Chapter 25 Shirt Off
"If you have nothing to hide, then show me your shoulder right now," I say.
Our gaze communicates more than words as silence stretches between us. The way Dante's gaze falters under my scrutinising eyes tells me enough that he is indeed hiding something. Fuck. He's injured. How did it happen? Is that the reason why Dante and my father came back late? This has to be the Romanos fault. Fuck them. Why are they always causing chaos everywhere we are?
"Okay, I'll show you, but don't get mad," Dante says. He lets out a sigh and unbuttons his shirt. As he slips the right side of his shirt down his arm, he finally uncovers his little secret. The gauze wrapped over his shoulder is enough proof for me that he is hurt. Blood seeping a little through the dressing tells me the wound is still fresh. Did it happen today? Was he shot or stabbed? Who did it? Who did this to him? Did my father and the others get hurt as well?
"Is it from today?" I ask.
"Unfortunately. We got attacked on the way back from the winery. It seems the Romanos have been keeping tabs on us all this time. I hate to say this, but it looks like they're already one step ahead of us. Honestly, I'm not sure if we'll be able to get Mauro tomorrow. It could be a trap they set for us. Your father agreed not to do anything after we found Mauro for at least a week to prevent anything like this from happening to our men," Dante says.
"Fucking assholes," I say.
"Calm down. You don't need to worry about me. I'll be fine. It's just a graze, not a deep bullet wound in my shoulder. A couple of stitches already fixed it. I'm sure it'll heal in two weeks or so," Dante says with a shrug. I know he's telling the truth, but my concern still clouded my vision. He's definitely as strong as he looks, but I can't help but worry about him. A wound is still a wound, no matter if it hurts as fuck or like a damn pinch.
"I know you'll be fine, but still, you got hurt. How about my father? Did he get injured, too? He seemed fine earlier," I ask.
"Thankfully, no. He's fine. His two other men, on the other hand, took a shot for him. One got hit in the arm and the other in the stomach," Dante says. Even though it's their job to protect my father, the thought of more people getting hurt by those assholes' family makes my blood boil. What's with them and all this violence they've done? At this point, all of the members of their family can be considered sadists, and not a good one. Ugh, I want to fucking catch them all already and fucking stab them thousands of times and skin them alive just so they feel a bit of the pain they've caused others.
"Are they okay now?" I ask.
"They're at the hospital at the moment. Gianni took a shot in the stomach while Vito got shot in his left arm. Vito will be staying with Gianni for a few days while Gianni is recovering. Some police officers were around when it happened, so now they're involved in the case. Hopefully, they won't be asking any suspicious questions regarding the attacks," Dante says.
My family has been under the law enforcement's scrutiny and suspicion in the past because of our illicit business. However, with our inside connections, we can still do things freely, even though some people are hell-bent on bringing us down. So, it's no surprise that the same kind of people would ask specific questions about my family again. I'm not worried, though. Their higher-ups would definitely stop them from investigating my family too deeply. Also, considering they were just back from the winery, it could easily be written off as a personal attack, like a jealous competitor targeting another company owner.
"I hope they'll be fine," I sigh.
"They will. Don't worry. They arrived at the hospital quickly because of the police. They're resting for now," Dante says.
"How about you? Don't you need rest, too? Don't act so tough now and say you don't need any. Every human needs their resting time, especially someone who worked all day long and just got fucking shot," I say with a frown. Dante sighs at my scolding.
"It's not a shot, just a graze, and I've told you I already got my rest in the car. It's the truth," Dante persists. Even though he's said that before, my thought is still the same as it was before. The kind of rest he got in the car is not enough since he needed to be alert even when he's resting.
"Nah-uh. That's not enough," I say, shaking my head in disagreement. "You should get more damn rest and just let the others guard me instead. It's not like I'll run away or something."
Dante stares at me. His lingering gaze tells me he's suspicious of my statement. Well, if it's coming from me, it's only fair for him to have his suspicions. Despite my lack of attempts in the past couple of months to leave this place, it's understandable that both my father and Dante are still wary about my next move, considering my records.
