"Why the fuck did you attack the Davidsons?!" Emiliano's fist collided with the barely conscious man's bloody and bruised face again as he held him against the wall by his collar. "Did you really think they'd give back Dmitry's bitch ass if you killed them?!" He dealt another blow and there was a cracking sound when he connected, likely adding another fracture to the man's face.
Suddenly, a loud pop echoed in the room and blood splattered on Emiliano's face and shirt as the man's body went limp.
"Che cosa fai?!" Emiliano barked, dropping the body. [What are you doing?!]
Luca holstered his gun. "She's awake."
Emiliano's shoulders immediately relaxed and his expression eased. "Shit... It's already Saturday?"
"It is..." Luca nodded and looked at himself and Emiliano, covered in blood. "We need to clean up before we go see her," he said as he led his brother to the car. "I'm driving this time."
"Works for me," Emiliano shrugged, following his brother.
"The Zhang family's men are clearing out the final Ivanov spot in Long Island, so we can at least bring Mrs. Davidson good news on that." Luca kept his eyes intent on the road as he spoke, eager to get to Syd, but feeling calmer knowing she was okay. He just needed to see her.
Emiliano looked ahead out the window with his arms crossed. "How many times have you fucked her?"
"Seriously?" Luca scoffed, shaking his head. "Right now?"
"How many times?"
"Thursday was the first time - like we told you before."
"Doesn't answer my question."
Luca groaned and rolled his eyes. "Twice."
"Ha!" Emiliano clapped. "That's it? I fucked her three times when we first fucked, then woke up the next morning and ate her for breakfast."
"So, it took you three times to satisfy her and me only two?" Luca sneered.
Emiliano snorted, shaking his head. "Keep telling yourself that if it makes you feel better... Fuck! I miss her. If I didn't have to talk to you about what the family proposed, I would've went straight to her place... Though it's not like she would've been there," he grumbled. "I swear as soon as she gets out the hospital, she is sitting directly on my face."
***
"I thought she was awake?"
"Mrs. Davidson did say they had to sedate the her and Sean."
Syd stirred in her sleep at the sound of familiar voices above her. Her eyes still closed, a smile came to her face when she felt her hands being held on each side.
"Is she waking up? She's smiling."
"Mmmyoourhe." Syd murmured something unintelligible.
"What was that?"
"I don't know."
A hand held Syd's face. "Are you up sweetheart?"
Her eyes opened slowly but remained low. "Mhmmm," she hummed. Luca was on her left and Emiliano on her right. "You're here. Both of you."
"Of course we're here," Luca said assuringly.
Emiliano gently rubbed her cheek. "You didn't think we'd come?"
"We didn't leave on the best note..." she muttered.
"Humph," Emiliano huffed shaking his head. "She thinks that's enough to get rid of us, Luca. I blame that intense fucking look you get on your face for scaring her."
Syd let out a weak giggle before her pain hit her and she winced. Luca squeezed her hand tighter and Emiliano immediately rose to his feet.
"Where's the doctor?!" Emiliano shouted at the door.
"No, Em... I'm just in a bit of pain." Syd tried to calm him.
"Can we get some fucking pain meds in here?!" He shouted again at the door.
"Ti devi calmare," Luca grumbled. [You need to calm down.]
"Em, seriously... I'm fine. Sean is the one-" Her eyes opened fully when she thought about her brother and remembered their first exchange after the attack. "Damnit. He fucked up his back protecting me and the first thing I did when we woke up was yell at him."
"Yeah, your mom told us you popped your stitches arguing with him," Emiliano shook his head, giving Syd an amused smile.
"Is everything okay?" the doctor said as he entered the room. "Someone was calling for me?"
"I'm fi-"
"She needs something for pain," Emiliano interrupted.
"I'll get a nurse."
Emiliano settled back in his seat next to Syd. "Looks like we'll have matching scars, sweetheart," he said as he looked at the bandage on her shoulder. "At least it wasn't your brother who did it..." He cut his eyes at Luca.
"You're never going to let that go," Luca grumbled. "We were teenagers."
"You shot me over a fucking car!"
"Idiota! It was my first car and you totaled my shit in a race you didn't even win."
"Please stop," Syd giggled and winced at the same time. "It hurts to laugh."
"Where the fuck are those meds?! You own this whole wing, there's no reason they should be taking this lo-" Emiliano's words came to an abrupt halt as if an idea just hit him and a smirk grew on his face. "I know something that can ease the pain..." He moved his free hand under the covers and made a direct trail to Syd's bare core. "Damn, they haven't even let you put on underwear, sweetheart?"
"Em... The d-doctor just s-said he'll be sending a nu..." Syd trailed off as Emiliano moved his finger up and down her slit before pushing it into her.
"What was that?" He teased, adding another finger.
"Luca," Syd breathed, hoping he'd be the reasonable one.
"If you're going to make her come, you need to hurry the fuck up before someone walks in."
"Then help me," Emiliano responded as moved his thumb over her clit. The beeping of the heart monitor began to speed up and Syd's breathing became ragged.
