Page 21

21

Rose

Rose

D ad takes my hand and squeezes it. “I love you, Rose,” he says and I can’t even answer. There’s so much blood coming out of his stomach, I don’t know what to do.

Is there anything I can do? I wish Amelia was here. She saved Leo’s dog from a gunshot wound. She’d fix him just as well.

“Apply pressure,” Dino says from the front seat. “I’ll get us to a hospital as fast as I can.”

I press my hand into dad’s stomach and he winces. “It’s too late,” he says. “I’m not going to make it.”

“Yes, you are,” I snap back at him. “Don’t you talk like that.”

“You’re a good man, Dino,” he says, shifting in his seat and letting out a grunt of pain.

“Never been called that before,” Dino replies. “I’m sorry I got you into this shit.”

“You didn’t get me into anything. I got myself into it.”

I’m still pressing into his stomach and I’m trying my best not to panic, but waves of fear are washing over me. Is my dad dying?

“I’d have used a car bomb too,” Dad says, still talking to Dino. “Good call.”

Dino glances behind him and his expression changes. A car horn honks, and he turns his attention back to the road.

“Listen to me,” Dad says, squeezing my hands. “I’ve not got much time left so I need you to listen.”

“I’m listening, Dad, I promise.”

“I should have told you who I really was,” he says. “I just wanted to protect you from this life, but once you’re in, there’s no way out except going underground.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m the Capo dei Capi, Rose. I put the chip in your safe deposit box.”

“You...you did?”

“I let Don Belucci take me. I wanted to see for myself how Dino would react.” He grunts as we take a turn sharply to the left. “I wanted to see what kind of man he was and now I know.”

“Now you know what?” Dino asks.

“Now I know you love her.” Dad turns to look at me and he manages a smile. “I wanted you to have a good life, Rose, and a safe life. I was getting too old to take care of you. I set all this up. I killed Don Belucci.

“I don’t want Dino to take the blame for that. I want peace, not war, and he’s the man to bring peace. He’s the man who can take my role. The only man to stand up for what’s right, to be honest with me, even when the questions are tough. He can protect you, Rose.”

“Nearly there,” Dino yells back. “Just hold on.”

Dad grips my wrists tighter as I keep pressure on the wound. Blood is filling the footwell of the car, so much blood. “I knew one day you’d find out and when you did, the rats would all come out of the woodwork to look for you, to take you in.

“I wanted a powerful man to take you, a good man. Dino is a good man. He’ll take care of you. He’s the only one strong enough to get rid of those bastard Beluccis. Not only that, but he loves you.”

I look up at Dino as he takes another bend, weaving through the traffic. “You love me?” I ask out loud.

He glances back. “Now is not the time,” he snaps. “We’re here.”

We swing into the hospital entrance and he slams on the brakes, stopping right outside the door. He jumps out and runs inside, leaving me with my dad.

“He loves you,” Dad says, smiling up at me, his face turning pale. I asked him if he did and he said he didn’t know but he does."

“How do you know that?”

“The way he treats you. The fact he came for me. That wasn’t for my benefit. It was for yours. I’m glad you two got married, Rose. I just wish I could stay around to meet my grandkids.”

The car door swings open, and then it’s all a blur. Doctors are surrounding us. Dad is taken in on a stretcher and we’re left behind in the entrance.

“I better move the car,” Dino says. “I’ll meet you inside.”

I walk into the emergency room, and Dad’s already gone from sight. A receptionist hands me a form to fill in and I notice my hands are covered in blood. I can’t hold a pen, I’m shaking too much.

Dino appears a moment later and takes the form from me, filling it and then handing it back to the receptionist. “It’ll be awhile,” he says. “Might as well get comfortable.”

“You sound like you’ve done this before,” I say as I sink onto the nearest chair.

He sits next to me and puts an arm around my shoulder. “Been a few gunshot wounds in my time.” He pulls off his jacket to reveal his own bloody mess on the shoulder of his shirt. “Lucky this place knows to keep its mouth shut about the family.”

He waves over a doctor, and they vanish into a side room. I walk over and look through the door a minute later. Dino’s sitting on a stretcher with his shirt off and the doctor’s sewing up the graze from the bullet. I look at Dino’s chest.

He’s ripped with muscles, but I see what he meant about the scars. He’s covered in them. Tattoos hide a few, but there’s a lifetime of pain visible, stories that all look like they ended in agony.

I feel sorry for him. He’s caught in a world he can’t escape, same as me. Is Dad right, is death the only way out? No, that’s not what he said. He said going undercover. Is that the same thing?

Maybe there’s another solution. Don Belucci is dead. Ricardo is the only loose end. Get rid of him and no one will know that Dino has become the new Capo dei Capi. He could hide out, issue his orders in secret like Dad did. Could that work?

I realize I’m thinking like Dino. Thinking about the loose ends that need tying up. I want Ricardo dead more than anything. Revenge for what happened to me, revenge for my dad getting shot.

Wherever he is, I know Dino will deal with him for me. I have someone who will go to any lengths to protect me, and that’s a good feeling.

Dino looks up, and I wave through the door. He beckons me in and I walk through to find the doctor’s pretty much done. “I’ll leave you two together,” he says. “Go see how your dad’s doing, Rose.”

“How does he know my name?” I ask when the doctor’s gone.

“I told him,” Dino replies. “How you holding up?”

“You said you’ve seen gunshot wounds before. Do they usually die?”

“Shot to the stomach like that is fifty-fifty. Only one hit and we got here fast. He’s as good a chance as anyone.”

