Page 59 of His to Break

“Yeah, I know that. What I need you to tell me is how it happened.”

“He was ambushed outside the ladies’ room, shot three times.” His head injury, the one that freaked me out the most, turned out to be just a graze. More serious is the shot in his upper thigh, which might cause him issues, and the one in his chest. That’s what’s kept him in surgery all this time. “He was fetching Vinnie’s purse.”

Antonio’s jaw clenches. “So this is your wife’s doing.”

“I don’t know.”

“Seems like a hell of a coincidence that she was talking to her father one minute and Gio’s fighting for his life the next,” Matteo says as he comes to join us.

“What the fuck?” Antonio shakes his head. “Carlo was there?”

“He just showed up. Vinnie spoke to him.”

“You didn’t shut that down?” Antonio demands.

“I wasn’t with her. Gio was.”

Guilt crashes into me again. I bow my head, fighting back tears. I don’t know when I cried last but the prospect of losing Gio, the sting of Vinnie’s betrayal, the fact I let this happen, overwhelms me. Antonio curves his hand around my neck and rests his forehead against mine. Matteo grips my arm. It’s as affectionate as we get.

“You are not to blame,” Antonio assures me. “I let the marriage happen.”

“You couldn’t have stopped it.” I was determined to have Vinnie despite the family she came from. “I wanted her too badly.”

“If she got Gio shot, we have to deal with her,” Matteo says. “Do you want me to handle the interrogation?”

I shake my head. “I can do it.” Though I suspect Vinnie betrayed me, I can’t bear the thought of someone else questioning her. She’s mine to break.

“She’s my wife. I’ll handle it.”

I’m about to leave to do just that when Doctor Marino comes into the room. He’s not part of the team working on Gio, but as our family doctor, he’s been observing the surgery. He comes straight to Antonio.

“Gio’s out of surgery and they’re bringing him to the ICU. When he’s settled, they’ll let you visit, but one at a time.”

“He came through it okay?” Antonio asks.

Marino nods. He’s a ghoulish-looking man who scared the crap out of me when I was a kid but he’s an outstanding physician. “They repaired some damage to his aorta and they’re worried about his head injury.”

“I thought they said it was just a graze,” I snarl.

“It was, but he hit his head off something as he went down. They’ll keep an eye on him in the ICU. When he wakes, they’ll know more.”

“So he’s going to be okay?” Alessandro asks from across the room.

Marino splays his hands out in a ‘who knows’ gesture. “He’s a strong kid, and he’s held his own this far, but he’s in rough shape.”

I hate the way doctors hedge their bets. Antonio nods, dismissing him, and Marino withdraws from the room. My brother’s attention turns back to me.

“Go deal with your wife,” Antonio orders. He puts his hand on my shoulder and looks me straight in the eye. “Do what’s necessary, yes?”

“Yeah.”

“Family comes first,” Antonio reminds me as I head for the door.

I nod, but there’s a problem with the ideal we’ve clung to since we were kids. Whether I like it or not, Vinnie’s my family now. I can’t put the people who share my bloodline first without hurting her. If it turns out she did place Gio in the firing line, there’s no way I can avoid punishing her. I just pray it doesn’t come to that.

CHAPTER 23

Vinnie

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