When Victor's chest stilled and his eyes went blank, Elaina felt all the adrenaline drain from her body. She sagged against the nearest cubicle partition, sinking to the ground as the pain from her foot reclaimed her.
Marco Andrisano pulled out a flip phone from his pocket and dialed a number. "Come now. Bring the doctor. There are also two bodies." He flipped his phone shut and glanced across at Elaina. "You're a brave little thing," he said, cocking his head slightly. "No wonder Tony didn't want you dead."
"Gee, thank," Elaina said sarcastically, her teeth chattering. Am I going into shock? How am I managing to be sarcastic when I'm going into shock? "What happened to him finding someone prettier?"
Marco didn't react to her sarcasm. "That," he said, gesturing to Victor's body. "Pretty only is as pretty does, but what you did took guts. You can't find that anywhere."
Elaina looked up at him and saw what may have been admiration in his eyes.
"What about Tony?" she asked suddenly.
Marco moved over to her, helping her to her feet, and she limped over to where Tony lay on his back, struggling to control his breathing. Blood covered his shirt from the bullet wound in his stomach.
"Oh, no, Tony," Elaina moaned, dropping onto her knees beside him. Pain shot through her foot and she shifted her position to lessen the pressure on it. Grasping Tony's hand, she stared down at him.
"Elaina," Tony murmured, opening his eyes slightly. "You're all right?"
She nodded, refraining from mentioning the painful hole in her foot. "Yeah, I'm all right. Hang in there, okay? A doctor's coming."
"She killed Victor, son," Marco said. "Shot him dead. Brave girl."
Tony nodded, his fingers tightening around Elaina's. "Yes, she is."
The elevator doors opened and three men entered, two with guns and the other with a medical bag. The doctor hurried over toward Tony, kneeling down beside him as he gestured for Elaina to move back. The other two checked Victor's and Jackie's bodies, removing their weapons and forms of identification.
"Will he make it, Tom?" Marco asked quietly.
"I believe so," Tom, the doctor, answered. "He's lost a lot of blood but the wound itself isn't fatal and as long as I can get him back to base, I'll be able to remove the bullet. The SUV's in the garage, waiting."
"Take the girl with you," Marco requested. "Tom, this is Elaina Rossi. Victor shot her in the foot. Make sure that gets mended."
"Yes, sir," Tom said, gesturing to the other two men.
With much effort, they were able to get Tony onto a gurney and into the elevator, which took them down to the parking garage. The two armed men stayed behind, probably to dispose of the bodies. Elaina balanced precariously on one foot, gripping the bar around the inside of the elevator cab to prevent her toppling over. The pain in her foot had increased and Elaina was starting to get a headache.
The elevator opened on the garage and she was struck by the memory of she and Michael emerging into this same garage a week ago, only to get shot. Lying up ahead, as if it had been kicked aside, was Elaina's purse, lost during the first shootout.
Stooping, she picked it up, determined to look through it later. The SUV Tom had promised sat right ahead of them, the back door opening as they approached it.
Tony was placed carefully in the back and Marco climbed in with him, waving aside the offers of his men to take his place. Elaina was escorted into the middle seat, Tom instructing her to keep her foot up until they reached their destination.
"Where are we going, anyway?" Elaina asked, hoping it was a hospital.
"Home," Marco said. Elaina frowned.
"What about Tony? He needs medical attention or he'll die!"
"What do you think I am?" Tom asked, a tad indignantly. "The Andrisanos have a private hospital in their home, fitted with everything I'll need to take care of you both. Gunshots tend to draw attention at hospitals."
****
As Elaina, her foot now bullet-free, stitched, and bandaged, sat on the bed in the spare room Marco had offered her, she picked up her purse and opened it. The curtains in the room were drawn, night having taken over the city.
After arriving at the house, Tony had been brought into surgery, a second doctor being called to attend to Elaina's foot. Then she had been escorted upstairs to this room, where she waited to hear news of either Tony or her own fate.
Inside the purse was her wallet and, to her surprise, everything inside was intact. Her cash, her credit cards, and her license were all there. She pulled her license out and looked at it, studying the small picture of herself in the corner.
The license seemed to symbolize her life before the Mafia, before this whole thing with Victor, before being taken back to the home of the head of the Andrisano family. Everything from before, her home, her job, her life, was gone.
There was no escaping the life she had been dragged into.
Just as she was examining her phone, intact but for the crack across the screen, a knock sounded at her door. Elaina looked up, setting what remained of her belongings aside. "Come in."
The door opened and Marco Andrisano stood there, looking down at her. "Tony's going to be fine."
Relief rushed through Elaina's body. "Thank goodness," she breathed. "Can I see him?"
Marco shook his head. "He's asleep and Tom doesn't want him disturbed." There was a pause, and then he added, "Elaina, come downstairs for a cup of coffee."
"I don't take coffee at night," Elaina said before thinking.
"Then have hot chocolate," Marco said, his tone firm. "Come downstairs. I need to speak with you."
Bewildered, Elaina stood, took the crutch leaning against her bed, and limped after the older man. They headed downstairs into the cozy sitting room, a large Christmas tree standing in the corner, lit with festively colored lights and hung with old ornaments.
Elaina looked at it for a moment, drinking in the sight of the Christmas tree. Throughout the past week, she had kept forgetting that Christmas was slowly approaching, had forgotten about shopping, decorating, everything in the wake of that first shootout and Victor's lies. But now, she might be able to appreciate the holiday, grateful to be alive. Now, she might be able to celebrate Christmas.
That all depended on what her fate was.
Marco offered her an armchair and she sank into it. He took the one across from her, a tray of steaming coffee on the table between them.
"Maria!" he called. "A hot chocolate for Miss Rossi."
"Coming!" came the answer, and within minutes, a young woman bustled into the room and handed Elaina a cup of the chocolate liquid, topped with whipped cream. Elaina curled her fingers around the hot mug and glanced up at Marco, waiting.
"You saved my life and my son's life today," Marco began, stirring sugar and cream into his coffee. "Thank you for that."
Elaina shrugged slightly and took a careful sip of her hot chocolate, the whipped cream tickling her upper lip.
"Tony seems quite attached to you. There is nobody else he would have surrendered his gun for." Marco sighed. "Elaina, you've probably guessed there is no leaving this life."
Elaina nodded.
"I'd like to welcome you into the family," Marco said. "You saved my son, and so I'd like you to join us, the Andrisanos."
Elaina stared at him. "What?"
"You are being welcomed into the family," Marco repeated, watching Elaina closely. "Do you accept, Elaina Rossi?"
There wasn't really any other answer, Elaina knew. But for some reason, she did not resent that. She could grow accustomed to this new life – and on the upside, there was Tony.
She had thought she had liked Victor, but it had always been Tony. Victor's acting and lies had confused her, her disoriented belief that he had saved her life several times had confused her, but it was what she could see of Tony in him that she had really liked. And now, she could get to know the real Tony better and she had a feeling she was going to like him a lot more than Victor.
Especially since Tony's action to save her had come at an actual cost.
"Yes," Elaina told Marco. "I'd be honored to become part of the family."