Page 124 of Tragic Empire

Oh God,Colton’s family.

“Dustin,” Armani calls out, trying to wave him over. “Over here.”

I look down the hall, finding Winona, Dustin, and a man that must be Levi Wyatt. Winona looks distressed, and worried, but her husband looks like he’s going to blow his top at some poor nurse.

Dustin winces as his father snaps his gaze toward our group, rubbing the back of his neck like he’s severely uncomfortable. I’m sure he’s just as worried for his brother as his parents are for their son. But he also knows that confronting hospital staff isn’t going to help Colton.

“How are you all just sitting around here?” Levi demands, throwing his arms out. “Why isn’t he fixed yet? Why aren’t youdoinganything!”

“You need to calm down,” Apollo barks.

“Calm down?” Levi Wyatt rages. “My son is half fucking dead, and you think I need to calm down?”

“Levi—” Winona tries, but it’s like he doesn’t hear her at all.

Spinning from Apollo to Armani, he points an accusatory finger at him and shouts, “This is your fucking fault. If you didn’t keep dragging him into trouble, this never would have happened!”

Winona gasps. “Now, you know that’s not fair?—”

“Dad,” Dustin attempts, but it’s no use.

“I told him getting involved with your family was a death sentence, and look at where we are now?—”

“Colton made his choice,” Armani states firmly, interrupting the man’s tirade. Despite having a busted lip and bruised ribs, he doesn’t let Levi intimidate him. “He wanted to protect his friend—an innocent woman. He did somethinghonorable, something you should be proud of.”

The argument isn’t coming to a solution anytime soon, and my stomach churns at the fury in Levi’s eyes.

“Like you know so much about what he wants?—”

“He’d want you to get out of his best friend’s face,” Nico snaps, cutting into the older cowboy’s rant. He hasn’t spoken much since arriving here, but apparently he’s decided now is the time to step in. “He’d beembarrassedby your little display.”

“What the fuck would you know about him?” Levi shouts furiously. “You want nothing to do with him for years, and suddenly you have something to say?”

“This isn’t helping,” I finally burst out, standing from my seat and looking at Winona with a pleading glance. “I’m so sorry that Colton got hurt trying to save me, but it happened and yelling isn’t going to make him heal.”

The man stares at me, eyes hot with rage.

“Colton loves this family, and being angry with us for something none of us could control won’t help him heal. It’ll only make him upset when he wakes up.”

My rationale only seems to piss him off more. “Who the fuck do you think you are? You’ve known my son for a couple of months and you think you can speak for him?”

Levi takes a step in my direction, and I brace for my husband to jump in, knowing he won’t stand for even the barest hint of a threat.

But it isn’t Cassio who stops the man in his tracks. The body in front of me is wider and more seasoned. It’s the figure of someone who could strike fear in the heart of Lucifer himself. Dante Moretti steps between me and Colton’s dad, a lethal silence echoing around him.

“Speak to my daughter again, and your son won’t be the only one on the operating table,” he threatens, voice raspy and cold. “I’ve let you yell at my kin because I know what it is to be a father whose child is in danger, but my girls are off-limits. Zero fucking exceptions. Do you understand?”

When Levi doesn’t immediately respond, Dante takes a threatening step forward and asks again.

“Do. You. Understand?”

“He understands,” Winona answers, gritting the words, but not at Dante, at her husband.

“See that he does,” Dad commands, continuing to stand in front of me until she pulls Levi away.

“Sorry about him,” Dustin mutters, looking embarrassed.

“S’fine,” Armani says, clapping him on the back. “Colton will be fine and he’ll cool down.”