Cold Brew and Bullets (Part 1 of the Syndicate Series)

Chapter 22- Waiting for a Tsunami

He reached out to hold my free hand in his firm grip without flinching away from my fingers still at his face. "Ezrah is going to get better. The doctors at the Saint Laziosi program are some of the best in the world, much less the nation."

I took a deep breath, knowing that he was right- the situation was bad, but Ezrah had been granted some of the best resources. Snapping the first aid box closed, I stuck it back underneath the sink. As I walked by the door, I had to resist the urge to lock it three times, but it wasn't as difficult as I thought. All of my worries and stresses seemed to be less prominent when I was with him.

I curled up underneath the blankets, slightly cold as always, and tucked my knees towards my torso as Alessio hooked his arm around my shoulders and pulled me to his chest. It was a feeling I had gotten used to, someone there to not necessarily talk to me or do anything with me, but someone that would simply exist by my side.

It didn't take long to drift towards sleep, especially since one of his hands was gently playing with my hair. It was soothing, so was the slight drizzle that could be heard against the rooftop.

Waking up was painful. I couldn't tell if it was the sound of glass breaking that yanked me from sleep or the feeling of feet and hands shoving my back so that I went flying off the side of the bed, but the jarring change made my brain stutter, halfway awake and wondering if I was having a nightmare.

A gunshot rang out, too realistic and too loud for this to be anything but real life, and my mind somehow kicked back into action. I yanked myself upright by the edge of the bed just in time to see Alessio lunge for a tall man who stood a few feet from him with a missing ear. There was shattered glass on the carpet in front of the french doors that led out to the balcony, but the intruder seemed to take advantage of our stunned state and managed to wrestle the gun out of Alessio's hands before he could get another round off, tossing the gun to the floor. It wasn't exactly a fair fight, as both of us had both been asleep only seconds before, and I had the feeling that if they were matched evenly, this opponent would have never stood a chance.

I knew that Alessio had pushed me off the bed to try and keep me out of harm's way, but I wasn't about to lay there like a dead fish. The blonde man got a kick to Alessio's head, sending him to the floor, but only after Alessio sent a right hook to his face. Without thinking, I threw myself off of the mattress into a flying tackle.

I took blondie down with me, both of us slamming into the floor before he used his feet to flip me over his head and into the wall. Alessio scrambled back towards us, the two of them throwing punch after punch as I lunged for Alessio's gun that lay abandoned on the floor. I swung around, raising the gun to my eye level.

"I wouldn't," The blonde man snarled, warning me as he managed to wrestle Alessio into a headlock. I never thought I'd see a mafia don slowly suffocating in the grip of an intruder, but only a few seconds before, I was comfortably asleep.

I lowered the gun slowly in response, trying not to seem too weak or willing to give in, but the man was adamant and commanded me, "Set it on the ground in front of me slowly. Any sudden movements and I snap his neck."

One step at a time, I inched closer until I was almost in arms reach. I did what he said, trying not to look at Alessio too obviously and give anything away. I stood back up straight and clenched my fist, hoping that Alessio understood. I shifted my weight onto my right foot as I swung my left up, aiming above where Alessio was and straight at the intruder's skull. My right hand swung around at the same time, catching his head between them as Alessio broke blondie's hold and grabbed the gun laying on the floor in front of him.

I caught the intruder by surprise, but he recovered quickly and sent his own foot straight into the side of my chest, where I swear I felt something crack. I flew back into the hard ground as Alessio rounded on him, putting one carefully planned bullet into his thigh and another into his side. The man collapsed, still breathing, but obviously too incapacitated to do anything else as Alessio stood over him with a gun.