Chapter 76 Rocco
The world around me became blurred.
"She's coding."
The nurse's voice rang in my head, but it seemed dreamlike. It couldn't be real.
I was already moving before I even knew it, running down the hall like a lunatic. The pain in my ribs didn't matter. The fact that I was still technically lying in a hospital bed myself didn't matter.
Only her.
Riccardo on my tail, swearing loudly as I brushed through Fiorella's hospital room door.
And then—mayhem.
Whirlwind action. Blustery, furious beeping from machines. The nurses and physicians moving quickly about her bedside, battling to try to calm her.
I spotted her.
Lifeless. Unmoving.
A mask over her face. Wires attached to her chest. Her skin was too pale, her lips too still.
"No." My voice was husky, raw. "No, no, no—"
"Sir, you have to back off!" One of the doctors pushed against my chest, trying to push me back.
I didn't budge. "What in the world is happening?"
"Her vitals collapsed—"
"Then fix it!" My yell shook the room.
Riccardo gripped my shoulder, his fingers steel-hard. "Let them work, Rocco." His voice was soft, controlled—but I could hear the tension under it, the same barely suppressed panic strangling my throat.
I couldn't breathe.
I couldn't think.
All I could do was stand there and watch as they fought to revive her.
"Charging—clear!"
Her body twitched. The monitor screamed its relentless, unearthly flatline.
"Again!"
Another shock.
A pause.
The longest of my goddamn life.
And then
A beep.
Another.
The faint, slow beat of a heartbeat.
The tension in the room dissolved.
I leaned against the wall, exhaling a ragged breath that burned its way out of my lungs.
"She's back," a nurse verified, her voice tight with relief. "She's not out of danger yet, but she's back."
My knees nearly gave way.
I rubbed a hand across my face, drawing in a harsh breath. "She stays under twenty-four-hour observation. No errors. No second chances.".
The doctor nodded. "We're doing everything we can."
It wasn't enough.
Nothing would ever be enough until she opened her eyes and I heard her voice again.
Knowing she was alright for now the doctors took me back to my room to examine mr and give me some medicine before leaving us again.
Riccardo placed a hand on my shoulder. "You need to sit down before you fall."
I shook my head. "He did this."
"Yeah," he snarled, jaw clenched. "And he's going to pay for it."
I whirled on him, still shaking with adrenaline. "No." I took a slow breath, fury simmering beneath the surface. "He's going to suffer for it."
My phone vibrated in my pocket. I dug in and pulled it out, barely looking at the screen before answering.
"Boss," a voice on the other end of the line was strained, awaiting orders.
"Find Vittorio." My voice was calm. Cold. Deadly.
"And when we do?"
A slow smile spread onto my face.
"Bring him to me."
I took a slow, deep breath, tamping down the rage that coursed through my system. Vittorio wasn't the only one who was in the wrong here. No, this son of a bitch had someone in his corner. And I wanted them all dead.
“Vincent,” I said into the phone, my voice low and steady. "I want eyes on him too. I have no idea where he is, who he's with, or how well he's protected. Find him."
There was a pause on the other end. Then, "You want him killed?
My fists clenched on the phone. "No. Not yet." I shifted, glancing over at Fiorella's comatose body in the hospital bed. Her chest rose and fell in shallow respirations, her face pale against the white blankets. "I want him caught. We use him to lure out his father."
"Got it, boss."
"And when we have him?" I exhaled a slow, careful breath. "I want the pleasure of shattering him myself."
Vincent would be the bait. Vittorio would be the example and Elio Marchesi will be the end.
Riccardo’s smirk deepened. “I’d say ‘leave something for me,’ but knowing you, there won’t be much left when you’re done.”
I rubbed my shoulders, aching from the crash, but who cared. The pain in my ribs was nothing to the storm brewing inside me. "Let me handle it."
My phone was ringing again. Another call. I answered it without looking at the screen. "Tell me you have something."
“We've found Vincent," the phone voice told me. "He's hiding in one of their safe houses just outside the city. Tight security, but nothing we can't handle."
A slow, dark pleasure enfolded my chest. "Good. See that he doesn't know what hit him."
Riccardo's eyes sparkled. "You want to see him taken into custody yourself?"
The moment I received the call, I knew I had to leave.
Vincent was in our hands.
The little rat had tried to run away, tried to escape our grasp, but he wasn't clever enough. My men had dragged him to one of our safe houses, and there he sat—tied, bleeding, in terror.
He had no idea at all of how much pain was coming his way.
I stood at the window of my hospital room, gazing out over the city, my mind wrestling with itself.
I had to be there. I had to see him suffer.
The doctor had assured her she'd wake up soon. But when? Hours? Days? And what if she needed me? What if she awoke alone and confused?
I rubbed my hand across my face, frustration simmering just under the surface.
Riccardo snorted behind me, "You're thinking too much."
“I’m not.”
Riccardo released a harsh breath, shaking his head. "You are. You just don't want to admit it. Rafael and the men can handle Vincent. You don't have to be there."
Yes, I did.
I had to look that son of a bitch in the eye. Had to hear him scream. Had to make sure he knew what he'd done.
But then again, I couldn't avoid the weight in my chest about leaving Fiorella, even for an hour.
Riccardo would have seen the doubt because his expression softened ever so slightly. "You stay, I’ll go. You are aware that I will make him bleed."
I nodded my head. "I want to be the one to torture him, to cause him pain.”
Riccardo threw up his hands. "Rafael is already there."
"It’s not the same thing."
He folded his arms. "So what is? Because from my point of view, the woman you just nearly lost is lying right there, and you're going to head out the door to torture somebody. Maybe review your priorities."
That hurt.
My fists formed at my hips, my chest tightened. "You think I don't know that?"
Riccardo didn't waver. "Then act like it.".
I took slow breaths, forcing myself to stay calm. "I need you to stay here."
Riccardo blinked in shock. "What?"
"You heard me." I stepped closer, my voice dropping. "I need you here. Protecting her. Keeping an eye on her. You're the only one I can trust with that right now."
His eyebrows creased. "You're serious?"
"Dead serious ."
Riccardo turned shaking his head, then turned back to me, and I could sense the struggle within his mind was raging on. He wanted to be where we butchered Vincent. He wanted part of the action.”
But he also knew what I was insisting upon.
I held his gaze, my voice dropping. "Nothing happens to her. If something does happen, I will not care you are my brother. I will kill you."
Riccardo let out a dry, humourless laugh. "Wow. That's touching."
"I mean it."
His face grew grim, the weight of my words between us. "Yeah. I know." He breathed in deeply, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Fine. I'll stay. But when she wakes up and asks you where the hell you are, you get to explain to her why you bailed to go have fun with your new favourite punching bag."
I smiled, smacking him on the back. "Deal."
I stopped by Fiorella’s room before leaving the hospital.
It’s time to make them pay.