Page 31 of Fixate (Devious Mafia Daddies #2)

Pharrell

The minute Ricardo’s hand slipped from mine, I knew something was wrong.

With the flow of bodies, there was no reason for anyone to cut across us. And then I turned, only to find he wasn’t there. Tons of unfamiliar faces surrounded me, yet the only fucking person I cared about had disappeared.

I went a bit mad trying to find him after that. If not for Pip, I would have probably pulled out my gun and started making threats until someone helped me get answers.

As it were, when I did finally find him, it wasn’t in the condition I hoped for.

My boy had been stabbed.

And on my fucking property.

Whoever this was, they were well organized and bold. The bomb threat distraction might have been a bit much, but they were more than successful at getting my attention.

They’d see how much could change once my sights were set on them.

With Ricardo in an ambulance on the way to the hospital, Henri came in to take over handling the casino’s operation. Dario joined him since Pip needed to drive me. I was in no condition to get behind the wheel.

“I disabled the bomb, boss. So that’s taken care of. I made sure to leave as much of it as it was so the cops could look into it. But I already have a few ideas of who it could have been.”

Humming along to Pip’s insight, I watched the road ahead of us. It wasn’t a long drive to the hospital, just a daunting one. The entire way there, I wondered if I was going to lose him. Would this be the end before we really got started?

I wanted a life with Ricardo. My boy deserved the happiness he should have been granted years ago. And I wanted to be the one to give it to him.

I would be as soon as he woke up. We were going to live our lives as loudly as possible moving forward. If that meant a ring and a wedding, then so be it. If it meant holding hands and taking it slower until he was ready, I’d also agree to that too. Whatever he wanted, so long as he was mine.

“Boss,” Pip said, dragging me back to reality. “We’re here.”

I blinked to find we were in the parking lot of the emergency room. Nodding, I climbed from the vehicle and took off to the doors. Pip’s steps echoed behind me, a forced sound to let me know he had my back. The man could be invisible when he wanted. I had no doubt this was all for me.

A desk sat right inside the door. The smiling woman behind it frowned when she saw us. “Are you hurt?”

“No. I need to see the man that just came in via ambulance. He had a stab wound.”

Her gaze was understanding as she clicked away at something on the computer. “Let me just check — oh yes. Ok, he’s actually in surgery right now. If you’ll just have a seat. I’ll have the doctor tell you something as soon as they’re done. Would you like some scrubs to change into, sir?”

I looked down at myself, noticing all the blood I wore. My chest ached at the stains.

“Yes, please,” I answered cordially despite wanted to rant and cry about Ricardo’s status.

Hopefully the doctor would have information for us soon. I didn’t want to have to use my name here like I did for other places. I would in an instant if it were a matter of Ricardo’s care. But waiting meant I needed to have some patience.

As she handed over the scrubs and led me to a bathroom, Pip took a seat in one of the empty chairs of the waiting room. Being it was a Vegas hospital; the place was packed. None of them seemed to notice the wolf lurking amongst them though.

A few minutes later, I was clean and changed, my former clothes balled up in a bag along with my gun. There was no hiding the piece with these thin scrubs I had on. Besides, Pip had enough on him to take down any threat that arose.

And I knew they would.

Maybe not here and now, but there were clearly players out there who wanted me out of the picture. They wanted to see me lose my shit, possibly destroying everything I’d built after losing Ricardo.

Sadly, they almost won. There’s no doubt in my mind I would have done just as they planned had we not gotten my boy into an ambulance and here.

Of course, there was still a chance he wouldn’t make it. I hated knowing that was even possible, yet, as a realist, I acknowledged this could very well be the true start to my villain origin story.

I might not have been the most strait-laced man before this, but if Ricardo didn’t make it, they’d see just how bad I could truly be.

“Boss,” Pip said, drawing my attention.

Somehow, I’d managed to sit beside him without realizing it. I had no idea how much time had passed, only that we still didn’t know anything yet.

“Yes, Pip?”

“Sorry I wasn’t there for him.”

I turned to face him. His frown was enough to let me know he was feeling some guilt over not being there. Or as close to guilt as he could. I suspected emotions were hard for him. Outside of the glee he felt while hurting others, Pip was a fortress.

