Vegas Pete - A Mafia Romance (Completed)

Macau Tay - Chapter 19: Part 3

Every inch of my body hurt and my head felt like it was filled with cotton. Groaning, I tried to open my fucking eyes, which seemed to be glued shut. Resisting the urge to peel them open with my fingernails, I slowly opened them a tiny bit, then finally fully. Vegas was sitting in a chair next to my bed. A fucking hospital bed. "Don't tell me you took me to a fucking hospital?" I rasped, then coughed. Fuck. I felt like death warmed over. Vegas leaned forward, a wry smile on his face. Did he have to look so damn worried? I wasn't a kid who needed his protection anymore. "Now that you're swearing again, I'll consider moving you to my penthouse. Nop is already looking forward to playing nurse." I was reaching for the needle in the back of my hand to pull it out but paused when his words sunk in. "Your penthouse?" "You'll need to rest a few days. And I know you, so there needs to be someone to keep an eye on you." He was watching me carefully. As if he was trying to gauge if I could take the bad news. "Did something happen to Tay?" "No. He's fine." He paused. "Spit it out. Damn it!" "I made a deal with him." "Stop fucking around. Tell me the fucking truth. I can take it." "When he called me, you weren't breathing. I was worried he'd use his chance to run." "My life against his freedom," I said with a dark laugh. "He agreed. Now he's home with Pete, packing his bags." "We need to protect him from the Outfit. His Father won't accept it." "You want to protect him?" Vegas asked incredulously. "He's still my husband. And I'll protect him as long as he'll let me." "He'll leave as soon as I've set everything up. You better forget about him sooner than later." I glared. 

"Would you just forget Pete because someone told you to?" "Pete wouldn't need bribing to save my fucking life." I jerked the needle out of my hand and sucked the blood away that welled up before I swung my legs out of the bed, despite my splitting headache. My eyes scanned the table beside my bed for my knives and my gun holster. They weren't there. Damn it. I felt fucking naked without them. "Fuck," Vegas muttered. The bastard grabbed my shoulders to stop me from standing. "I didn't mean to get you all riled up. You're supposed to stay in bed." "I don't give a damn. I'm not a fucking toddler. Stop patronizing me. I've dealt with worse shit than a headache." I shrugged his hands off and slid off the edge of the bed. Big mistake. The moment my bare feet hit the floor, I swayed. Vegas steadied me. With a groan, I sank back down on the bed. "What did they give me? I feel as if someone put Roofies in my drink." Vegas gave me his most patronizing expression. "I told you to stay in bed." "Shut up." I blinked a few times. It did nothing to banish the dots from my vision. "I want to get the hell out of here. I'm fine." "You're fine when I tell you. I'm your Capo." I opened the drawer in the bedside table, but my weapons weren't in there either. "Where are my knives?" "In the car. I could hardly roll you into hospital armed to the teeth." I clenched my jaw, then pushed myself to my feet again. This time I hardly swayed at all. Vegas glowered at me. 

"Goddammit, Macau. Why can't you listen for once?" "Don't give me that bullshit. If our situations were switched, you'd be out of the fucking hospital already." He didn't bother denying it. I knew him. "Let's go." Vegas thrust a bag at me. "Sandro picked up a few clothes for you. The ones you were wearing during the crash have to be burnt." I got out of the embarrassing hospital gown and slipped into clean jeans. "What about underwear? Maybe Sandro likes it if his junk jiggles around in his pants, but I prefer another barrier between my balls and the zipper." Vegas snorted. "I wonder what it will take to shut your big mouth. Almost getting killed and having your husband leave your sorry ass obviously isn't enough." I stopped buttoning my shirt. I knew he was joking. And he was right. Nothing ever got me down. Not when our mother died, not when Father beat the crap out of me, not when I was bleeding like a pig. Then why the fuck did mentioning Tay feel like a fucking punch to the gut? Damn it. I was turning into a pussy. I sent Vegas a forced grin, but he was already scrutinizing me with a frown. "Don't tell me you're so eager to get out of hospital because you hope to walk across Tay and talk him into staying with you. He won't. The selfish bitch wants freedom." I stalked toward him, getting right in his face. "Don't call him bitch." Then I fucking swayed and had to grab Vegas's shoulder to stop myself from making a faceplant. So much for being threatening. Damn it. Vegas only stared. 

