at her cheeks. “No. The last thing I remember was sneaking into the neighboring room and stealing clothes. That’s it.” When she looked steadier, I took a stool next to her.
The slight burning stretch in my legs felt good. “Can I have some lasagna now?”
Rafe had a plate of steaming Italian goodness ready for me. Fork at the ready. “Slow. And take sips of water. Trauma and empty stomachs don’t really go well together.”
I nodded as I blew over the mountain of pasta noodle, cheese, red sauce, and meat. “Promise.”
“Nico was about to call in the troops to find you,” Tali said, her voice quiet.
I winced as the bite I’d slid in burnt the roof of my mouth. “What happened? Rafe said he got a fake call?”
I chewed quickly, took a sip of water to cool the burning.
“When you went to the bathroom, Nico got a call. It was a hospital number, ER department. They said they were calling about Mama. He was needed downstairs because she was unresponsive and he’s listed as her medical power of attorney.”
My eyes widened. “Is she okay though? It was a fake call, right? Mama’s fine?” My belly clenched for entirely different reasons.
Both Rafe and Tali nodded. “Yeah, she and Papa are across the street, sleeping,” Tali added.
My heart eased out of my throat. “Good.” I took another sip of water. “That’s good.”
“By the time Nico got back up to your room, they had the floor locked down. He wasn’t allowed in or out because of a missing patient.” Tali’s eyes narrowed. “How did you manage to get out?”
“When I got your knock signal on the door, I eased out behind you. I’d heard his voice through the door. Heard the security guys haul you off. I guess he was still in the room looking for me.” I shrugged. The goddess must have been watching out for me like crazy.
“Once the floor had been reopened, Nico got a call saying that some guy—Ryker Penn—had you in a stairwell,” Rafe said, picking up the story as Tali stole a bite of my lasagna. “Penn hung up on him.”
My eyes widened. “Penn hung up on Dom? Does the idiot have a death wish?”
Both Rafe and Tali chuckled. “Apparently.” Rafe waved that aside. “Nico wants you to call him when you’re ready.”
I nodded. Looked around for my phone. Shit. “Do you know where my stuff got put?”
Both siblings shook their heads.
I tried to think of what all I’d had with me. Phone, bank card, lipstick. It was all my stupidly tiny purse could hold. Tali hadn’t allowed me to take my big purse with me to the club.
The club.
“What happened at Chaos?”
Rafe snarled. “The fucking bastard who touched Tali and slammed the table into you was handed over to the police.”
I winced. “The police showed up?”
Tali grabbed my hand. “Chaos is clean, Chase. You know that.”
I did. But it didn’t make me feel any better about bringing law enforcement down on my adopted family. I mouthed ‘sorry’ to Rafe.
He waved it off. “The guy was either going to end up dead or behind bars. This way, Mas doesn’t have another ghost.”
I bit my lip. Massimo Amatucci was the enforcer for the family. The quiet, withdrawn man lived with ghosts. Had, even before he became a made man for the family. “Is he back?” I asked.
Rafe nodded. “He was already on his way home when I called him.”
“Who was Mr. Touchy?” I asked.
Tali snorted. “Mr. Everett Cavendish, III.” She wiggled her brows.
I snorted, forcing hot meat sauce up towards my nasal cavity. Water poured from my eyes as I tried to not aspirate on lasagna. Once I got myself under control, I took a big drink of water. “Seriously? The third Cavendish? What happened to the first two?”
“Still alive,” Rafe answered. “For now. They’re getting a visit in the morning.”
I stilled. The idiot had messed with the wrong family.
I leaned back, my belly finally full. Almost too full. I laid a hand over it, felt sleep invade my brain. “I’m about to fall asleep.”
Tali grabbed my hand. “I can stay here if you need me to.”
I shook my head even as Rafe said, “Yes. She needs to be woken up at least twice during the night. Nothing major, but since she passed out in Penn’s place, we need to make sure she doesn’t have a brain bleed.”
I sighed. “I’m right here, you know?”
Rafe smiled, blew me a kiss. “And right here is where you’ll be staying. You’re not