Page 80 of Curse

Massimo finishes stitching Siena’s shoulder and gives me a thumbs-up.

“Did you complete the procedure I requested?” I ask.

He gives a short nod. “It should be live now. But she needs to be monitored in person constantly for a few days at least. She was hit on the head and stomach multiple times. I don’t think she has a concussion or any internal bleeding, but if she wakes up with a swelling, severe pain, headache, or vomiting, she’ll need emergency treatment.”

“When will she wake up?”

“A few hours.”

“Can you keep her sedated for a few days and give her a chance to heal?”

“I can, but we’ll need to hook her up with IVs and do regular scans to ensure that she’s not bleeding internally since she won’t be able to tell us if she’s experiencing symptoms.”

I nod, dismissing him to assemble what he needs, and return my attention to the video. John Lumina is alternately begging for his life and shouting threats.

Aurelio’s voice cuts through his pleas. “You’re wasting your time. I only want your company. With you gone, the business and your connections are mine. It’s the perfect front for laundering money.”

Lumina stammers. “I can help you! With me at the helm, you’re less likely to face scrutiny.”

The man holding the camera laughs. The sound nags at me. It’s scratchy and cutting in and out, but familiar. I can’t place it.

Aurelio steps into the frame. “You stole from me, Mr. Lumina. And you used my men against me. Either offense alone is enough to end you. Together? You’ve signed your death warrant.”

Aurelio raises his gun and fires.

The camera lingers on Lumina’s lifeless face before Aurelio steps in front of him, blocking him from view. “Clean this up,” Aurelio commands. “Find me at home when you’re done.”

Then, the voice of the camera man: “I’ll take care of it, old man.”

I freeze and play it back. Over and over.

That voice belongs to Vin.

Vin was the one recording the video, and from the shaky, odd angles it’s clear that Aurelio didn’t know he was beingrecorded.

Fuck. Why was Vin recording this? To blackmail Aurelio? To use it as leverage? Did he give the video to Mikey or did Mikey steal it?

My grip tightens on the flash drive. Whatever secrets it holds, they’re not falling into Valentina’s hands. Not when there’s a chance it incriminates Vin. There’s no way I can give this to her.

Vin and I have never fought the way we did today, but he’s still my brother. Valentina would give her left tit to hurt him, and I’m not putting any damaging evidence into her bloody claws.

As long as I have the flash drive, it won’t fall into the wrong hands. I just have to make sure that Siena stays out of sight until Aurelio finds a new hobby, and I can’t keep her at my place in the city. Though I own a whole building, it will be the first place Aurelio looks, and I don’t have the security measures I want in place to protect her—not yet. Which means she has to stay far away from me until I can install the necessary safety protections, somewhere completely off the radar.

The bigger problem is not hiding her but making sure Siena keeps herself hidden and far away from me, stops making reckless choices that put her safety at risk. She’s too defiant to listen to me if I tell her to stay away from me for her own protection. Which means that if I can really get her to put the necessary distance between us for as long as it takes to neutralize Aurelio, I’m going to risk losing her permanently.

I may not need Valentina to fix the flash drive anymore, but I still need her to help me keep Siena safe. I know Valentina will play her role and play it well, without even knowing what it is.

Standing over Siena, I brush my fingers over her cheek, down her throat, and across her bandaged shoulder. It tears me apart to hurt her, but if I don’t do this now, Aurelio will slaughter her in front of me just to make a point. And I won’t let that happen.

Unclasping my Saint Michael’s pendant from around my neck, I move her hair and put the protective necklace my mother gave me around her neck. The chain is long on her, the pendant falling between her breasts. It’s dull and worn from 30 years of wear, but if it’s helped my mother to keep me safe all these years, then it will help her as well.

I drag my chair over next to her bed, settling in to keep watch over her. I’ll keep her here as long as I have to, watching her until the doc says she’s okay.

Savoring every moment I have left with her.

40

Siena

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