eaten in hours.”
I shook my head. “I promised Luca I wouldn’t leave his side. No way do I want him waking up somewhere unfamiliar without me.”
“It won’t do either of you any good to let yourself get run down and dehydrated.”
“I know, but I’m not going anywhere. Maybe one of the nurses can bring me some coffee.”
“You’re as stubborn as my brother,” he said as he turned and headed for the door. “I’ll bring you something so you don’t keel over.”
“Thanks,” I called after him, not too loud since I didn’t want to wake Luca.
He returned a few minutes later with sandwiches, coffee and little plastic tubs of tropical fruit salad, and we both ate at Luca’s bedside. Halfway through the meal, my phone buzzed and I pulled it out, read the long text from Dante, and fired off a reply before finishing the rest of my sandwich in two big bites.
“Was that news from San Francisco?” Andreo asked before wiping his mouth with a paper napkin.
I nodded. “It’s such a mess. Jerry’s on a rampage. He’s furious with Dante and Vincent for lying to him, and for protecting you and Luca. I don’t know what he’s going to do, but this isn’t just going to go away.”
“Do you think Jerry can track us here?”
“I’m sure Dante covered our tracks. He probably paid someone off to make the passenger list from that private flight go away.”
Andreo said, “It’s surprising that Dante and Vincent are on our side. They were directly affected by what my father did. If anyone had cause to hold a grudge, it would be them.”
“They despised your father, but they’re also both truly exceptional people. They’ve managed not to let the actions of one person color their opinions of your entire family.”
“They’re bette
r men than me,” Andreo said, looking down at his coffee cup. “I really believed all you Dombrusos were the same, a bunch of lowlife thugs. But then, I learned that from my father, so I should have known not to just accept it.”
I had to ask. “What kind of a father was Sal Natori?”
“Cold. Demanding. He raised me to be a soldier in his army and the heir to his blood-soaked throne. The fact that I wanted no part of his legacy was irrelevant. I’m so glad Luca barely knew him and was spared all that shit.”
“What about your mom, what was she like?”
“I don’t really remember her. She died when I was four.”
“I’m sorry,” I said. “What happened to her?”
“I think my father killed her, not that I have any proof. He would never tell me how she died.”
“So, who raised you?”
“A long string of nannies,” Andreo told me, balling up his sandwich wrapper and getting up to toss it in a trashcan near the door.
“Sounds like a lonely childhood.”
He shrugged and said, “I survived. If you’re done interviewing me, I’m going to take a nap. Wake me if my brother needs anything.” Andreo returned to the chair in the corner and tried to fold his large frame into it.
“I’m glad Luca has you in his life,” I said after a pause.
“I’m glad he has you, too.” A minute later, he was snoring softly.
*****
My cousin Gianni looked better than I’d ever seen him. It was more than the fact that he was tan and toned. There was something in the way he carried himself, a relaxed confidence that I hadn’t seen before. I watched him and his boyfriend Zan approaching the medical center from the window in Luca’s room. They were hand in hand, deep in conversation, their heads inclined toward each other. Alexzander Tillane was a very famous pop star, and a couple months earlier they’d sailed off in search of some peace and privacy, away from the relentless paparazzi.