Page 222 of Sinfully Savage Mafia

“Your list of enemies is so damn long, how do you even keep track of who wants you dead anymore?” Matteo gripes.

I shrug. “I just assume everyone does. Keeps me on my toes.”

“You’ll be lucky if you can?—”

But three loud gunshots, and the piercing screams that follow, swallow up Matteo’s next words.

I flip around, searching the circular driveway as people either scatter or dive to the ground in sheer panic.

“What the fu?—?”

And then I see it.

The booted foot peeking out from the side of Nate’s truck.

Attached to his jean-clad leg.

“Nate!” I bellow, running over to his truck as a blacked-out Range Rover peels out of the driveway and loses itself in the traffic running up and down the Strip.

Jaelyn shrieks and dashes past me, crumbling next to Nate who is face-down on the cobblestones. “No, no, no! Nate, wake up!”

I press my head against his chest, listening for his heart. Using two fingers, I find a pulse, albeit a weak one. I look up at Matteo. “We need to get him to the hospital now! Help me get him up. We’ll take his truck.”

Jaelyn’s body quakes with sobs, tears streaming down her face. It’s the first time I’ve really seen her crack and it shatters me. Nate is her world and I have to do anything I can to keep him in it.

Between me, Matteo, and one of the valets, we manage to get him into the back of the truck with Jaelyn. I jump into the driver’s seat and Matteo slides in next to me. Minutes later, we pull up to the Emergency Room, and a couple of orderlies rush out with a gurney. After loading him onto it, they take him inside with Jaelyn grasping his limp hand.

I lean my head back against the seat. “Fuck,” I breathe out. “This is bad fucking news, Matteo.”

“Yeah, no shit,” he grunts, rubbing the back of his head. “This is hitting too close, Sergio. If we wait to handle the cartel, Christ only knows who else we’ll lose? Hell, we might have just lost Torres.”

“Don’t say that,” I grunt, scrubbing a hand down the front of my face. “She can’t lose him,” I murmur.

“Since when did you become so sentimental?”

“Fuck me if I know.” I sigh. “Okay, so my plan was to have a meeting with the head of the cartel and surprise! Ambush his ass.”

“We can’t wait,” Matteo says.

“No,” I agree. “It has to be tonight. They’re tracking us and they know we’re aligned to Torres. If we don’t make a move now, we’re going to be sitting ducks.”

“What about Jaelyn?”

“I’ll talk to her. She has to stay here with Nate, so at least she’ll be safe.” I look at Matteo as I pull the truck into a parking spot. “Can you give the guys a call? We’ll meet here and figure out what to do next.”

“I’ve got it. You go inside and see how Nate is doing. I’ll get a location on Becerra.” He claps a hand on my shoulder. “You shit the bed with this one, Serge, but lucky for you, I’m used to cleaning up your messes.”

“Just don’t slip and fall into it. That stench is damn hard to wash off.”I hop out of the truck and jog into the hospital to find Jaelyn. I find her hunched over in a chair, quietly sobbing into her hands. I run over to her and drop to my knees in front of her. “Jae, what happened?”

“H-he’s back there now,” she whispers. “They took him right in, but nobody has come out to talk to me yet.”

“It’s only been a few minutes.” I squeeze her hands. “You have to stay positive.”

“I c-can’t lose him, Sergio. He needs to come out of this. Oh, God! I knew this was going to happen eventually. I knew they’d find us and come after us.” Her shoulders shake as she covers her tear-streaked face with her hands.

“Look, I promise you I will take care of them, Jae. They’re gonna pay for what they did to Nate, do you hear me? And they will never get close to either of you again.”

“He lost so much blood,” she weeps, as if she didn’t even hear what I just said. “I saw the looks on the doctors’ faces when they wheeled him back. I could see it in their eyes!”

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