Chapter Fifty Six
Nicholas POV
"We should have her moved to a safer place. Chicago is not a place for her or us. I can have my jet take her back to New York," I whispered to Michael.
His wound had turned out to be pretty simple to fix. The bullet had gone clean through flesh. They had cleaned the wound, sutured him up, and wrapped the wound. He had to get intravenous antibiotics for seven days, but they were letting him wander around in his own clothing. Today, they agreed he could be discharged and do outpatient infusions. I didn't see any reason why any of us should stay here.
"We still haven't located Cain, and I don't like it," he argued.
"All the more reason we need to move her. She's stable now, the doctor said as much."
Michael stared at me, his face impassive. "If we move her to New York, what happens after that?" he asked.
"I'm not sure what you mean. We continue her medical care there until she can leave the hospital. We figure the rest out once that time arrives," I reply.
"Regarding Thomas Cain,we need to keep an eye on him. I still can't believe he snuck out like the pansy that he is," Michael hissed. They had a long history, and it appeared that Michael finally had enough. "I sent some guys to put eyes on his father's mansion."
"Any word on that?" I asked. I already knew quite a bit about that mansion; my guys had been watching it for months now.
Michael shook his head. "No sign of him. They have seen Vince come and go a few times, but he's heavily guarded and his place is a fortress. It's going to be a feat to get onto the property undetected. He has some vicious dogs, tall walls surrounding the place and cameras everywhere." He wasn't telling me anything I didn't already know. "We will have to get him outside of there."
"Why don't I just make an appointment to see him?" I offered.
"He must know by now that you are helping Camilla, as opposed to bringing her to him as was previously requested," Michael stated.
"I don't work for him, and I sure as hell don't take orders from him or his shithead of a son," I spit out. This entire thing was turning sour in my mouth. I wish I had dug deeper into this from the start, but I knew it had all felt off from the beginning and I kept that in the back of my mind.
Michael pushed off the wall where he'd been leaning. We were outside Camilla's room. Two of my men stood down at the end of the hall near the elevator, awaiting my orders to come back and guard her door. They were giving us privacy to discuss next moves. "I need to call my grandmother," Michael said. "She's waiting to hear what we decide before she gets on another plane."
Carmen Patron was presently tucked away in their Montana cabin, away from any prying eyes. It had been a snap decision not to send her to Italy or New York, while we waited on Camilla to recover. Enzo was with her, along with two of Michael's men. She was safe and out of harm's way. We'd have her meet up with us once we were out of Chicago.
"And what exactly did we decide?" I ask, since we had yet to agree.
"We will do it your way," Michael turned and walked away. Before he reached the elevator he turned back. "For now, Nicholas, but this can't go on. Camilla needs to go to Italy. You know that as well as I do. She won't be safe until I kill Thomas Cain."
"That or until she marries me," I threw back.
Michael stopped and looked me up and down. "Perhaps. Even then, I don't trust that snake. He's gotta die. May as well be sooner rather than later." With that, the elevator dinged, and the door opened. Michael stepped on and disappeared.
I gave a nod to my men and then walked into Camilla's room. It was dim and the only sound was the quiet bleep of her heart monitor. She was still sedated, which the doctor felt was best. She had a drain in her head to release pressure. When she had hit her head on the concrete, it had caused some swelling on her brain. The doctors said she was lucky, because it appeared she would make a full recovery thanks to the fact we brought her straight here. They had turned her sedation off a few times to check her neurological responses, and they said she was appropriate. I wasn't a doctor so much of it didn't make sense to me, but if they said she would be okay, that's what I was holding onto.
I sat in the chair next to her bed and reached out my hand to hers. I gently stroked my thumb along the top of her hand, hoping it brought her comfort that she wasn't alone. Between Michael and I, someone sat here nearly every hour of the day. "Camilla, I hope you can hear me. I hope you will remember that I was here with you. I couldn't bear it if you died, not like this. Trauma is a crazy thing; makes you realize things you might not have seen on your own." I paused watching her face. Her eyelashes fluttered a little, but she didn't open her eyes. Who was I fooling, she wouldn't wake up now. Not while she was sedated.
"I want to marry you when all of this is over. Not because it makes you safer or makes me some kind of all-important big boss. I never wanted that to begin with, but I'd do it for you. We are perfect for each other. You with your headstrong sass, your desires to have a family and be whole. I can give you that, I want to give you that. I never thought I wanted a wife or a family, but I was wrong," I leaned my forehead against my arm that was now resting on the edge of the mattress. I closed my eyes, for what felt like only seconds. It must have been longer because Michael was shaking me awake.
"Nick, get it set up," he told me as he shook me.
"What? Get what set up?" I asked, half asleep.
"The plane. The doctors said they will agree to it, but that a doctor and nurse must attend her on the flight."
"Well then, I have to find a doctor and a nurse first," I stood up to make some phone calls.
"Already done," Michael said. "There's a nurse who was here yesterday, she said she'd do it since she is off for the next four days. The neurosurgeon said he will send his Fellow along, since it's not a long flight. We are good, we have to make this happen in the next twelve hours."
"Okay, what time is it?" I asked, noticing it was now dark outside.
"Nearly nine, I've been working on all of this while you have been in here taking your princess nap," Michael joked.
"Fuck off, I will make the call," I told him, pulling my phone out of my pocket. I called my pilot, and within fifteen minutes we had the plans made. He was going to contact me with a tarmac time within the hour.
"Let's get this rolling," I told Michael as I hung up. "I'm ready to get out of this shithole."
Michael laughed and walked towards the door. "I won't be coming with you. My men and are I staying here to try and get eyes on Cain. I will keep you updated. Make sure you call me with your flight time, and I want updates every step. That's my sister I'm entrusting to you."
"I don't know if you noticed, but I've been looking out for her for a while now. I think we will be fine."
"Hmmm, don't fuck this up. My Nonna will have both of our balls, and you know it," he stated as he exited the room.
"Asshole," I mumbled as I sat back down in the chair and stared out the window to the night sky. In a few hours, I'd be back in my city. I dared Thomas Cain to come for us there; we would destroy him.
Ten minutes later, my phone rang. "Boss, meet me on the tarmac at midnight. That's the best the airport can do on short notice." I glanced at the clock hanging on the wall, it was barely half past nine.
"See you then," I cut off the call and walked into the hallway where my guys were keeping watch.
"Don't leave your posts, we are getting out of here shortly. No one goes into that room but me and the medical staff. Verify they are who they say they are," I gave them pointed looks.
"No problem," Antonio replied. "Can't wait to get out of here either." I nodded and walked towards the nurses' station to make contact with the medical team. I was getting Camilla out of here, and I did not care who tried to tell me I had no decision-making authority. We were leaving.