Chapter 74 Rocco
The nurse's words cut to my heart.
"There's been a complication."
The world around me went numb, nothing but the sound of my heartbeat pounding in my ears.
"What complication?" I asked, my voice knife-like, silent as death, concealing the storm raging inside.
She hesitated again. A goddamn mistake.
"What complication?" I growled, scrambling off the bed so fast that my IV yanked on my arm.
"Her condition is critical," she finally said. "She bled internally, and we had to perform emergency surgery. She lost a huge amount of blood—too much. We've stabilised her for the moment, but."
But.
That curse of a but.
"But what?" My temper was on a thread.
The nurse shifted uneasily. "She hasn't regained consciousness. We're monitoring her, but the next twenty-four hours are crucial. If she doesn't wake up—"
I didn't allow her to continue.
Because I knew what she was about to say.
If Fiorella didn't wake up, she never may wake up.
The world was spinning. The red haze spread over my eyes, a depth of seething rage churning just beneath my skin.
This wasn't an accident.
That truck hadn't magically appeared.
Someone had planned this. Someone had tried to take her away from me.
And when I found out who?
They'd fucking regret it.
The door slammed open before I could say anything else.
"Where the fuck is he?"
Rafael.
His voice was abrupt, his presence commanding as he strode into the room, Riccardo following close behind.
Both of them were battered-looking, like they'd been through a war.
Rafael's face was taut with rage held just out of control, his knuckles white with how hard he was clenching his fists. Riccardo, usually the most irresponsible of the three of us, was ominously grave.
They both presented the same look in their eyes.
Murder.
I did not even glance their way. My eyes were still trained on the nurse.
"Where is she?" I asked.
"She is in the ICU," replied the nurse. "Only her family can see her at the moment."
I let a cold, humourless laugh escape. "Family?" My eyes burned her. "She's mine. No one in that room is more entitled to be there than I am."
She swallowed. "I understand what you're saying, Mr. De Luca, but we have to—"
"Take me to her," I cut in. "Now."
The nurse hesitated for half a heartbeat before nodding. "Come with me."
I staggered forward in one motion, ignoring the pain ripping through my side as I put one foot in front of the other.
But Rafael's hand shot out, wrapping around my arm.
"Wait."
I jerked my head around, eyes colliding with his. "Don't tell me to wait, Rafael. I will see her."
"You will," he told me, voice icy, on lockdown. "But first, tell me what the fuck happened."
Riccardo was leaning against the wall, arms crossed, his expression unreadable. "The way you were talking on the phone, I figured you were a dead, man."
"I almost was," I admitted. "She got the brunt of it."
Rafael's jaw was clenched, his eyes burning with fury. "Tell me everything."
I curled my fists into my palms, my nails digging deep. "It wasn't an accident."
Silence.
The kind that was heavy with tension.
The kind that preceded bloodshed.
Rafael's nostrils flared. "You're sure?"
"That truck appeared out of nowhere. Not by chance. She was targeted."
Riccardo inflated his chest. "Who in the hell would be fucking stupid enough to attempt to harm Fiorella?"
"We know who," I said to him, my voice ice. "They will be hearing from us soon,” I glared at Rafael, my meaning clear.
I was going to kill them.
Whomever did it.
Whomever tried to take her from me.
Rafael nodded sharply, his expression grim. "We'll handle it."
Riccardo shrugged his shoulders. "I'll start digging. Someone has to know something."
"Find them," I ordered, my voice not leaving room for refusal. "I don't care what it costs. Find out who the fuck is responsible down to the driver that drove the truck."
"Consider it done," Rafael said.
I nodded once, then turned to the nurse. "Take me to her. Now."
She didn't hesitate to lead me down the corridor, Rafael and Riccardo in tow behind us.
The walk to the ICU felt like forever.
When we finally reached her room, I stood in the doorway, my chest tightening at the sight before me.
Fiorella.
Propped up in that hospital bed, attached to machines, her face too white, her body too still.
