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

Chapter 33- Healing Time

"Just make sure you drink something real with that," I commanded quietly.

He nodded, pouring himself a second shot before raising it in a toast and downing it all at once. I went to grab the compress and leave, but I stopped, unsure how to say what I needed to.

"Angelo, I appreciate....." I sighed, realizing just how horrible I was at finding the right words for things that were not work related. "I know Eliana said it, but I didn't. Thank you for what you did today. You saved her life and she means more to me than.... Thank you."

He stared at me for a second before he poured himself another shot, throwing it back immediately.

"That ought to do it," He muttered before twisting the cap back onto the bottle and setting it back on the shelf. He set his hand on his side before turning to me, "Eliana is a good woman. She's strong, mentally and physically, and she's had life that wasn't exactly easy. Maybe it made her a better fit for all of this, for you, but whatever the reason, I think she's a good match. She's realistic and still kind, but she wasn't born into this world. There will probably be some things she has to get used to, I just ask that you keep that in mind."

"Of course."

"Besides," He grinned tauntingly at me, "The men like her a lot. If you were to bring anyone else around, I'm not sure how they would compare. The others might mutiny."

I shook my head, but I knew there was probably some truth to the matter. Many marriages in my line of work were arranged for political reasons- often you liked the woman that your don was with, or you shut up and said nothing. Eliana was a rare choice I got to make, and I was lucky. The men could have grumbled, and while listening to their complaints would have been my choice, there was no ulterior motive. They liked her because of who she was and what she did.

"Goodnight, Angelo."

"Good morning," He corrected with a pointed look at the window where the sun had begun to show.

I turned on my heel to leave, "It probably doesn't need saying, but our meetings for the day are cancelled."

Angelo chuckled as I left the room, but the quiet hallways gave me too much time to be thinking. There was no question about whether or not I loved Eliana, but there was still so much guilt in me about bringing her into a world of violence. Angelo said it himself, she had a tough life so far, and didn't she deserve to be wrapped up in a future that would be the same thing.

It would be her choice. If she ever wanted out, I would let her. No questions asked, no hesitation. I would suffer the consequences of what I did for work, Eliana shouldn't have to. Until that day, I would try to give her the best version of life that I could.

When I got back to our room, she was still out cold, clutching her clothes. I set down the ice pack and shook her, "Ellie, don't you want to change clothes?"

She groaned, unbuttoning her jeans with her eyes closed and trying to push them down. I was going to look away, but her sigh of irritation made me turn back around. Eliana was stuck trying to get the leg of her pants over her bad ankle, unable to reach all of the way down without pulling at the skin around the cut on her arm. I went over to help her, gently pulling at the fabric and working it loose from her foot.

I finally got it off to see her wrestling with the long sleeve shirt and jacket she had on. She sometimes called it 'sleep drunk'- being so tired that you lose control of your actions and thoughts a little bit.

"Come here," I muttered, leaning over her to help her take it off as well without hurting anything new.

She fell back into the pillows in her underwear, but on closer inspection of her ankle, there was no way I could get leggings over it without hurting her- it was so swollen and blue that it wouldn't be possible. Instead I reached into one of my drawers to dig out one of my old t-shirts, gently tugging it over her head.