“If you don’t leave her and walk away from this, I am going to kill you.” Cosimo said the words as simply and as plainly as he could, and the effect was chilling. “I am going to murder you, Dr. Majors. I don’t care who you are, or what you do for a living. I will send men into your apartment, and I will have them cut your throat while you sleep. I’ll make it look like an accident, or a suicide, or maybe I’ll make it looks like Erica here decided to flip her shit and take it out on you.” He grinned, his teeth big and white and horrifying, like slugs in his gums. “You will leave her, doctor. You will walk away from this situation. Or you will regret it.”
Cosimo didn’t speak another word. He walked forward toward the door, slipping past Gavin. Their shoulders nearly touched, and I shrank away as the mafia man’s eyes slid in my direction, reptilian and terrible.
“If that’s how you want to play this, then that’s how we’ll play it,” Gavin said, turning to stare Cosimo down. “But I’m telling you now, a smart man would take my money and be happy.”
Cosimo reached the door, slid it partially open, then leaned toward me. “Our first night together is going to be delicious,” he whispered, then stepped out into the hall and closed the door behind him.
Gavin walked to the glass and stood there, hands curled into fists. He stared as Cosimo walked down the hall with a jaunty bounce in his step, and I couldn’t stand watching it anymore. I walked to the other side of the room, breathing fast and deep, trying to suck enough air into my lungs. It felt like I might pass out at any second, like I couldn’t draw in enough oxygen, like the room was filled with smoke or cotton candy or some life-sucking viscous liquid that managed to slide down my throat. I gagged and nearly puked as Gavin walked toward me.
He put a hand on my back and gently stroked along my spine. “It’s going to be okay,” he said, voice soft and low. “He’s bluffing.”
I looked up at him and felt like my eyes might fall from my skull. “Bluffing? How can you say that?”
“Men like him don’t want a problem like me.”
“Then why wouldn’t he take the money?”
“Power games. Bluffing.” He shrugged. “Any number of reasons.”
“You can’t know that. He might be crazy. You saw him.”
He took a breath and nodded slowly. “You’re right, that’s possible.”
“Then what are you doing?” I face him, brain working in crazy circles, trying to find a way out. “You need to leave me and leave me right now.”
He grabbed my hands before I could say anything else. “I’m not going to do that.”
“I’m not worth this. He’s going to murder you and—”
“No,” he said with a hard edge to his tone. “I’m not backing down from this just because that asshole made some threats.”
“Gavin—”
“Stop it.” He squeezed my fingers almost hard enough to hurt. I sucked in a breath as he relaxed his grip and pulled me against him.
I sunk into his chest and pressed my cheek against his warm body. I breathed deep and smelled hospital, deodorant, and his own musky scent beneath it. He wrapped his arms around me and hugged me tight, held me there, and I wanted to cry but I bit back the tears. I couldn’t let him see me weep, not when I wanted him to leave me—it would only make him want to stay even more.
Eventually the embrace broke off and I stared up into his eyes. I had the stupid, crazy desire to kiss him, but turned my gaze away toward my mother lying in bed.
He walked to her, checked her vitals, looked at her chart, then sighed and shook his head. “We’ll figure this out.”
“We don’t have to.”
He gave me a look, but said nothing as he turned and left the room.
I stood alone at the foot of my mother’s bed and wondered if I’d ever see her awake again, or if I’d get out of this situation alive.11GavinErica was distant for the rest of that night and I didn’t push her to open up. I had an early shift the next day and left her in my apartment with a credit card and instructions to buy whatever the hell she wanted.
Money wasn’t a problem, but I could tell trust would be.
She was afraid. I couldn’t blame her. Cosimo was a pretty fucked up and scary guy—I could see that plainly enough from the two minutes I spent in his presence, but that was all the more reason I’d have to keep him away from Erica. I couldn’t let a man like that take a woman, let alone a woman I was beginning to care about.