“You don’t need to apologize. It wasn’t your fault someone thought they could take something from me,” I said firmly. “If you still feel some sort of guilt after this, then put all the effort you can into helping me hunt. That will make it right.”

He nodded swiftly, then stood. “I’m going to get some coffee. You need the boost.”

Before I could say a word, he took off down the hall.

I watched his retreating form for a moment before deciding it was finally time to make the call I was dreading.

While I could have waited for an update to call Dante, I knew he’d be furious if I waited any longer to let him know his friend was hurt.

“Pharrell,” Dante said by way of answering his phone. “To what do I owe the pleasure of this call?”

I sighed as I looked around the waiting room. It held an eclectic blend of people, some obviously sick and injured, and then others who looked like me — the person waiting for some kind of news.

“Ricardo is in surgery,” I started. “He was stabbed at the casino when the fire alarms went off.”

The sound of heavy breathing echoed over the line. It was followed by Dante’s ice-cold tone.

“You were supposed to protect him. What the fuck happened?”

I heard Preacher yelling in the background, though it wasn’t clear enough to make out.

“We were walking out together. Someone used the distraction of the fire alarm and a bomb threat to separate us. It all happened so fast.”

My voice caught with the last word as my emotions got the better of me.

Dante’s tone immediately shifted. “Is he going to be ok?”

“I… I don’t know. We haven’t been here long. They’re supposed to update me when they know more. I just figured you’d want to know even if I didn’t have all the answers.”

“That’s very true. I appreciate you calling. Things are a bit busy right now. We have multiple projects in the works, and I can’t really leave yet. Maybe soon though.”

“It’s fine. Come if and when you can. He’d be more upset if you put him before work,” I joked.

Dante chuckled softly. “Yeah, he would. Have things been ok aside from that?”

I thought of how we’d been together. How happy the two of us were. How we’d been finding our feet despite it not being the easiest thing given our work lives.

“It’s been great, Dante. He’s far more than I could have imagined.”

Maybe it was the way I spoke or simply because he knew me well, but Dante had to have picked up on my feelings because he said, “It’s going to be ok, my friend. He’ll pull through. He’s stubborn that way.”

I let out a watery laugh at his encouragement. Never would I have guessed he’d be the person to console me over this.

To be fair, it wasn’t like I had a ton of friends to begin with. And then there was the fact that I didn’t tend to get emotional. When Stasia fucked me over, I was more angry than anything. Not hurt or heartbroken. I simply hated that I’d been blind to her tricks.

But this was different.

It was a deep sort of pain I feared would change me if it continued to fester.

“I’m sure it will be fine. He is awfully stubborn.”

“Family of Ricardo Romano?” a voice called out.

I jolted at the words. “I’ve got to go, Dante,” I said before quickly hanging up.

The doctor nodded when I strode his way.

He was older, with gray at his temples and wrinkles around his eyes and lips.

I tried to read his body language, but there wasn’t anything to go off of.

I appreciated his poker face even while I hated him for being able to shield himself from my observations.

“I’m Dr. LaFleur. Your relation to the patient?”

“Fiancé,” I replied instantly.

His brow raised, though he didn’t question me. There was no way I was going to attempt the blood family route. It wouldn’t hold up the second I saw him and kissed his lips. They’d question everything.

It was much easier to go with the semi-truth since I did intend to ask my boy to marry me soon. And I knew he’d say yes — though he might put up a bit of a fight just for appearance sake.

“His condition?” I asked when the man didn’t continue.

“Ah, yes. Well, he’s stable. It was lucky he wasn’t hit in a worse area.

We did have to do some repairs. Our biggest concern wasn’t the wound itself, but the trace material found on the knife.

That might be what made him pass out since it wasn’t the blood loss itself.

We’re going to put him in a room upstairs. You’ll be able to see him soon.”

Before he could turn, I said, “I’d like a private room.”

“That’s not for me to decide, sir. You’ll have to speak with Admin.”

“What if you make it your business? I need to ensure my bo– partner is in the best situation possible. I can’t do that if he’s sharing a room with a stranger or on a floor where danger can reach him. This wasn’t an accident. Someone is trying to hurt him in order to hurt me.”

Dr. LaFleur stared at me for a long moment before nodding. “I’ll see what I can get handled. For now, you need to calm down and maybe take a walk. I understand you want your boy safe, but a good Daddy knows when to keep his cool.”