Chapter 29

Luca’s POV

Carlo’s eyes grew wide. “Wait, do I get morphine, too?”, he asked, making Sergio and I laugh. “No, suck it up, brother. We’ve all had to do it”, Sergio said, clapping him on the shoulder. Mara knelt down and started cutting away his pants leg. I took a seat on the stool and watched as Carlo held in his yelps and Mara removed the bullet. She stitched his leg up next, completing it in only a few minutes this time.

Mara removed her gloves and went to the sink to wash her hands. I sighed, fuck it, I had better show her now or she will be more upset later. I removed my shirt before she could turn around. “One more, doc”, I said playfully. When Mara turned around and saw my arm, she frowned. She sighed as she put on another pair of gloves and grabbed the suture kit.

“Are you mad at me?”, I whispered. She poured alcohol on my wound and dabbed on it. I didn’t react, only watched and waited for a response from her. “I’m going to get Marco some food”, Sergio said. “I would like to eat as well”, Carlo whined, making Sergio roll his eyes.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were injured earlier?”, Mara asked, in a whisper, as she threaded the needle. “Marco and Carlo needed your attention first”, I answered. “You still could have warned me”, she muttered, as she started to stitch. “You wouldn’t have been able toys stay focused, piccola. Be honest with yourself”, I uttered. “No, I wouldn’t have”, she admitted, in defeat. I stroked her cheek with my free hand.

“Thank you”, she whispered. “For what, baby girl?”, I asked. “Coming home”, she said simply, her hands moved proficiently with the thread and needle.

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“I promised you that I would”, I said. When she finished my arm, I pulled her in for a kiss. I poured my emotions into it, relieving my pent-up rage and frustration.

“Eww, get a room”, Carlo said, making us pull apart. “Excuse me for kissing my wife, after we all just almost fucking died”, I snapped, sarcastically, as Sergio walked back into the room with food for Marco and Carlo. “We lost seven soldatos, three are injured”, Cal informed us, looking up from his phone.

Mara looked over at me with a frown. “Where are they then?”, she questioned. “Have them brought here”, I instructed Cal, only glancing at him momentarily, before my eyes were back on Mara’s. “Are you sure, principessa? You look tired”, I questioned gently. “Yes. We can’t leave the soldatos untreated, Luca. That’s not loyalty”, Mara answered, as she grabbed an ointment to put on my stitches.

“You’re right. So, how did you manage to keep ma calm?”, I whispered. Mara smiled, “We worked on her herb garden design until she couldn’t hold her eyes open any longer”, she answered, with a little chuckle. I smiled, “What about you?”, I asked. “I worked on school work”, she sighed. I chuckled, “Finn did give an excessive amount of homework, didn’t he?”, I toyed. “Yes”, she said, exasperated.

“I’m sorry that I didn’t call you. I need a new phone. I shattered mine, pissed off that I couldn’t get ahold of the nurse or the doctor”, I gritted out in vexation. “Franky probably killed them, Luca. In hopes that you wouldn’t be able to save your brother”, Mara explained, tenderly, as she removed her gloves. “He knows it would’ve destroyed you”, she muttered, skimming her finger over my, ‘Famiglia per sempre’ (Family forever) tattoo.

I stared at her in wonder. How she manages to pin point the smallest of detail in this type of situation, baffles me.

Before I could respond to her, the infirmary doors flew open, as a crew of my men brought in the injured. My eyes immediately went to the kid, who couldn’t have been more than sixteen years old. My blood boiled with more rage. I have specific fucking rules against children going into battle.

That rule was obviously broken tonight. And now, said kid is hurt, badly it seems. Fuck!

Marabella’s POV

My eyes automatically landed on the kid they brought in. He couldn’t have been more than sixteen years old, and seemed to be in the most critical condition. “Luca”, I called to my husband, who’s fear-stricken, anger-filled eyes were on the child as well. He brought his eyes to mine. “I need cots”, I said. He nodded, “Three cots, gentlemen, quickly”, Luca commanded, taking the kid into his arms.

Luca’s eyes screamed ‘please save him’, when they connected with mine. The kid seemed to be in and out of consciousness. I had already put new gloves on and started ripping his button-down shirt open. “We need to get it off”, I told Luca. He and another soldier took the boy’s shirt off, as I checked his legs for injuries. His legs were clear, but he had two bullet wounds in his abdomen.

One was a through and through, but the other wasn’t. I took a step back, and rolled my lip between my teeth as I tried to recall where all of the vital organs were located. I stepped forward, muttering to myself, as I felt around the kid’s wounds. Luca watched me tentatively, almost as if he was trying to understand my muttering. When I pressed closer to his wounds, he opened his eyes and cried out.

“Easy there, kiddo. I’m just checking the damage. What’s your name, kid?”, I asked. The kid looked around the room, making eye contact with my husband. “Boss?”, he asked, shakily. “Yes, answer her”, Luca said, nodding back toward me. “Timmy”, he answered. “Timmy, how old are you?”, I questioned, keeping the conversation going. “Sixteen”, he swallowed, regretfully.

Luca cursed under his breath. “Ma’am, it hurts so bad”, Timmy whined. “I know, just hand in there, kiddo. Do you know what blood type you are?”, I asked, hopefully. “N-No”, he choked. “Someone get this kid’s mother, she needs to be here”, I growled. “What? No no, she’ll kill me”, Timmy protest. Sergio tapped me on the shoulder to let me know that the cots were ready. “You’ll die without her, buddy”, I told him solemnly.