Page 82 of Shield

She blinks, interpreting the look in my eyes, then gives me a slight shake of her head, the corners of her mouth turning up into a cute little smile. My girl wants me, too, but she wants to say ‘no.’ That particular smile from her is enough to get me hard.

Dr. Rossi taps her shoulder. “Siena, may I have a word?”

“Massimo, don’t run off with my fiancee,” I snap, as she steps out the door with him.

Tommy’s phone rings. He answers it, following Siena and Dr. Rossi out the door and leaving me alone with Vin.

Vin spins a chair around and straddles it, resting his forearms on the back. “Shit’s fucked up right now.”

I nod, moving gingerly to the counter where my t-shirt, shoes, and gun wait.

Vin juts his chin toward the door. “I’m glad you and Siena found each other. But it complicates things with Aurelio.”

“I thought we were good to go with our plan,” I say, pulling my t-shirt on over my head.

Vin scrubs a hand down his face. “Things got messy with Tommy’s girl.”

I frown, stepping into my running shoes. “Giovanna? I thought Tommy found her, and that’s why we were ready to do the Luminous job.”

He nods. “We were. But Aurelio didn’t waste time retaliating, and since Siena and I have been locked down here with you, he’s taking it out on Tommy and his girl.”

“How?”

Vin exhales sharply. “Long story, but he’s looking for ways to fuck with us. You need to keep Siena out of reach until we get this done.”

I check the magazine on the gun to make sure it’s full and do a quick press check to make sure there’s a round in the chamber. “And where are we at with that?” I ask.

He suddenly grins. “I got a head start these past couple weeks, as much as I could from here. Those shiny rocks are going a long way toward building our arsenals and armies. This is just the beginning.”

“Couple weeks?” That feels like a lot longer than it should be.

Vin nods. “Yeah, something like that.” He pauses. “No way I was leaving your side, brother.”

Brother. I don’t know if the meds have me feeling sentimental, but if he stayed underground here with Siena and me for weeks, he’s definitely my brother. “Thanks for looking out for Siena while I was under.”

“She hates me,” he laughs. “So, no problem. Had a great time fucking with her.”

I punch his shoulder. “Better not be true.”

“Nah, we’re good. I mean, I can’t help myself, but she gives as good as she gets. We were both worried about you, so it was a nice distraction. And you asked me to do it, told me to keep her here until you were better, so of course I did.”

His expression turns serious as I put my holster and gun on over my t-shirt.

“I asked you to keep her here?” That I don’t remember, but it sounds like me. In fact, where is she? What is happening with her and Doc?

Vin nods. “I’m not great with words, but…” Vin pauses. “Just know that I view you as a brother as much as Tommy. The three of us together, we’re going to be the ones running things when all this shit shakes out.”

He looks exhausted. I know this is hard for him. No matter what an abusive dick Aurelio can be, it’s the only parent he and Tommy have left.

I narrow my eyes at him. “If Tommy pulls a gun on me again, I’m going to rip it out of his hand and beat him with it.”

Vin laughs, relief flooding his features. “Deal. Speaking of beating people… There’s a little shit corrupt cop waiting for you. Your girl shot him and I beat the shit out of him, but we kept him alive. Figured you had plans for him.”

I do have plans for him. Now that all the facts are on the table, I’m going to find out once and for all if Siena is really with me, and I’m going to use Franco to do it.

34

Siena

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