Chapter Nine

Damon

My perfect weekend with Jillian came to a screeching halt Monday when I walked into my office midmorning. Memories of her naked body writhing under my touch were still fresh in my mind when I strolled past Paulie toward the door that separated me from the storefront space. Her sounds of pleasure still reverberated in my ears. I was more than tempted to return to Blaine Financial and keep her as my hostage all day.

“Any problems with Roscoe this morning?” Paulie asked, pulling me from the instant replay of our early morning roll in the sheets.

“Nah. He’ll think twice about holding out on us again, though.” The office phone rang and Paulie picked it up. I kept walking and almost reached the door before he stopped me.

“Hey, boss, Luigi’s on the phone. He’s watching Jillian like you asked. He said she left the building, just running normal errands. But two Sanfratello guys are following her, too. He recognizes them—they’re enforcers. Nasty ones.”

“Tell him not to lose sight of her for one second and to text me their location. I’m on my way.”

Benny and I flew out of the office while Luigi sent the address to our phones. My leg jumped with anticipation the entire ride as Benny weaved in and out of traffic as fast as he could. Enforcers on Jillian’s tail could only mean one thing—Lorenzo was ready to make a move on her. He’d send his goons to pick her up, but he’d do the dirty work himself. I knew how his mind worked because I was also a capo.

My ties to the mafia were more than just a job. It distinguished me from the masses, made me who I was, and defined my future. Once you’re in the family, you’re in it for life. Lorenzo and his family were no different. The strict code had to be the same for the family to function. To be our rival, the Sanfratello family was every bit as organized and determined as my family.

When we finally reached Jillian, Benny came to a sudden stop in the street, and I jumped out to rush to her side. She was surprised to see me but also alarmed at the urgency in my steps when I sprinted to her.

“Damon.” She startled. “What are you doing? What’s wrong?”

“You have to come with me, Jillian. Right now.”

“Get down, Damon!” Benny yelled as he ran down the sidewalk toward us.

I didn’t even need to look to know why his voice sounded panicked or why his heavy footfall revealed his husky frame had suddenly picked up speed. Jillian’s eyes flew open wider, her bottom jaw dropped, and she struggled to find her breath and her voice. In that moment, my first instinct was to protect her, so I turned in the direction she was staring and pushed her behind me with one arm. A hot, searing pain tore through my chest, ramping up the adrenaline already coursing through my veins. My shirt became warm and wet before it stuck to me like glue.

Benny returned fire, hitting one of the Sanfratello goons and sending him to his knees, and continued his path to me. The second enforcer dragged his downed comrade to a nearby car and shoved him in the back seat. Jillian’s shrill scream sounded from behind me, and I immediately turned to check her for wounds. Her face drained of color when she saw the front half of my shirt covered in blood, and she couldn’t speak to answer me when I asked if she was hurt. I quickly ran my hand on my good side over her body while keeping my injured side as still as possible. Benny stood guard, watching the other car drive away in the opposite direction and ensuring another didn’t take its place.

“D-Damon, you’re shot!” Jillian at last could speak again.

“I know, doll. But are you?”

She shook her head violently from side to side. “I’m not hurt, but you’re bleeding. You’re shot, Damon! We have to get you to the hospital. Immediately!”

Sirens rang out, growing closer to our location, and I was in no shape to deal with the police at that moment. Besides, I knew Benny would get in touch with Uncle Leo, and he would take care of it.

“Calm down, doll. We’re going right now,” I reassured her.

Benny helped us to the car, and I slid into the back seat with extra care. Every movement hurt worse than the last. Each breath felt harder to inhale because of the intensity of the pain. My only consolation was I knew it wasn’t a mortal wound, though that didn’t make the bitch hurt any less. Had the bullet hit my brachial artery, I would’ve already known. Or passed out from blood loss.

Back at the emergency room Jillian and I visited the day we met, Dr. Falco waited for us in the ambulance bay to give us immediate access without questions from prying eyes.

“Fuck, Damon. It’s only lunchtime. How the hell did this happen?” He helped me into an exam room and turned to Jillian and Benny. “Wait out here for a few. I’ll let you know when you can come in.”

Jillian nodded while Benny turned his back to the wall and stood guard outside my door. I gave her a reassuring smile to try to alleviate some of the worry etched on her beautiful face. “I’m okay, doll. Doc here will have me patched up in no time.”

As the door closed, I saw her wipe the tears from her eyes, and that simple act hit me harder in the chest than the bullet had. Her worry for me was real. Her affection for me was genuine. In the chaos surrounding my family, those two facts were the only truths I was certain of beyond a shadow of a doubt.

Once I made it up on the table, he cut my shirt off to avoid moving my arm too much. “Jesus, Damon. Did you not even try to duck?”

I winced and sucked air through my clenched teeth while he poked and prodded around on my chest. “No. I was shielding Jillian.”

He stopped and stared at me for a heartbeat, surprised and shocked speechless. “Well, I’ll be damned.”

