you? What are they supposed to do? It’s not their fault, is it? All they can do is explain how I got away and await further orders.”
His men react favorably. Artan is nodding and the others are exchanging slow glances, because, even if these are tough, bloody-minded men, nobody wants to die when it comes right down to it. One of the men is even whispering to another in Albanian, presumably translating if the way the listener is nodding is any indication.
“Or you can agree to give me the code,” I say. “Your choice, Dujar.”
My back is a fucking river of blood now. I’m trying hard not to let them see how close to unconsciousness I am. Dani has her hand between my shoulder blades, steadying me even as she heavily favors her one good leg.
Dujar glances at his men. For a second, I think he’s going to give us the code. But then, licking his lips, he looks right at Dani and says, “Fucking bitch—”
I pull the trigger without hesitation. The bullet pierces into his skull, sending him flying backward into the wall. Artan just steps aside to leave a path for him to fall. The Albanians stand up a little straighter at their boss’ death, some of them clenching their fists. But none of them fall into the blind fury that Dujar was threatening. No, these men care about their lives.
“The code,” I repeat. “Or this is going to get really fucking nasty.”
Artan tells me the code, and Dani punches it in. I push the Albanian through the elevator doors at the last second. I was planning on keeping him the whole time, just in case they follow us. But I have to get rid of him, because I can hardly stand anymore and I don’t want him overpowering Dani.
When the door has shut, I collapse against the mirror, heaving, streaking blood down the glass.
“Shit,” I whisper, slumping down. My head sags heavily. I don’t have much longer. “Shit, Dani. I can’t …”
“Angelo,” she whispers, shaking my shoulders. “You have to stay awake. You have to help me get you to the ambulance. Angelo, Angelo—”
But I can’t. My eyes fall shut, even as I try more than anything to open them, to stand up.
A strange vision comes to me as I sink into unconsciousness. I see Mother and Father in the kitchen, dancing like they always do.
Then I walk in and offer my hand to someone unseen. Dani steps forward and places her hand in mine, her belly swollen with our child.
The four of us—five, really—dance together, laughing.
And then everything goes black.
30
Angelo
I drift in and out of consciousness for a long time.
Much later—at least that’s what it feels like—I wake up to see that Dani and my parents are sitting next to my bed. Dani has tears in her eyes. “He’s awake,” she says.
But then whatever medicine the doctors are pumping me with kicks in again, and I fall right back asleep.
It goes on like this, a sick sort of carousel, over and over, until, finally, I wake up properly. It takes a few moments for my eyes to blink the unconsciousness from them. Even then, everything still feels like a dream. It is just my mother and father now.
“How long have I been out?” I ask drowsily.
“Eleven days.” My father’s eyes are solemn. “You almost died, son.”
“Where’s Dani?”
My mother hands me some water. I take it, hand trembling, as I sit up in bed. Everything hurts. I manage to bring the water to my lips and sip slowly. “She’s on her way,” my dad says. “She’s pretty damn angry with me. I told her to go and get some sleep in the break room. The second she does, you wake up.” He grins ruefully. “We’ve had a fair amount of time to talk since you’ve been out, Angelo. She’s one hell of a lady, and she loves you more than life itself.”
“What happened?” I croak. “Is the baby—”
“Dani’s fine,” he assures me. “The baby’s fine.”
“Give me the rundown. What have I missed?”
“The police showed up soon after you got in the elevator,” Father says. “So the Albanians were forced to run. Apparently, they stashed your butler in one of the bedrooms. And things got so hectic they forgot about him.”
“Thank God.” If they’d remembered him in the mayhem following the fight, they might’ve had the wherewithal to use him as a hostage. I have no doubt that they would’ve done so if things had gone on just