Page 97 of Tommy
Just like last time, he hands me a red lollipop.
I look at it but don’t remove the wrapper. The last time I had one was for a whole other reason. This feels like something I shouldn’t be rewarded for.
“Thank you,” I mumble to the doctor, who retreats with a smile as the door closes behind him.
I look at Vinny, whose eyes are already on me. I stay silent, because I don’t know what I’m supposed to say to thehead of a Mafia family who thought I stole from them last night and may have killed his youngest brother today.
He stands and heads for the door, turning at the last second to give me just his side profile.
“He’s alive.”
Then he walks out and shuts the door behind him, taking all the air with him as my breathing becomes erratic at what he just said.
The tears I’ve held back since I cried at the club finally fall. He’s alive. I didn’t kill him.
I saved him.
I grab the cup and take a giant gulp to calm down. But as the liquid goes down, more tears come to my eyes.
Orange juice.
He gave me orange juice.
The drink I always chose at Tommy’s place.
Chapter 35—Tommy
“Where is she?”
“He’s awake,” Danny states as I push up on the bed.
“Easy, Rocky,” Bobby mumbles as he helps me rise and adjusts a few pillows behind me. “You might have taken more shots to the head than you realize. You need to take it easy.”
“Get fucked. Where is she?” I rasp. My throat is sore, but I’ve had worse, so I ignore it completely.
I only have one thought: Payton. Till I know she’s okay and where she is, I’m not about to let my brother distract me with my own issues.
“She’s down the hall with Vinny.”
I push the covers back only for Danny to step up and stop me. “He’s watching over her till Doc checks her over. Then he’ll be in shortly to give us all the details. Relax, little brother. We know you want to know what’s going on. We’re getting you the information, you just have to wait.”
“I hate waiting.” I lay my head back on the pillow and growl under my breath.
Bobby chuckles. “Don’t we all.”
I take a few deep breaths, force the tension out. It’s covered with other pains, so it takes some time. I’m used to pain, though. Been in a few fights, so I know what to expect. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t still hurt like a bitch afterward.
Rolling my head to the side, I lock eyes with Danny. “What happened?”
He looks at Bobby across from him and then back at me. “Officially? Payton shot Dante. That’s what the report will say and what we’ll tell the men.”
“Unofficially?” I growl. Just the mention of his name pisses me off. I should have seen what he was, but he was too good at hiding. Too well connected for any of us to piece it together till all this happened.
“I took the kill.”
I knew Danny was at the club. That was the plan. Once we realized things didn’t add up, we acted quickly while Danny’s guys kept searching for shit. I was getting intel on my phone all the way up to when Dante walked into the office. We figured he’d go there to get more of the cash I had stashed in the desk safe.
We knew he was behind the theft. The rest was new knowledge that I sorted out in the moment.
