Page 174 of Dark Angel
“You arenotdying on me, Diego.” Despite his bodyguard’s groans, Gabriel continued applying pressure to his thigh.
Gabriel needed to get him to the hospital. He yanked his phone from his pocket, turned it on, and made a call.
“Hey,” his cousin Monroe Santini answered. “Where are you?”
“Distillery. Diego’s been hit.”
“I’m on my way.”
One of his guys had parked the empty box truck nearby and his team was busy loading the wrapped bodies.
He made a call. His foreman, Vittorio, answered.
“I need you out front,” Gabriel said.
Seconds later, his employee knelt beside Diego. “Should I call for an ambulance?”
“We call for an ambulance, the police show,” Gabriel replied. “Apply pressure here.”
As soon as Vittorio took over, Gabriel flipped up his night goggles, shone his phone light on Diego. He couldn’t see any additional wounds, no blood was pooling beneath him, but he wasn’t rolling him over to check.
“My leg is killing me,” Diego bit out.
“We got you,” Gabriel said. “Help is on the way.”
“Don’t let me die,” Diego murmured.
“Never,” Gabriel replied.
“Tell me you got ‘em.”
“All ten.”
Though the pain, he smiled. “Nice.”
Where the hell is Monroe?
As he started to call her, a car drove around back, headlights flashed twice. The vehicle stopped nearby, his cousin jumped out wearing cat pajamas. Monroe was barefoot, her long, dark hair pulled into a messy ponytail, her thick-rimmed glasses too large for her face.
Despite the mayhem, he cracked a smile.
“Grazie,” was all he said.Thank you.
“Vittorio, I’m calling a locksmith to change the building locks,” Gabriel explained. “Handle it.”
Vittorio was a quiet, mild-mannered employee who did a good job, but never stood out to Gabriel as a leader.
“What if more Russians come?” Vittorio bleated. “We can’t fight back.” He glanced at Diego. “I go to hospital.”
“Get in,” Monroe said. “Then we’ll load Diego. You gotta apply pressure and not let up. Yes?”
“Yes, of course,” Vittorio replied.
Vittorio got in, then Gabriel and Monroe moved Diego into the back seat of his cousin’s vehicle while Diego groaned through the pain. Vittorio pressed down on Diego’s thigh.
“Thank you, Vittorio,” Gabriel said. “You’re saving his life.”
Monroe jumped into the front seat. “I’ll call you later.”