“Don’t make a big deal out of it. Just sew me up and send me home.”

He shook his head. “Afraid I can’t do that. The bullet is in your chest, and it needs to come out. Plus, it took part of your shirt with it, so the chance of infection is high. We have to see where that bullet is and get it out, then pump IV antibiotics through you for a couple of days.”

“You’re keeping me overnight?” I couldn’t believe my ears.

“Absolutely. At least a couple of nights, in fact, after surgery. You think I want Uncle Vin mad at me over this? You’re crazy as hell. I’ll go check on an open operating room and have the nurses get you prepped. Do you want your friend to come in for a few minutes?”

“Yeah, send her in here with me. She’s scared to death.”

A minute later, Jillian walked in, pensive and red-eyed. “Come here,” I commanded softly. She rushed to my uninjured side and dropped down into the chair beside my bed, her face resting on my bicep. With my arm bent, I threaded my fingers through her hair and held her to me.

“Dr. Falco said he’s taking you to surgery,” she said with a quivering voice.

“Don’t worry about me, doll. I’ll be fine. He’s a great doctor. He’s patched me up more times than I can count. I’ll be out of here in no time.”

She looked up, her gaze steeped in concern. “Why did you do that?”

“Do what?” No way was she asking what I thought she was asking.

“Put yourself in harm’s way for me.” A tear rolled down her cheek. “Don’t ever do that again.”

I chuckled, unable to withhold it after her demand. “Jillian. Remember when I said you’re mine? That includes taking care of you—in whatever way you need me. I certainly wouldn’t let someone shoot you.”

“We need to talk about that, Damon. That’s the second time someone has shot at me. I think it’s time—”

“Mr. Marchetti?” the nurse asked from the doorway. “Dr. Falco has scheduled an OR for you. We’ve been instructed to get you prepped for surgery stat.” She moved her eyes to Jillian. “You can go on up to the OR waiting room on the second floor now, and we’ll update you when we get started.”

Jillian nodded, wiped her tears, and leaned over to kiss me before she left. She lingered beside me for just a moment, the words she wanted to say on the tip of her tongue. But I knew the moment she swallowed them down, and she dropped her eyes to the floor as she left my room.

After I had blood drawn and X-rays taken, they wheeled me up to the operating room, and it was lights-out. I heard the nurse call the waiting room and ask for someone with the Marchetti family as I was going under anesthesia. My first thought wasn’t of my mom or dad answering the phone…it was of Jillian.

Murmuring voices pulled me from a deep sleep, though my eyelids felt too heavy to open. I turned my head slightly in the direction of the voices, straining to understand the words. Then I heard her voice and felt her hand cover mine.

“Damon? You’re out of surgery, and everything went fine. Your parents and Benny are here.”

The soft skin of her fingers stroked my hand. She was close, I could feel her presence, but opening my eyes still took effort. I finally got one opened to glance around the room. All I could make out were dark figures around my bed, so I nodded and turned my hand to close my fingers around hers.

“Dr. Falco said you were lucky. The bullet was close to your brachial artery. Just an inch difference, and you would’ve bled to death before we got to the hospital.” She stopped talking, inhaled deeply, and continued to update me on the injury. “You have to stay for a couple of days at least, mainly because he’s concerned about an infection.”

“I’m not staying in the hospital for two days,” I mumbled.

“Yes, you are, or you will answer to me, Damon Marchetti.” The stern tone of my mother’s voice left no doubt my stay had already been discussed and decided. Usually, when my parents ganged up on me, I had little recourse.

“Hi, Mama,” I replied sleepily.

“You heard your mother, son. End of discussion.”

“Yes, sir.” There was no point in arguing. Besides, I couldn’t wake up enough to make an effective argument.

Jillian giggled beside me. She obviously had a part to play in the decision and had already learned how to use my parents to her advantage. That sort of made me proud of her spunk and pleased with how much she clearly cared about me. Not many women from my past would have taken the initiative she showed.

I turned my face toward her and slowly opened my eyes. Her beautiful green eyes stared back at me—still full of concern, but also a lot of love. She hadn’t said the words, but I could tell. I could always tell.

“They won’t always be around to protect you from me, you know?” My pathetic threat was betrayed by the smile on my face.

“That’s where you’re wrong,” my mom replied, prompting Jillian to laugh out loud and shrug her shoulders.

“Mama Lina has spoken. Guess you have to listen to her.” Jillian smiled broadly, her eyes sparkling with mischief.

Mama and Dad hung around until I was awake enough to have a full conversation. Benny had already briefed Dad, so we avoided talking too much about the details of the shooting. I knew Dad would check into the reasons behind it more. The Sanfratello family knew an attack on the Boss’s son was a declaration of war, and our retaliation would be swift and devastating. What wasn’t known was if I was collateral damage in an attempt on Jillian…or if they used her to lure me to a place where they could ambush me.

Either way, I knew I had a long lecture from my father waiting for the first moment we were alone.