Page 84 of Caterina
“I know,” he says, like I’ve pointed out a scheduling conflict.
The calm of it is so insane it almost makes me want to scream.
Roberto’s head snaps around, his expression going even colder. “How bad?”
Adrian presses one hand hard to his side, eyes still on the monitor for one more second before he finally steps back from it. “Through and through.”
“What do you mean? You were shot!” I cry out, already at his side and pulling his jacket back.
“Caterina, stop,” he says, not pushing me away, but not letting me move him either.
“No, you’re bleeding. We have to—”
“It’s not the priority right now.” Roberto’s voice is flat, final. “We have to move.”
“Are we safe here?” Olivia asks, her voice shaking.
“We've turned this conference room into a safe room,” Roberto says.
Adrian is still studying the monitor, which is displaying different angles of the casino.
"I don't see any more of them," he says, as if he hasn't been shot and isn't bleeding out. "It must have only been the three of them."
"What happened to them?" I ask quietly, my hands frozen uselessly now. "I think you hit one of them.
"Two of them," he says. "Roberto got the third."
"So they're just... dead in the stairwell?" Olivia asks.
"Yes," Adrian says.
I stare at him, then at Roberto, who doesn't even have the decency to look upset about this. He just stands there like a guard dog on a leash that was just cut.
"The police are probably on their way," I say. "There's no way no one heard all of that." I look at Adrian, who is still leaningagainst the wall, pale but composed. "And the hospital. We have to get you to a hospital."
"No hospital," he says.
"Adrian, you were shot."
"I'm aware."
"Then why—"
"Because a hospital means more police and means I have to stay the night, at the very least," he says, cutting me.
"Well, yeah. I feel like I have to keep reminding you that you were shot."
"Which means I'll be out of the picture for at least twelve hours. I'm not going to leave you unprotected."
I can't believe what I'm hearing.
"You think you're in any shape to protect anyone right now?"
"I've been in worse shape." He doesn't say any more than that. He just lets it hang there in the air between us. Roberto is staring at the monitor like Adrian isn't bleeding all over the conference room floor.
I look at them both, wide-eyed. Then at Olivia, who looks just as bewildered as I am.
"Have they lost their minds, or have we?" I ask her. "Because I'm starting to feel like I'm the only one in this room who is having a normal reaction to a person getting shot."
