CHAPTER TWELVE
Bocca
I had a really fucking good memory. I stored all sorts of shit up in this big head of mine. Some might have called it photographic, but I chose to just see it as using my brain to its fullest ability. I had names, dates, addresses, and events all stored up there. In a blink, I could recall what I was looking for.
Sara Ann. Four blocks from the county hospital. Fourth floor, corner apartment. Yeah, I knew it all, though maybe I shouldn’t have. It was my job for the club to know these things. To look into club associations and make sure everything stayed under the radar. It was expected of me to dig up every little fucking detail of someone’s life. Whether or not I would share that depended on the situation.
To be honest, it was a bit taxing sometimes.
They called me Bocca because it means mouth in Italian. Sometimes it might have seemed like I talked too much. But that was the thing, the shit I said, the little tidbits I spilled, were nothing of importance. In a way, it was a way to distract people from the fact that I held everyone’s secrets up in here. That was a heavy thing for one person to carry on their shoulders. But I did. And I didn’t ever complain about it.
Sometimes I played charming and fun, but mostly that was just an act. Some people knew that because they knew the things I had to keep inside. And some people saw straight through my act. Nadya. Yeah, there was no fooling that chick. I both respected and feared her. I was glad she was on our side, that was for fucking sure. She had the ability to look at someone and read them in the blink of an eye. She was kind of creepy sometimes but I kind of liked her. And she was honestly the best thing for Tank and Grass.
But enough about that.
I drove through the city on autopilot because I not only knew where I was, I knew where the hell I was going.
I parked on the street, not giving a fuck if the car would get towed. I knew I left DNA behind but I suspected it wouldn’t matter. It wasn’t like that psycho chick would be reported missing or dead. I imagined that if they didn’t do the clean up themselves, that they had an evil version of Mr. Clean to do their shit work.
Okay, do we really need to talk about him right now? Yes, he was a cleaner. Yes, he was the club’s number one go-to guy for getting rid of the dead bodies we sometimes ended up with. But I knew the guy, knew his work ethic, if you will. He wasn’t out there taking random jobs from random outlaws. No, he had standards. He worked for the…let’s say, not so bad guys.
So, there I was, sitting outside of Sara Ann’s building wondering how the hell I was going to get up to the fourth floor without causing a fuss. There was a door guy and security in the lobby, that was the hard part. I also knew that there was a service elevator around the back for when people were moving in and all. That was the smartest way in. Only, I didn’t know if it required some sort of code. That, unfortunately, wouldn’t do me any good right now. Fuck it, I had to try. I couldn’t go back to the compound until I had my head straight and I was able to protect them. The current state I was in, I couldn’t even protect myself. Plus, I knew I wouldn’t be making it much further, hell, I shouldn’t have even driven here. I was honest to God, ready to pass out.
A few more minutes. I just needed a few more to catch my breath before I moved on. I wasn’t being a baby, but everything felt like it was on fire. My fingers were currently numb and possibly my toes too. Every time I moved the fabric of my clothes caught on those stupid fucking mini-stakes sticking out of me, causing a new, hotter rush of pain. It was going to be so much fun getting those out. I wasn’t looking forward to that at all. My only hope was that Sara Ann had something to dull the pain, even if it was alcohol. I’d take what I could get right now.
I pushed the door open and stumbled out, nearly getting my face tackled by an oncoming car. Good thing the driver had lightning reflexes. Also, good thing they were an asshole and just drove off without stopping to check on me.
I walked, well limped would really be more accurate, to the side of the building. With blurry vision and a throbbing in my head that felt like my whole body was rattling, I scanned the place for cameras. None. At least not that I could see. I was pretty sure I was right. Maybe this building wasn’t all that nice and secure after all, which worked for me right then but at the same time, didn’t make me happy. While I didn’t know Sara Ann all that well, I knew she had helped the club out a time or two as best as she could, and also, she was from Moon Hill. Kinda made her one of our people in my mind. She needed to live in a place that took the safety of their tenants a little more seriously. Maybe once I was breathing normally again, I’d have a chat with her about it.
