Page 44 of Dangerous Kiss
Chapter Eighteen
Two years previously, Cosimo DeLuca sat by his dying wife’s bedside and held her hand as she gently slipped away, another victim of cancer. He had thought it was the worst day of his life.
It was nothing to the terror he felt now. Waiting and covered in the blood of his twenty-two-year-old lover, having been told to stay behind in the waiting room. Both Biba and Rich had been rushed to the emergency room; the FBI and police were all over Lakewood and the hospital; and journalists were clamoring outside for the news.
Rich was in bad, bad shape—multiple stab wounds to the chest. Gunter was inconsolable. But all Cosimo could think about was Biba: her wan face, the blood pumping from her wounds. He’d lain her on the wet ground and pressed down hard on the savage wounds in her belly, trying to keep her blood inside her. They had to pry him away from her when the first responders arrived.
His Biba. His beautiful, spirited, fun-loving Biba was dying, and there was nothing he could do about it.
The police had taken her and Rich’s details and told them they would contact next-of-kin. Cosimo wondered if Biba’s parents would care. He told the police to go find Reggie—he was the closest to a family she had—except for, now, Cosimo himself.
Cosimo had called his mother, telling her what happened. “Mom, I have to tell Nicco—he cannot hear this on the news.”
“Dad?”
Cosimo nearly broke down when he heard his son. “Nicco…Biba’s hurt. There was an incident—Stella was abducted, and Rich and Biba were hurt trying to stop him.”
There was a hushed silence, then Nicco spoke, and his voice was gravelly with shock. “Is she okay?”
“No, son, she’s not. She was stabbed. They’re operating on her now.
“I’ll come down.”
Cosimo almost panicked. “No. No, Nic, really. You don’t want to be here, it’s…hell.”
“Dad.” The way Nicco’s voice trembled broke Cosimo’s heart.
“I promise, I swear, if she gets worse…I’ll call you straight away. I promise on my life, Nicco.”
Another long pause. “Okay. Tell her to fight, Pa. She can do it if anyone can. I know it.”
“Thank you, buddy. She will fight…that’s Biba’s way.”
“Love you, Daddy.”
Cosimodidbreak down then. “Love you too, Nic. Please, pray for her.”
He took himself away to sob in private, then returned to the waiting room to sag down onto the couch. Lars put his arm around Cosimo’s shoulders. “Keep hope, Cos. Keep hope.”
An hour later, they came to tell them that Rich was dead.
Biba woke up hyperventilating and tried to sit up, only to be pushed back down by firm hands. “Sweetheart, you can’t sit up. Take sips of air…that’s it…focus on my face.” A man’s face, covered in a surgical mask, loomed into her vision. “It’s okay, Biba, you’re safe. You’re okay. You’re in the recovery room at Sacred Heart Medical Center.”
Another gentle hand was stroking her forehead. Another face—a nurse, smiled down at her. “You’ve done well, Biba. We’re just keeping an eye on you…you lost a lot of blood.”
“Stabbed.” She croaked from underneath an oxygen mask, and the woman nodded.
“I know, baby girl, I’m sorry.”
“Stella?”
Biba saw them look at each other. “We don’t know about anything apart from you, Biba. We know your partner is waiting on some news. I’m just going to tell him about your surgery.”
“Want to see him.”
“As soon as you’re stable, hon.”
Biba nodded, feeling so out of it she could barely concentrate. She wondered why she felt no pain, then remembered they would have given her morphine. But she was alive.
