Where was her dad?
What was she going to do?
Were they going to kill her?
She didn’t want to die.
But what else did she have to live for? Resting her head against the wall, she took a deep breath.
In and out.
She did it slowly, trying to stop herself from panicking. It wouldn’t help her in this situation.
She had to think, to be ready.
Covering her face, she allowed herself a few moments to completely break down, crying for everything that could have been.
Chapter Twelve
“It’s not looking good,” the doctor said. “If he makes it through the night, we’ll see. For now, we’ve got to take it one moment at a time.”
Diego looked down at James. He had no choice but to come back to the hospital. Belle had been out for the count, and he’d given her to his father and told him to take care of her until he returned.
This had been one of five attacks. The other four attacks had been at his places of business, including the bar and Angelo’s. Two other attacks had taken place on another capo’s land. For his own part, he had three attacks on his turf. Cops were everywhere, and he didn’t want Belle drawing any more attention than was needed. He’d already called Richard, and wanted him here.
“You’ll call me if there’s any change?” Diego asked.
“The daughter is down as next of kin.”
“I’m with Belle. She’s already stressed out by everything that has happened. I don’t want to worry her. I will also supply a huge donation to your ward for you to forward all messages.”
“That won’t be necessary,” the doctor said.
“I insist. I will also be supplying two guards for him. I don’t want him to be at risk.”
The doctor didn’t put up an argument as he wrote out a check.
“There will be more for you to pay extra attention to him.”
The doctor nodded before leaving.
He had to make this right for Belle. The only reason James got hit was because they were coming for him. Someone had been able to tail him, and he’d not even seen it. That meant, someone was that good, or one of his men had given away his location, which pissed him off.
Leaving the hospital, he found Richard already waiting for him.
“Her father’s in the hospital?”
“Yeah, and it doesn’t look good.”
“I’m sorry, man,” he said.
“Yeah, well, I’m sorry too.” He rubbed at his eyes, fucking exhausted with the whole thing. There was just no way he could have stopped this. He knew something was going to happen; he just didn’t know what and when.
“I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you.”
“Let’s not go there, man, none of us know what could have happened.”
“Yeah, well, I can’t help but wonder if I could have helped you stop this.”
“It doesn’t matter now. Angelo made his move, and I wasn’t ready.”
“You can’t blame yourself for this,” Richard said.
“My woman’s dad is in the hospital. He warned me about something like this, and I didn’t listen. I thought I knew everything, and look at what is happening. He’s in a coma right now. He may never get out of that. Not to mention my dad has Belle. I couldn’t leave her alone. Fuck! When did everything get screwed up?”
“Around the time you started dating Belle.”
“Shut up, Richard. I really don’t need to hear you talk about all this bullshit right now.”
Richard shrugged. “This was your call to make with Belle.”
“I don’t want to talk about it. Not now, not ever. I told you to keep an eye on Angelo, and you wouldn’t fucking listen. Let’s keep the blame to a minimum tonight.” He was tired and all he wanted to do was lie down and go to sleep. Before he could do that, he needed to go and see Belle, and then of course, it was a meeting of all the capos, with the boss, to deal with this shit show.
“Angelo was being watched, Diego. These attacks didn’t include him, which mean he has men acting on his behalf. I’m watching Angelo, not every fucker that he comes into contact with. I don’t have that kind of resources.” Richard turned and walked away.
He would know more of what happened as soon as he attended the meeting. Until then, he was in the dark.
Richard drove him to his home, and Diego didn’t even invite him in, assuming the not-friend would do that himself.
His father was in his office, enjoying a glass of brandy when he entered.
“Where’s Belle?” he asked.
“She’s in one of the rooms, secured. You don’t have to worry about her,” his father said.
“Secured?”
His father picked up a remote and turned the television on.
“You fucking bastard!” The television showed Belle chained up in a room. There was no furniture other than a bed. She was huddled in the corner, looking terrified.
“So this is the reason you ran out at lunch? This is the reason your priorities have been affected? This blind fucking slut?”