"By saying that, it makes you sound like you're going to try to run away later," Dante says with suspicion clear in his eyes. A smirk forms on my face as a mischievous thought pops into my head.
"And what are you going to do, huh? Catch me? No, you can't. Your shoulder is still injured," I say, sticking my tongue out at him mockingly. Dante raises his eyebrows at my mocking. It's hilarious that he looks quite offended at my teasing. He barely tries to jump into the joke with me.
"Don't underestimate me. A tiny wound won't stop me from catching you," Dante says.
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Just get some more rest, especially if you have more work to do with my father tomorrow," I say. I wonder how long Dante will keep working with my father. Is this going to be a permanent thing? Well, since my father knows how reliable Dante is now, especially with how good his informants are, it'll be a shame to let Dante go just like that. It sucks to be away from Dante for long, but I have no choice but to adapt to my new situation. It's for the best of us anyway. I can't let myself get too close to Dante, or it'll be too hard for me to leave once all this bullshit with the Romanos is over.
"I'm free for the rest of the week unless you drag me to go on another date with Antonio again at the weekends," Dante says.
Right, my scheduled weekend dates with Antonio. Now that he's injured, I'd rather not leave and make him guard me. I'll stay home so he can rest more. I don't think I can really deal with Antonio anyway. With how distracted I am with Dante's condition right now, I feel like I won't have the energy and concentration to get any new information out of Antonio. So, it's only going to be a waste of time to go on a date with Antonio soon. I'll make an excuse later, just so I don't have to go, maybe tell him that I'm not feeling well or something like that.
"A date can be postponed. You should rest your body first. I don't think Antonio minds it anyway if we don't see each other for only a week," I say. Dante smiles at my statement, nodding a little.
"Alright, if you say so," Dante says. I continue to stare at his shoulder in silence. The sight of dark, red blood on the surface of the gauze pad irks me. Dante should definitely change it sooner rather than later, or else it might get infected.
"Do you need help changing the gauze?" I ask.
"It's fine. I can do it myself later," Dante says. I shake my head at his response. I don't think it'll be easy to do by himself. I'll do it for him right now so he can avoid the hassle.
"You know what? No. I'll do it for you. Stay here," I say.
In the bathroom, I take my medkit from the cabinet, including a bowl of warm water and a small towel to clean Dante's wound. After I get all I need, I sit by Dante's right side on the bed. He looks at me, and it's kinda cute that he seems a bit flustered, very different from his usual cocky self. I hold back my smile and nod at him.
"Take off your shirt," I say. Without speaking a word, Dante takes off his shirt and puts it down on the space next to him, while I take out all the things I need to dress his wound: cotton pads, a bottle of rubbing alcohol, and an adhesive gauze pad.
I begin my work by dampening a cotton pad with some alcohol to get rid of the sticky adhesive around the gauge pad. Once I've successfully taken it off, I can't help but frown at the sight of Dante's wound in front of me. Despite what Dante said earlier, the wound seems quite deep. Well, it's a bullet graze wound, not a wound from grazing his skin on a pavement for a quick second, so I should've expected it.
Silence lingers between us as I clean up his bloodied wound with a wet, warm towel. I glance at his face, and even though he's been silent all this time, I can see the discomfort on his face. I try to be as gentle as I can as I continue to clean his wound. The bowl of water has now turned red from all the blood. I dump the towel into the bowl and put the bowl down on the floor. Now it's onto the alcohol to disinfect his wound.
"This is gonna hurt," I say.
"Just do it," Dante says.
My hand slowly approaches his wound. Once the alcohol-drenched cotton pad touches his wound, I can see Dante's body goes stiff as he takes in a sharp breath. I stay silent and continue disinfecting his wound as gentle but as quick as I can just so he won't be in pain for too much longer. After all that, I finally put a new gauze pad over his shoulder and done with him.
"All done," I say with a smile. Dante looks back at me with a grateful smile. I instantly shift my gaze, feeling sheepish from seeing his smile of appreciation.
"Thank you," Dante says.
"It's nothing. Now go and get your fucking rest," I say.
"Yes, ma'am."