Born in Blood Collection Volume 1 - Cora Reilly Page 0,306

myself of his steady heartbeat. His blood was starting to soak my pants but I was beyond caring.

“Gianna? Are you still there?”

“Yes. Matteo is breathing again.”

There was a pause. “Good,” Luca said quietly. “Stay where you are.”

“Don’t worry.” I tilted my head back and stared up at the sky littered with stars and hazy with smoke. The gentle rise and fall of Matteo’s chest was almost like a lullaby and my eyes started to droop. My headache had gotten even worse. I probably had a concussion.

The roar of an engine made me turn my head. Two cars were racing in our direction. The one in the front was Luca’s Aston Martin and the one in the back belonged to his crony Romero. I quickly pulled my hand away from Matteo’s chest and rose to my feet, even as my vision swam.

The Aston stopped with fuming tires and Luca jumped out. He stormed toward Matteo, barely sparing me a glance as he knelt beside his brother and felt his throat. He did a quick scan of Matteo’s injuries and then Romero and Sandro were already beside him.

Someone touched my shoulder and then Aria appeared in my field of vision. She wrapped her arms around me and I sagged against her, feeling drained. “Are you hurt?”

“Maybe. Probably. I don’t know.”

“Get her away,” Luca said. “Take my car and drive her to our apartment.”

I pulled back to look down at him. “Where are you taking Matteo?”

“To the hospital. This is too serious for our doc,” he said, then smiled coldly. “Don’t worry. I’ll honor my promise. When I return to the apartment, we’ll make the necessary arrangements to ensure your freedom.” His eyes were hard. I had a feeling he wouldn’t have minded much if I’d died in the crash.

“Maybe Gianna wants to go to the hospital with Matteo,” Aria suggested softly as Luca and Sandro lifted Matteo carefully and carried him over to the jeep. Romero was talking to soldiers on the phone, making arrangements to keep the police out of this.

“She doesn’t,” Luca said firmly. “Help her gather her things from Matteo’s apartment, so we can get her settled in her new life before my brother returns home.”

Why didn’t I protest? Why couldn’t I admit my feelings even now?

Aria gave me a searching look but I shrugged, ignoring the heat behind my eyeballs and the tight feeling in my chest as I watched them take Matteo away. “We can follow them in our car,” she whispered.

I swallowed, then shook my head. “No. Luca’s right. I need to pack up my things.”

Frowning, but without protest, Aria led me toward the Aston Martin.

Matteo

Every inch of my body hurt and my head felt like it was filled with cotton. Groaning, I tried to open my fucking eyes, which seemed to be glued shut. Resisting the urge to peel them open with my fingernails, I slowly opened them a tiny bit, then finally fully. Luca was sitting in a chair next to my bed. A fucking hospital bed. “Don’t tell me you took me to a fucking hospital?” I rasped, then coughed. Fuck. I felt like death warmed over.

Luca leaned forward, a wry smile on his face. Did he have to look so damn worried? I wasn’t a kid who needed his protection anymore. “Now that you’re swearing again, I’ll consider moving you to my penthouse. Romero is already looking forward to playing nurse.”

I was reaching for the needle in the back of my hand to pull it out but paused when his words sunk in. “Your penthouse?”

“You’ll need to rest a few days. And I know you, so there needs to be someone to keep an eye on you.”

He was watching me carefully. As if he was trying to gauge if I could take the bad news. “Did something happen to Gianna?”

“No. She’s fine.” He paused.

“Spit it out. Damn it!”

“I made a deal with her.”

“Stop fucking around. Tell me the fucking truth. I can take it.”

“When she called me, you weren’t breathing. I was worried she’d use her chance to run.”

“My life against her freedom,” I said with a dark laugh.

“She agreed. Now she’s home with Aria, packing her bags.”

“We need to protect her from the Outfit. Her father won’t accept it.”

“You want to protect her?” Luca asked incredulously.

“She’s still my wife. And I’ll protect her as long as she’ll let me.”

“She’ll leave as soon as I’ve set everything up. You better forget about her sooner than later.”

I glared. “Would you just forget Aria