Unable to hold my sexy body up any longer, I fell against the wall, using it for support as I forced one foot in front of the other. I made it to the back corner of the building soaked in sweat and panting like an overweight chain smoker doing a 5k.
Around the back was an exit to the stairs, and a little further along the wall was an odd indent that wasn’t very wide. This had to be it. If I couldn’t get on the elevator then I’d have to take the damn stairs. I really didn’t want to do that.
There wasn’t a button for the elevator on the outside, but there was a speaker box with a call button right there on the wall. I contemplated playing delivery man for about two seconds but given the late hour, I was sure they’d come and check it out for themselves. Oh, and wonder why I hadn’t just walked in the front when there were so many open spaces along the curb. There was a chance that I’d be seen by someone. The chain was starting to get heavy not only around my neck, but in the bag hanging off my arm. I needed this fucking thing off.
I shuffled my way back over to the rear exit for the stairs. I could feel my legs shaking and threatening to give out on me at any second. The door was locked, one of those key-card access kind of things right there blinking red every ten seconds.
That was when I gave the fuck up. I knew it was pathetic and downright sad for a man as strong as me, but come on, I had just been through the worst hell of my life. I was still in shock that I’d actually made it out.
My back hit the wall with a force that rattled my teeth and reminded me of the bruises that marred my stunning face. Then I sank to the ground, my knees buckled and my body collapsed like a sack of potatoes falling from the sky.
That was it for me. The darkness around me somehow grew darker, the dim street lights fading from my vision. My heart still beat, but I could feel it struggling to keep up its battle. This wasn’t how I wanted to die. This wasn’t how I was supposed to fucking go out. This wasn’t even a bit glorious or remarkable.
“Sir?” A sweet voice filtered into my ears.
I think I managed a groan as my head attempted to lift itself up.
“Are you alright?”
“Nope,” I said trying my best to smile up at the woman that I currently couldn’t see. “Are you hot?” I asked because, well it was me, and if I was going to go out with a woman right there in front of me, then I sure as hell was going to make the best of it. Maybe I could get her to give me a handie before I passed out.
Her steps grew cautiously closer. Hey, at least my hearing hadn’t faded. Then there was a sharp intake of air and I knew that she was close enough to see the damage that had been done to me.
“You need a doctor,” she said.
“Yeah, that’s why I’m here,” I said in a joking tone. Seriously messed up, bloody, broken, and with a chain around my neck and I could still pull off the charm. I think. I hoped.
“Sir, you’re not at the hospital.” Her voice sounded a little less concerned now. And maybe there was a bite of annoyance in there.
“I just need to get up to the fourth floor. There’s a doctor up there. I know she’ll treat me right away.”
“She’s not here.”
Well, fuck me. This night just kept getting better and better. Also, how did she know that Sara Ann wasn’t home right now? I was too out of it to think about it.
“Come on,” she said with a heavy, resigned sigh. Then her cold, slender fingers were slipping under my armpit like somehow she could lift me up. I couldn’t see her but I imagined that she wasn’t some kind of She-Hulk. I wasn’t as bulky as those gym rats but I had a good amount of solid muscle on me. I helped her as best as I could, letting out a long groan as I pushed myself up with my free arm.
“Oh, mother fucking shit balls,” I cried out when my body fell into her and managed to wedge the stick in my shoulder deeper. This caused the bag to slip from my arm and drop to the ground with a clang and a thud that rang out into the night air.
“Is that a chain around your neck?” she asked, sucking in a harsh breath.
“Yep,” I replied, my eyes fluttering open and my vision clearing just a bit. “I like the kinky stuff. Really gets me—”
My words caught in my throat as I looked down into the most beautiful eyes I’d ever seen. Brown, but not just brown. No, they were dark. So dark they threatened to be black. But they weren’t cold. No, there was a vibrant warmth in them. I felt like I was on the floor again. Or maybe that was just my heart.
