“Holy shit, you’re bad on my injuries. I’m going to need you to get yourself together or I won’t feel guilty about letting your ass hit the ground.” Diamond huffs out a breath and his grip tightens on me.
“And you better not fucking barf on me.”
“He’s still alive,” another voice enters the fray and I turn my head to find Dox walking toward us. He has a walking stick plated in gold with a snack head on top and his gaze moves to Diamond. “That’s all my son had to say.”
My gaze snaps up to Diamond and he shrugs his shoulders. “Yeah, he’s still alive. I told you we had a baby mama who’s a nurse,” he says, gesturing to the woman inside of the van. She flips him off. “She just sedated him.”
I inhale a deep breath, worry leaving my shoulders.
I open my mouth but snap it back closed, unsure of what to say. I’m saved from having to figure it out when a car pulls in a few feet away from us. Giovanni, Enzo, and Maximo get out, making a beeline for us. Giovanni is cussing as he makes his way over.
“No worries, Costa, she’s safe,” Dox says. “And your boy is just sedated while India gets the bullet out of his side. And he has a cut on his hand that needs stitches.”
Giovanni nods his head sharply, looking into the van at Vito before redirecting his faze to me. “Did you get Luis?” He asks Dox even as his gaze sweeps over me.
“This way,” Dox says, gesturing for Giovanni to follow him. Maximo hops up into the van, saying something to the woman, India. Enzo moves over to our crashed car, inspecting it. There are men from Seven Quad swarming around and more cars are pulling onto the scene. I recognize most of them as part of the family.
I bite on the inside of my cheek before I instinctively fall into step behind Gio as he follows Dox into the alleyway.
Dox stops at one of the bodies, a tan man with a completely bald head and tattoos running along his neck.
Dox taps his stick against the body’s shoulder. “All dead,” he says.
Giovanni nods his head and he looks up at Dox. There’s a few moments of silence before he stiffly says, “Thanks.”
“That’s what allies are for, son.”
Giovanni’s whole bodies tenses up. His jaw clenches and he looks down at the dead body. For a second, I start to wonder if he’s going to hit Dox for calling him son.
And if he does, what in the hell am I going to do?
I hold my breath, watching Giovanni closely. Dox seems to be completely oblivious to the sudden tension.
Finally, Giovanni looks up, relaxing. “The department flipped on us,” he says.
“You know how those pigs are,” Dox comments.
“They better be ready to be roasted then, because there’s about to be hell to pay,” Giovanni promises darkly before his gaze moves back over to me. “But first we need to clean up this mess.”