I collapse into his arms, and he holds me tight. “Tell me he’ll live,” I say. “Promise me he’ll be all right.”

I want him to lie to me, tell me everything’s going to be okay. For once, I want a good lie rather than the awful truth.

“I can’t promise that,” he replies, kissing the top of my head. “But whatever happens, he’s in the best possible place.”

The next few hours are hell. I get a headache that won’t leave, all the tension sitting there no matter what I do. I pace up and down the corridors. I get fresh air outside. I go to the bathroom and sit there and cry. I come back out and still no news.

I just want to know he’ll be all right. I already lost my mom. I can’t lose my dad, too.

Dino stays nearby the whole time. He makes quiet phone calls and I can imagine what they’re about. Business doesn’t stop just because he’s here.

I want to hate him. I try really hard to hate him. If it wasn’t for him, my dad would be fine.

I can’t do it.

I can’t hate him. I realize I love him. It’s fucked up as he kidnapped me and forced me to marry him, but I can’t help it. I love him. Stockholm syndrome or not, it’s real, and it’s not going away. He’s protecting me. He got my dad here fast. He blew up the Belucci mansion and his own car to make sure we got out of there alive.

When the doctor reappears, I fear the worst, but he smiles at us both. “He’s awake,” he says. “You want to see him?”

Dino hugs me, and I’m sobbing. I can’t stop for what seems like forever, but I wipe my eyes as best I can. I need to see him, and this is taking too long. I shut down the emotions in me and then I’m able to walk down the corridor and around the corner.

We’re in a room with a single bed in it. They attached monitors to Dad, beeping loudly. His eyes are shut, and he’s still, but when he hears us coming in, he looks up and manages a weak smile. “Still here,” he says, sitting up slightly. “Doped up to the eyeballs too. Whatever they put in that tube is good shit.”

“I never heard you curse before,” I say.

“I never got shot before,” he replies. “Well, not for many years.” He beckons me over and I sit beside him. Dino and the doctor are murmuring in the doorway, but Dad wants both of us together. “Dino,” he adds. “Get your ass over here.”

Dino comes over and stands next to me, his hand on my shoulder. “Yes, boss?” The doctor ducks out, the door swinging shut after him.

“You’re the boss now,” Dad says. “You need to get used to life under the radar. Gordon’s Cove is the perfect place to lay low. There’s a file in my house on the computer. Code is 7823XX14. You got that? ”

“Got it.”

“Contains all the details about the job. How to use the messaging system, who’s in your pocket and who to avoid. Everything you need to take over.”

“You sure you want me for the post? Doc says you’re going to make it.”

“As far as anyone is concerned, I died here in hospital.”

“What?” I say, taking his hand in mine. “But you’re okay, right?”

He smiles back at me. “Underground is the only way out of this life. I’m going to vanish, Rose, but I’ll be keeping an eye on you, making sure you’re doing all right.”

“But, Dad, why?”

“Because I’m getting too old for all this. I fake my death or I get bumped off. Not much of a choice. At least this way I get to say goodbye. Do one thing for me, Dino.”

“What’s that?”

“Be good to her.”

“I will.”

“Now get out of here and send me Corrado. He can make all the arrangements.”

“Got it.”

Dad squeezes my hand for what I feel might be the last time. “Love you, Rose,” he says, kissing my fingers. “You got yourself a good husband there.”

“I don’t want to say goodbye,” I reply.

“It’s not goodbye,” he says. “It’s just arrivederci. Go out and leave me with Dino for a minute, would you?”

I let go of his hand and walk out the room, standing in the corridor and wondering what the two of them are talking about. When the door opens, Dad’s hanging up his phone, waving me over.

“It’s done,” he says. “The families won’t know any different. Far as they’re concerned, the Capo dei Capi is still in charge. They’ve no idea someone has taken over my role.”

He nods at Dino. “You stood up to me,” he continues. “I told you to get rid of her and you didn’t. That’s love. You found out I was taken by Belucci and you came for me because of her. I needed someone strong enough to know his own mind, someone who could take on my daughter and give her the life she deserves. That’s you.”

Dad turns to me. “I never thought I’d put you in this much danger. I should have told you earlier, given you a chance to prepare. When Ricardo got hold of you, I knew I’d fucked up. Dino came through, though. He’s a good man, Rose. You take care of him and he’ll take care of you.”

He takes a deep breath. “Below the radar,” he adds. “Fade from view. That’s how you stay alive, Dino. Don’t get your hands dirty unless you have to.”

“Not until I’ve dealt with Ricardo,” Dino replies.

“Wouldn’t expect anything less. He took a flight to Rome while I was in surgery. 17 Via Torello. That’s his safe house. Go get him, Dino.”

He kisses my hand again, and I hug him. He grunts in pain and shoos me away. “Off you go, Rose. I need to rest.”

Dino has to walk me out, as I keep looking back. My feet don’t want to move on their own. Will I see him again? Is this goodbye for good?

I’ve no idea, but at least one thing can comfort me for now. He’s alive. He made it.

Dino takes my hand once we’re in the corridor and leads me out to the car. I feel numb. I look up at him once we’re inside, and he’s starting the engine. “I love you,” he says, turning to look at me.

“I love you too,” I reply as we set off. I lean back and close my eyes. My headache’s getting worse. I know dad’s right. If he’s alive, he’s a target. If they all think he’s dead, he’s safe. I understand the logic. Doesn’t mean I have to like it, though.

All I want to do is sleep, but I can’t. So I nestle into my seat and think.