“I don’t think I want to know,” she said with a small shake of her head as she gingerly worked my arm up and over her shoulders. “Um, I’m going to say that the stairs are a no go.”
I grunted and strained as I hobbled my way over to the service elevator where she was attempting to drag me. It was almost cute how she thought that she could do such a thing.
“Uh, Hank,” she said into the speaker after she’d pushed the button and someone had responded. “It’s Rosemarie, I hurt my ankle at work. I meant to park up front but I am so tired, I forgot and parked back here. Would it be alright to get a ride up?”
Her voice was all sugar and hot honey. Sweet and warming. There was no way this Hank guy could deny her. It would be like killing a child’s parents right in front of them. For real. That was how it was.
“No problem, Rosemarie,” Hank said through the speaker and even with the crackle and distortion, I could hear the tender care he had for this woman holding me close. “You get on up there and ice that ankle.”
“Thank you, Hank. I will.”
Then the doors opened and she wrestled me inside the steel death box. The door closed and then without her hitting any buttons, we began to move up. We came to a smooth stop on the fourth floor. Perhaps she had been lying when she said Sara Ann wasn’t home. But wait, that didn’t make any sense, because she hadn’t pushed any buttons. So that meant that Hank was the one controlling the thing. Which meant…
“She’s my neighbor,” she—Rosemarie—answered like she could read my mind. “The confusion is clear on your face. And you’re grunting while trying to work it all out in your head. Do you have a concussion? Did you hit your head?”
“Um, no?” My voice went high with my answer. I hadn’t hit my head, but someone had hit it for me. With that said, I was pretty sure I wasn’t concussed. I knew the signs well and they weren’t there. I was just hurting, really fucking badly.
“Try to look normal. Mrs. Ferrley across the hall is a nosy old bat. I don’t want to have to deal with that.”
I gave a firm nod, took in a huge lungful of air, and stepped out of the elevator with my back steel straight. In my mind that was how I did it anyway. At her door, which was literally right next to Sara Ann’s, she dug out her keys and I buried my face in her neck to hide my weakness. Also, to get a strong whiff of the fresh floral scent coming off of her. And that was when I noticed something else. An odd smell that was not easily mistaken.
“In,” she said, lifting her hand to push my head away. “Bedroom, I don’t want blood on my couch.”
I wasn’t going to argue with that for two reasons. One, yeah blood was a bitch to get out of shit. And two, hell yeah, I’d go to her bedroom!
“Easy,” she said as she ripped the comforter off and did her best to lower me down gently. “This is a fucking mess,” she mumbled, I was pretty sure to herself.
She reached over and flicked on a small lamp beside the bed. One that looked more like it was there purely for decoration because it didn’t cast enough light to do much. You couldn’t read by it unless you were maybe a vampire. I suspected its only purpose was to allow you to tuck yourself in at night so you weren’t stumbling around in the dark after you flipped off the overhead light.
Leaning back on her plethora of pillows, I took her in for the first time. Muted, lavender scrubs. Nurse I would have guessed. Now the scent of cold and sterile made sense. Maybe it was my lucky night after fucking all.
“Can you, um, take your clothes off?”
I gave her a tiny nod because I wasn’t sure I could even lift my arm let alone shift my body on my own. This wasn’t some perverted attempt to get her to undress me. Missed opportunity right there.
“We need to get this chain off,” she said, her eyes on her fingers as the undid they buttons of my shirt.
“Bolt cutters.”
“Do you think I just keep such things lying about my house?” Her look was one of frustration.
Yeah, I imagined that was a no.
“Oh, shit,” she said as she pushed the once soft fabric of my shirt away from my body.
I knew the fabric was most likely more red than white at this point, but then again, I did have my jacket over it and therefore, hid a lot of the blood seeping from my wounds.