The heart monitor beeped rhythmically, the only proof that she was still alive.
But it wasn't sufficient.
I wanted her awake. I wanted to hear her voice, see her eyes, feel her heat.
I walked in, everything else fading.
"Give us a minute," I said them without looking back.
Rafael and Riccardo didn't argue.
The door closed after me, and I was left alone with her.
I sat down next to the bed, holding her hand.
It was cold.
Too fucking cold.
I brought it to my lips, kissing her knuckles. "You have to wake up, baby," I whispered, my throat parched. "I need you to wake up."
No response.
I let out a shuddery breath, my forehead on her hand. "You fought me so hard, Fiorella," I whispered. "But I finally got you. You can't leave me now."
Silence.
I squeezed my eyes shut, my hand around her fingers tightening.
"I love you."
The words spilled out, raw and sincere, all the emotion I had been too arrogant to express before.
"I love you," I repeated, my voice breaking. "So you can't do this to me. You can't leave me. Wake up."
Nothing changed.
The only sound in the room was the beep of the heart monitor.
A hard knock on the door jerked my head up.
Rafael came in, face expressionless.
"We found out something," he said.
I sat up, body vibrating with tension. "Who?"
Rafael's expression grew darker.
"The Marchesi family."
The moment Rafael said the words "Marchesi family," a fresh surge of anger swept through me. My entire body tensed, a tempest brewing inside me, black and merciless.
The Marchesi.
Of course.
Those bastards had been circling like vultures for months. Always waiting. Always observing.
And now they had attacked.
I clenched my teeth, fists tight, as I sat beside Fiorella's lifeless body. My whole body ached, but that was secondary in the face of the fire raging within me.
They tried to steal her from me.
They thought they were going to escape scot-free?
They thought they were going to get to sleep if it’s not eternal slumber.
They didn't have fucking any idea what they just did.
I rose, wincing through the burning, tearing agony in my side. The stitches in my own wounds pulled tight, hot blood seeping through my bandages, but I didn't care.
Fiorella lay still, her breathing too shallow, her face too pale.
I turned to Rafael, my voice like steel. "This ends now."
The door slammed open before he could respond.
"Mr. De Luca!" A nurse had rushed in, her eyes darting in panic at the sight of me standing up. "You need to lie down. You're bleeding."
"I don't care," I growled.
"Well, I do."
Her tone was firm, her hands already going to wrap around my arm. "You need to return to your ward right away. You're not stable enough to—"
I pushed her off my arm. "I don't have time for this."
Agony ran through me, white-hot and merciless, and I staggered.
"Shit—"
I caught myself on the side of Fiorella's bed by inches. My vision went grey for a moment, the edges retreating to black.
"Rocco," Rafael warned.
Riccardo was already coming toward me, his jaw working. "You're going to pass out if you keep acting like this."
"I don't have time to be weak," I snarled.
The nurse snorted, clearly annoyed. "That's not how the human body works, Mr. De Luca. You sit down and I'll tend to your wounds, or you sit down. Your choice."
I bristled with indignation, but I didn't argue.
Not because I cared about myself.
But because if I fell on the ground now, I wouldn't be able to get what needed to be done done.
I fell back into the chair next to Fiorella's bed. The nurse immediately set to work. Red soaked into my hospital gown, the wound opening up from all the movement.
Riccardo and Rafael stood in silence, watching.
I clench my teeth as the nurse cleaned at the wound, the burn nothing to what fuelled my anger.
"Fucking Marchesi," I swore
Rafael exchanged a glance with Riccardo.
"They made a mistake," Rafael whispered.
"They did worse than that," I snarled. "They attempted to take her from me." My gaze flashed back to Fiorella's lifeless body. "They almost succeeded."
Rafael inhaled deeply. "So what do you want to do?"
I glared at him.
The decision had been made the moment that truck ran into us.
"We kill them all" I said without emotion. "Every one of them pays in blood."