"I swear if you don't stop giving me that fucking pitying look I'm going to beat you to a bloody pulp," I muttered. "I don't pity you. Pity is for people who got into a bad situation with no fault of their own, but you chose Tay. You saw how volatile and fucking annoying he was and you still wanted him. You were turned on by his bitchiness. You got yourself into this mess. Now you have to deal." "Cold-hearted bastard," I said, glad he didn't try to console me. Vegas smirked. "Always." I shoved my shirt into my jeans and slipped into my shoes. "Sandro is a fucking asshole. No socks either? Is he a nudist or what?" "He probably thinks you are." I headed for the door, trying to walk as tall as possible despite my wobbly legs. Vegas walked too close. He probably thought he might need to catch me if I fainted. "Stop hovering. People will think you're my sugar daddy." Vegas ignored my comment. "What do you remember before you woke up?" Back to business, thank God. "A bunch of cock-sucking Russians chased Tay and me. I got rid of the first car pretty quick. A bullet between the brows got rid of the driver and the resulting crash of the other fuckers. The second car was more trouble. I don't remember what happened to them." "They burnt in their car. Charcoal all of them." "What about my car?" "Charcoal." "Great." "Could have been worse. You didn't look good when I first saw you." I reached for the tender spot on top of my head. A few nurses watched us as we passed them, but they didn't stop us. Vegas had probably already settled everything in advance. "You're lucky they didn't shave your entire head. Knowing how vain you are, you wouldn't have stopped bitching about it." "You know how to cheer me up," I said. Vegas was busy texting someone. He barely glanced up. 

"You're warning Pete that we're coming, aren't you?" I couldn't help but wonder if Tay was still with Pete, if they were making plans for Tay's future without me. Vegas had offered Tay freedom on a golden platter. He'd be stupid not to go through with it. A life away from the mafia was something he'd always wanted. Away from me. He'd finally get his wish. Vegas spared me the barest glance. "It's for the best, believe me." Annoyance zipped through me. Vegas had always tried to dictate my life – look out for me as he called it – and it had only gotten worse since he was also my Capo. "I can handle Tay. I'm not a pussy, Vegas. I won't break down and cry because my husband wants to run as far away from me as possible." "I know." He stuffed his phone back into his jacket. Of course I knew he'd already told Pete everything he needed to know. We arrived at Vegas's car. He opened the door for me. "Don't think I'll put out just because you're being a gentleman," I told him as I half fell into the seat. I hoped Vegas thought I had done it on purpose and not because my legs had gone on strike. "Don't worry. Your backdoor is safe." Vegas shut the door in my face before he rounded the car and slipped behind the steering wheel. He started the car and slid out of the parking lot. "Do you want me to organize someone who can distract you? Maybe not today because of your head. But in the next couple of days." I snorted out a laugh. "You mean a hooker?" Vegas gave a one-shoulder shrug, not taking his eyes off the street. He had his poker face on and it annoyed the crap out of me, because I wasn't sure if this was a test or if he was being serious. A few years ago, I'd have said he was dead serious. Vegas had never had trouble moving from woman to the next, but that had been before Pete. 

"First of all, I might have a concussion but I'm not dead, and that means I don't need a pity fuck. If I want someone, I can find one myself and don't need to pay someone." "You haven't seen yourself in the mirror yet." I checked my reflection in the rearview mirror. "Okay. Maybe I'd have more trouble than usual." I had two black eyes, both of them swollen and bloodshot, and there was a bluish lump below my hairline. Not to mention that my hair was a matted mess. "You'll scare the shit out of every person you'll approach." "So what? It always worked for you." Vegas chuckled. "So is that a no?" "A big fat one. I don't want to fuck anyone but..." Realizing the fucking trap I'd just walked in I snapped my mouth shut. Damn it. "You're not going to give him up, are you?" Vegas said in a resigned tone. "No." "I swore on my honor to grant his freedom but I can break my promise if that's what you want. It's not like I haven't done worse before." "No. I don't want you to break your oath. And it would only make him hate me more. You can't force Tay to do anything. He needs to come back to me freely. That's the only way." Vegas shook his head. "Macau, even you must realize how futile it is to hope for that. He'll run and never come back. Are you willing to risk that?" "Yes." "Then you're a better man than I am. I would never let Pete go." I glared out of the window. It sounded easy: letting him go, giving him the chance to find his way back to me, but I wasn't sure I could go through with it. I wasn't better than Vegas. But I was a hunter and sometimes a chase was useless, sometimes you had to wait for the prey to come to you. I wasn't a patient hunter, but this time I would try.