Her eyes slowly looked up into mine and right that second, I could see the emotions shining in her eyes. I clenched my jaw. This woman, this stranger, looked as if she was about to cry. No doubt she’d seen things just as bad as this at some point in her life, being a nurse and all.
“I’ve had worse,” I said trying for funny. To this, she raised one of her thick brows as if testing me. “Okay, no, I haven’t. But close.”
I reached up and touched the scar from the bullet wound on my shoulder. I didn’t have to tell her what it was, she knew, and her non-reaction to that was a total flip from what I’d just seen a moment ago.
“You’re trouble.” It was a statement, an observation to the scene in front of her. And I didn’t have to words to tell her she was wrong.
Then she was off, her light steps carrying her to the attached bathroom. The light was bright as it spilled into the dimly lit room. She reappeared holding the biggest first-aid kit I’d ever seen. In a blink, her eyes were focused, her brow creased with determination and I could see she had flipped her nurse switch.
“Easy,” I said as she reached for the zipper on my pants. Her hand paused an inch from their destination as she looked up at me. “I’m a human pincushion all over. Just be careful, please.” I whispered the last part. I hated that I sounded weak but there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it.
With a nod, she got back to work. I shifted as much as I could to help her wrangle the pants free from my body. Her eyes scanned my legs, taking in the damage.
“Oh, wow,” she said as she met my underwear and she couldn’t stop the laugh that bubbled up out of her throat, not even as her hand slapped over her mouth. “Is that…a thong for men? Its even got the little pouch pocket.”
“Hey, it’s not little.” I shook my head in mock disgust.
“You’re right. So sorry, sir. That was…well, I’d say unprofessional of me, but I’m off the clock. I’ve had a very long day and I don’t feel like filtering myself.”
“Fair enough,” I said and tried to shrug. “Tell me about your day.”
I needed a distraction and it might have been best if we both had one. Anything to take my mind off of the pain and to take hers away from the fact that there was a stranger in her bed that was currently wearing nothing but a man-thong and clearly in some kind of trouble.
“I work in the Emergency Unit. With Sara Ann, actually,” she started. “I knew it was going to be a long shift, because the moment I closed my locker, chaos ensued.”
She tipped some sort of bottle onto my chest, the liquid cold at first then came the burning, searing pain like my flesh was being peeled off.
“Shhh,” she scolded as she wiped up my chest with a huge pad of gauze. “Here. Bite on this.”
And before I could say anything back she was shoving something thick and big in my mouth, and no this was not kinky even a little. The object curled towards me and my eyes crossed as I tried to make out what was in front of me.
“What is this?” I asked as best as I could with a book spine shoved in my mouth and my teeth having a death grip on its cover.
More liquid.
More burning.
More thrashing and cries of pain, only this time they were muted.
“A book.”
“I know it’s a book.” I had a feeling that none of that was intelligible. But she seemed to know what I was getting at. I stared at the half-naked man that seemed to boop me on the nose every time I squirmed.
“Then why did you ask if you knew what it was?” Her eyes flicked up to look into mine, the ghost of a smile toying at her lips. “Romance, if that’s what you were wanting to know.”
Then I was intrigued. Because this beautiful woman in front of me not only read sexy romance novels, but she didn’t even blush at the admission.
I didn’t know why, but I found it hot as fuck.
She continued working, choosing to focus on the cuts and gashes first. She went on talking about her day, eyes on what she was doing the whole time. I tried my best to listen, to focus on every word that passed through her luscious lips. It helped a little. I knew that there wasn’t going to be an easy part of this and I was dreading, absolutely dreading, the part where she was going to start taking out the little sticks.
“A few of these need stitches,” she said after cleaning me off. “I can do it, I just need you to be still. Can you do that for me?”
I nodded, the pages of the book flopping around in the air as I did so. Her tired smile was a welcomed reward.
It wasn’t long after that when I couldn’t fight consciousness any longer. I didn’t even remember my eyes closing as the last little bit of strength I had remaining left my body.