I swallowed, then shook my head. “No. Luca’s right. I need to pack up my things.”

Frowning, but without protest, Aria led me toward the Aston Martin.

Matteo

Every inch of my body hurt and my head felt like it was filled with cotton. Groaning, I tried to open my fucking eyes, which seemed to be glued shut. Resisting the urge to peel them open with my fingernails, I slowly opened them a tiny bit, then finally fully. Luca was sitting in a chair next to my bed. A fucking hospital bed. “Don’t tell me you took me to a fucking hospital?” I rasped, then coughed. Fuck. I felt like death warmed over.

Luca leaned forward, a wry smile on his face. Did he have to look so damn worried? I wasn’t a kid who needed his protection anymore. “Now that you’re swearing again, I’ll consider moving you to my penthouse. Romero is already looking forward to playing nurse.”

I was reaching for the needle in the back of my hand to pull it out but paused when his words sunk in. “Your penthouse?”

“You’ll need to rest a few days. And I know you, so there needs to be someone to keep an eye on you.”

He was watching me carefully. As if he was trying to gauge if I could take the bad news. “Did something happen to Gianna?”

“No. She’s fine.” He paused.

“Spit it out. Damn it!”

“I made a deal with her.”

“Stop fucking around. Tell me the fucking truth. I can take it.”

“When she called me, you weren’t breathing. I was worried she’d use her chance to run.”

“My life against her freedom,” I said with a dark laugh.

“She agreed. Now she’s home with Aria, packing her bags.”

“We need to protect her from the Outfit. Her Father won’t accept it.”

“You want to protect her?” Luca asked incredulously.

“She’s still my wife. And I’ll protect her as long as she’ll let me.”

“She’ll leave as soon as I’ve set everything up. You better forget about her sooner than later.”

I glared. “Would you just forget Aria because someone told you to?”

“Aria wouldn’t need bribing to save my fucking life.”

I jerked the needle out of my hand and sucked the blood away that welled up before I swung my legs out of the bed, despite my splitting headache. My eyes scanned the table beside my bed for my knives and my gun holster. They weren’t there. Damn it. I felt fucking naked without them.

“Fuck,” Luca muttered. The bastard grabbed my shoulders to stop me from standing. “I didn’t mean to get you all riled up. You’re supposed to stay in bed.”

“I don’t give a damn. I’m not a fucking toddler. Stop patronizing me. I’ve dealt with worse shit than a headache.” I shrugged his hands off and slid off the edge of the bed. Big mistake. The moment my bare feet hit the floor, I swayed. Luca steadied me. With a groan, I sank back down on the bed. “What did they give me? I feel as if someone put Roofies in my drink.”

Luca gave me his most patronizing expression. “I told you to stay in bed.”

“Shut up.” I blinked a few times. It did nothing to banish the dots from my vision. “I want to get the hell out of here. I’m fine.”

“You’re fine when I tell you. I’m your Capo.”

I opened the drawer in the bedside table, but my weapons weren’t in there either. “Where are my knives?”

“In the car. I could hardly roll you into hospital armed to the teeth.”

I clenched my jaw, then pushed myself to my feet again. This time I hardly swayed at all.

Luca glowered at me. “Goddammit, Matteo. Why can’t you listen for once?”

“Don’t give me that bullshit. If our situations were switched, you’d be out of the fucking hospital already.” He didn’t bother denying it. I knew him. “Let’s go.”

Luca thrust a bag at me. “Sandro picked up a few clothes for you. The ones you were wearing during the crash have to be burnt.”

I got out of the embarrassing hospital gown and slipped into clean jeans. “What about underwear? Maybe Sandro likes it if his junk jiggles around in his pants, but I prefer another barrier between my balls and the zipper.”

Luca snorted. “I wonder what it will take to shut your big mouth. Almost getting killed and having your wife leave your sorry ass obviously isn’t enough.”

I stopped buttoning my shirt. I knew he was joking. And he was right. Nothing ever got me down. Not when our mother died, not when Father beat the crap out of me, not when I was bleeding like a pig. Then why the fuck did mentioning Gianna feel like a fucking punch to the gut? Damn it. I was turning into a pussy. I sent Luca a forced grin, but he was already scrutinizing me with a frown.

“Don’t tell me you’re so eager to get out of hospital because you hope to walk across Gianna and talk her into staying with you. She won’t. The selfish bitch wants freedom.”

I stalked toward him, getting right in his face. “Don’t call her bitch.” Then I fucking swayed and had to grab Luca’s shoulder to stop myself from making a faceplant. So much for being threatening. Damn it.

Luca only stared.

“I swear if you don’t stop giving me that fucking pitying look I’m going to beat you to a bloody pulp,” I muttered.

“I don’t pity you. Pity is for people who got into a bad situation with no fault of their own, but you chose Gianna. You saw how volatile and fucking annoying she was and you still wanted her. You were turned on by her bitchiness. You got yourself into this mess. Now you have to deal.”

“Cold-hearted bastard,” I said, glad he didn’t try to console me.

Luca smirked. “Always.”

I shoved my shirt into my jeans and slipped into my shoes. “Sandro is a fucking asshole. No socks either? Is he a nudist or what?”

“He probably thinks you are.”

I headed for the door, trying to walk as tall as possible despite my wobbly legs. Luca walked too close. He probably thought he might need to catch me if I fainted. “Stop hovering. People will think you’re my sugar-daddy.”

Luca ignored my comment. “What do you remember before you woke up?”

Back to business, thank God. “A bunch of cock-sucking Russians chased Gianna and me. I got rid of the first car pretty quick. A bullet between the brows got rid of the driver and the resulting crash of the other fuckers. The second car was more trouble. I don’t remember what happened to them.”

“They burnt in their car. Charcoal all of them.”

“What about my car?”

“Charcoal.”

“Great.”

“Could have been worse. You didn’t look good when I first saw you.”

I reached for the tender spot on top of my head. A few nurses watched us as we passed them, but they didn’t stop us. Luca had probably already settled everything in advance.

“You’re lucky they didn’t shave your entire head. Knowing how vain you are, you wouldn’t have stopped bitching about it.”

“You know how to cheer me up,” I said.

Luca was busy texting someone. He barely glanced up.

“You’re warning Aria that we’re coming, aren’t you?” I couldn’t help but wonder if Gianna was still with Aria, if they were making plans for Gianna’s future without me. Luca had offered Gianna freedom on a golden platter. She’d be stupid not to go through with it. A life away from the mafia was something she’d always wanted. Away from me. She’d finally get her wish.