Taking the Mafia Princess

“He will not listen to reason, amore,” my mother told my father. He had to find Regan who had run to safety during the shooting outside, or at least we hope she made it somewhere safe. I watched them load Declan in after they took Regan’s mom in one ambulance. I ached to go with, but I knew it wouldn’t be allowed.

We followed behind in one of the cars with Mr. and Mrs. Sullivan. They were frantic about it all, but then so were we. My mother held my father’s hand and mine as we made our way to the hospital. All I could think about was if Declan would be alright. The sight of his blood on my hands reminded me that he could die. It ached so terribly that I couldn’t process what happened, and we were at the hospital before I knew it.

“He’s going to be okay, Silvia,” my mother whispered.

“If he ever gets to the hospital.”

“Oh, yes. I’m sure Tony won’t let your brother stay out too long without treatment, but you know that’s not who I was talking about. We’ll talk later,” she finished, getting out of the car with my father’s assistance while Mrs. Sullivan opened the door for me.

“Thank you for being so kind,” I told her. She was a lovely woman in her fifties with red hair with streaks of gray throughout and a little taller than me. Then again, almost everyone is taller than me.

“Not at all, dear,” she said, patting my arm.

“Come on, my love. We must see Declan.”

“I’m coming old man,” she exclaims, swatting the air and dismissing him. “Come, Silvia, let’s get in before they lose their minds.” She seemed pretty calm considering her son had been shot.

Once we got my father stitched up, they gave him some pain meds to rest. My mother and I made our rounds when I overheard Declan shouting that he wouldn’t sleep until Regan had been found. The pain hit me so profoundly that I regretted our kiss more than anything, even more than dating Angelo.

I closed my eyes and fell asleep. When I woke up, they were rushing Dante into surgery. Regan had been found and stood there looking at us with tears in her eyes.

Now it was time to break the news to Regan about her mother, but I was going to let my mother handle it. She knew how to deal with these situations. She walked up to us and said, “Please tell me.”

“You need to go to her. Come,” mother said tenderly. We led her to her mother’s room. It wasn’t looking good, so as soon as she was in, I stepped out into the hallway. My cousin Tony came up to me and pulled me into his arms for a hug.

“He’s going to make it, Sil,” he promised.

“What are you doing here?”

“I couldn’t sit back while some shit went down with your brother. He wouldn’t let me go alone.”

“You’re right.”

“Oh no, here comes Regan,” Tony muttered under his breath. Damn, I was guessing that Tony and she met during the kidnapping. I was staying out of this.

***

A few hours later, Regan walked over to Declan’s room because he was finally awake. My mother just sent me over to let her know that Dante was awake and demanding to see her, but I could tell they were in deep conversation, so I awkwardly lingered behind, just outside the door, listening in. Their discussion was hard to make out.

“…hurt by our break up. I’ll always love ye, Regan,” Declan pronounced, crushing my heart. Tears welled up in my eyes, but I held myself together.

“Tell me about it. I thought I was dating the prettiest, sweetest girl in town, and she goes on holiday only to fall madly in love with a criminal…” Declan said, reminding me of why I was tasked to come over here.

I knocked lightly on the door before entering. “No, no!” Regan cried, falling to the floor like I came to bring her the worst news possible. It hit me for the first time that she really must love my brother.

“He’s fine. Calm down, Regan. He’s asked to see you.”

She pulled herself together after a minute. “I’ll be back. Silvia, can ye keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn’t try to get out of bed?” she asked while tossing Declan a glare.

“I don’t need a nanny,” he shouted out, sitting up in the bed.

“Just behave!” she shouted from the door.

“Badly,” he grumbled with his eyes on me. “Ye don’t have to be in here. I don’t need a bloody babysitter.”

I rolled my eyes, then tried to make peace with him. “Relax cowboy; I didn’t come in here to pick a fight. I came to say thank you. Thank you for doing something you didn’t have to.”