Chapter 75 Rocco
She had to wake up in the next 24 hours. That’s what the nurse had said.
It was crucial.
Her body had taken too much damage, and her vitals were unstable. If she didn’t wake up soon…
I shook the thought away, clenching my fists until my nails bit into my skin.
I wasn’t going to let anything happen to her.
She was strong.
She had to be.
The door opened, and Riccardo stepped inside, his expression serious. He didn’t speak at first, just took in the scene.
“Rafael’s handling things,” he said after a moment, walking toward me. “We have men stationed outside her room and all over the hospital. No one gets in or out without us saying so.”
I nodded.
“And you?” he asked. “You look like shit.”
“Don’t care,” I muttered.
He sighed, pulling up a chair beside me. “I knew you wouldn’t listen. That’s why I told Rafael I’d stay with you. Make sure you don’t do anything stupid before you’re fully healed.”
I finally looked at him. “You think I’m just going to sit here and do nothing?”
“You’re barely standing, idiot.” He gestured toward my side, where the fresh bandages wrapped around my torso. “You lost a shitload of blood, and the only reason you’re not passed out is pure fucking stubbornness.”
“That, and revenge,” I murmured.
Riccardo leaned back, exhaling. “Figured as much.”
My fingers twitched. The rage inside me simmered just beneath the surface, ready to explode. “I want names.”
“We’re working on it.”
“That’s not good enough.”
“Rocco—”
“I need to kill whoever did this,” I snapped, my voice low but lethal. “Whoever was behind that truck didn’t just want to scare us. They wanted her dead. That wasn’t a warning shot, Ricc. That was a fucking execution attempt.”
He sighed, rubbing a hand down his face. “And you will, later.”
“I don’t have time to wait.”
“You don’t have a choice right now,” he countered, his voice sharp. “You think you’re in any condition to go storming into enemy territory?”
“I’d crawl there if I had to.”
“Yeah?” Riccardo snorted. “And then what? Bleed out before you even pull the trigger?”
I clenched my jaw. “I’ll make them pay for this.”
“You will.” His voice softened slightly. “But right now, Fiorella needs you here more than she needs you out there hunting ghosts.”
I exhaled harshly, running a hand through my hair.
I knew he was right.
But that didn’t mean I had to like it.
I turned back to her. She still hadn’t moved, still hadn’t made a sound.
My chest tightened.
“I can’t lose her, Ricc.”
The words felt raw coming out.
Riccardo didn’t respond right away. When he finally spoke, his voice was quiet. “She’s a fighter, Rocco. Just like you. Just like all of us.”
I swallowed hard. “She has to wake up.”
“She will.”
I wished I could believe that as easily as he said it.
But the doubt gnawed at me.
The what-ifs.
The fear.
The helplessness.
I wasn’t used to feeling powerless. I wasn’t used to sitting still, waiting for someone else to make a move.
But right now, all I could do was sit here. Watch her. Will her to open her eyes.
Because if she didn’t—
I inhaled sharply, pushing the thought away.
She would wake up.
She had to.
And when she did, I would make sure no one ever dared to touch her again.
The phone rang, sharp and piercing in the quiet hospital room.
I barely glanced at the screen before answering. I already knew who it was.
“Rocco!” Vittorio’s voice slithered through the speaker, thick with false concern. “I heard about the accident. Such a tragedy. Is my dear niece still breathing, or should we start making arrangements for her burial?”
A cold rage settled in my chest, burning slow and lethal.
My grip on the phone tightened, my knuckles turning white. “You really shouldn’t have called me, Vittorio.”
He tsked. “Come now, I only wanted to express my condolences. Accidents like this… so unpredictable, aren’t they? One moment, you’re driving peacefully, and the next—”
“What a convenient accident” My voice was quiet, deadly.
“Oh? You suspect foul play?” he mused. “How unfortunate. But you and I both know the world we live in, Rocco. It’s a cruel place. Some people just aren’t meant to survive it.”
I shot up from my chair, the pain in my ribs barely registering through the sheer fury coursing through me. Riccardo stood abruptly, eyes narrowing as he watched me.
“I’m going to kill you,” I said, my voice steady, calm.
“So dramatic,” Vittorio sighed. “You De Luca men always were. You see, I called to offer you a deal, but if you’d rather continue making threats—”
“A deal?” I let out a bitter laugh. “You just tried to kill her, and now you want to negotiate?”
“Oh no, dear boy. If I wanted her dead, she would be dead. I was hoping she would be paralysed perhaps.”
Oh, someone is going to be paralysed and it’s not Fiorella.
The air in the room turned ice cold.
He meant it.
“I suppose I should give credit where it’s due,” he continued smoothly. “Fiorella is stronger than I expected. But strength isn’t enough in this world. She’s become… inconvenient.”
I saw red.
My jaw clenched so hard it hurt. “You’re a dead man.”
“Perhaps. But so is she.”
A slow exhale left my lips. Controlled. Dangerous. “You just made the biggest mistake of your life.”
“Oh?”
“You should’ve killed me first.”
Silence.
For the first time, Vittorio hesitated.
“You think I won’t burn your entire world to the ground for this?” I asked, my voice smooth, almost amused. “You think you can touch her and walk away breathing?”
Another pause.
Then— “I look forward to seeing you try, Rocco.”
The line went dead.
I lowered the phone, gripping it so tightly I nearly crushed it in my palm.
Riccardo let out a low breath. “That bad, huh?”
I turned to him, my eyes cold, sharp. “We’re at war.”
His smirk was grim. “Finally.”
A knock sounded at the door.
We both turned.
A nurse stepped inside, her face pale. “I… I’m sorry to interrupt, but there’s been a change in Fiorella’s condition.”
My heart slammed into my ribs. “What kind of change?”
She hesitated.
My patience snapped. “What. Kind. Of. Change?”
She swallowed hard. “She’s coding.”
Everything inside me froze.
And then—chaos.