open. The flow of blood blinded my eye and I tried to focus out of my good eye. The strike should have sent me tumbling to the ground, but I was held up. When I was able to focus, I could see that it was Gary holding me up while Merrick stood in front of me.
The sick bastard smiled at me. “You’re doing really well, honey,” he praised. “We’ll do our best to hurry this along.” If I could have used my voice, I would have told him to go to hell, but the second hit to my ribs robbed me of all motor functions and ability to speak.
I wouldn’t know it with unconsciousness finally claiming me, but an hour later, I was dumped in the middle of the street in front of my house. When I finally regained consciousness at the hospital, I spoke only one word.
“Mugged.”
Chapter 19
Ciro~
Frankie sat in the chair next to the bed, quietly crying, as Nix did his best to soothe his wife.
Me? I was leaning up against the wall at the foot of the bed.
In-fucking-furiated.
After I left Robbie’s last night, I had gone straight to my sister. I told her everything from beginning to end. And I also told her how I felt about Robbie and, also, how I fucked up. Frankie had ranted and raved and ripped me a new one, but once she spent all her sibling exasperation, she had hugged me and wished me the best. She had admitted to being bias when she said she’d love to see her best friend living across the hallway from her.
This morning when she had gotten the call that Robbie was in the hospital, Luca, Phoenix, and I had been in a meeting with Sal, Leo, and a few of the Capos loyal to Luca. Phoenix’s phone had sung with the ringtone assigned to Frankie only and had walked out of the room. Luca and I knew that ringtone, and we also knew that Frankie had known we were in a meeting. So, for her to call Phoenix, it could only be an emergency.
A couple of minutes later, Nix had returned, walked up to Luca, whispered in his ear, and when Luca’s eyes flashed to mine, I knew it was bad. Luca gave Nix a quick nod and then Nix looked over at me and jerked his head towards the door. I got up, no questions asked, and followed him.
What he told me next had me ready to burn the entire world down.
A nurse at London Medical Center in Cedar Creek who worked on Robbie had recognized her from Brighton Steakhouse. Robbie had been her waitress a few times, so she had called the restaurant in hopes of finding someone to notify. A waitress named Mona had called Frankie and told her Robbie had been mugged and was in the hospital. In turn, Frankie had called Nix and told him she was going to Cedar Creek with or without him and, if he was going, he had five minutes to get home and go with her. He had told his wife that if she left without him, he’d fucking kill her.
Needless, to say, my sister had waited for us.
The drive to Cedar Creek had taken me back to the night we had to go get Frankie. It was filled with tension and fear of the unknown. Legally the nurse couldn’t give Mona any information over the phone, and when Frankie had called, they had given her the same legal bullshit. So, driving to Cedar Creek we hadn’t known shit about Robbie’s condition.
Once we got to the hospital, it had been a different story. We entered the hospital and it had been a kick watching Frankie throw her weight around for the first time. She had stormed up to the counter and asked for Robert Regal. The nurse had confirmed that Robbie had been admitted, but she had made the mistake of telling Frankie that we couldn’t see her.
With me and Nix at her back, Frankie had stretched all her five-foot-three-inch frame over the counter and told the woman, “I’m only going to say this once, ma’am. I am Francesca Fiore, and I am Roberta’s emergency contact. If I have to prove who I am, I will. But you won’t like the way I do it.” The woman had paled at the mention of Frankie’s last name and had rolled over immediately.
Now, we were in Robbie’s hospital room with a hospital guard standing outside, knowing