"Oh?" Luca raised a brow. "You can't make her come on your own?" He turned to look at Syd, who was holding down her moans. "Has my brother been leaving you unsatisfied, tesoro?"
"Shut the fuck up," Emiliano growled before looking at Syd as he moved his fingers faster. "I know all about making you come. Isn't that right, sweetheart?"
Syd bit her lip and squeezed her eyes shut.
"I know that face," Emiliano said slyly. "Keep quiet. You don't want to draw any attention."
The heart monitor's beeping grew more frantic as Syd's lips parted and just before she released a moan, Luca's mouth was against hers, muffling her sounds. With the way Luca's lips and tongue moved and Emiliano's fingers worked, Syd was quickly approaching her release.
"The doctor said you needed - oh god! I'm so sorry, Ms. Davidson!"
Syd's eyes popped open and Luca pulled away. Emiliano's fingers were still working - with his back to the nurse, she couldn't see what he was doing, just that Syd and Luca were kissing. Syd cleared her throat, hoping it would cover some of the shakiness in her voice.
"No. It's fine. You can come in."
As the nurse approached hesitantly, Syd was relieved that Emiliano had sense enough to stop fingering her and the heart monitor began to normalize.
"Don't worry, sweetheart," he whispered before licking her essence off his fingers. "Next time..."
Syd's face was still flushed when the nurse finally made it to her bedside. "Apologies, I didn't mean to interrupt..."
Emiliano huffed and cut his eyes up at the nurse. Luca's jaw clenched as he let out a frustrated sigh.
Syd noticed the discomfort in the nurse's eyes. "It's fine. You didn't-"
She was interrupted when Tina entered the room. "You okay, babygirl?" Tina asked, walking up to her daughter. "The doctor said you were in pain?"
"I'm fine, ma," Syd gave her an assuring smile.
Tina looked down to see both of the Rossi brothers holding Syd's hands. When he noticed Tina's gaze, Luca quickly pulled away and stood up to walk out of the room. "Let's go see about Sean," he said to Emiliano.
He let out a frustrated sigh before agreeing to go with his brother, kissing Syd's hand before leaving.
Tina looked over at the nurse. "Did you have something for Simone?"
"Oh, right... I brought your pain medicine, Ms. Davidson." She handed the pills and a small cup of water to Syd, who immediately downed them.
"Thanks," she muttered.
"Appreciate it," Tina said, dismissing the nurse and taking a seat beside Syd. "Simone... You wanna tell me what's going on with you and the Rossi brothers?"
"Not really," Syd murmured without making eye contact.
"You know what? You grown... But I'm here to tell you... those two have been through some shit, and I don't think they know much about love, nor have they really seen it... So just know, they're going to need a whole lot of it."
"Damn, ma! Dropping the 'L' word already around here?" Syd quipped.
"I have eyes, babygirl," she raised a brow. "Those two are... a unique dynamic. And times are different," she shrugged. "Who knows, if things were different in my time, Ramon could've been your second da-"
"Okay, ma!" Syd interrupted nervously. "Can we talk about something else?"
"Alright," Tina chuckled before taking a deep sigh and looking at Syd with her brows tensed. "Sean is going to be out of commission for a while and you're going to have to cover for him since your injuries aren't as bad."
"Yeah, I figured... That makes sense." Syd didn't sound as panicked as Tina expected.
"I'm not just talking about taking over his deals and meetings, Simone. You're going to have to handle everything Sean normally does - including the things you've been avoiding by having him do them. It's time..."
Syd's bottom lip immediately began to quiver, knowing what her mother was talking about. "Ma..."
"Simone, we've been patient with you and it's a shame you left before we could get you accustomed to it, but it's time for you to step up and give up this thing you're trying to hold on to... this nobility or some shit."
Syd didn't bother arguing. She was tired of fighting the inevitable, but it was clear in her face that she was deeply unsettled.
"Babygirl, I know this is the hardest part of our lifestyle to accept..." Tina squeezed Syd's hand. "But we're not the good guys. We do what we can for the communities where we operate - we give scholarships, pay medical bill, build schools and clinics - but even with all that, the things we do, the things we oversee... They ultimately lead to pain and death and suffering."
Tina looked at her daughter's dejected expression and wondered if choosing a life of crime was a mistake. She and Jeff were in and out of the foster care system until they aged out. Both of them tried their hands at a normal life - attempting school or getting 'regular' jobs - but they quickly saw that it'd be impossible to move up or break out of poverty... Unless they took on other work - selling any and everything, killing, heists - that's how they started. Eventually, they built reputations for themselves and strong relationships with families along the east coast, which allowed them to ultimately unite those families under them, making the Davidsons the most powerful family in the Western Hemisphere. All Tina and Jeff wanted was to move up in the world so that when they started a family, they could give their kids a much better life than the one they had.
"All that being said... We're the best people to be where we are. We built our empire on respect and with a certain level of moral standards. Under Dmitry, and with the influence of someone like Santiago along with trafficking his toxic shit, things would be much worse... And that's why we take on the role of at least being the lesser of two evils."
Syd finally turned and looked at her mother who had a sorrowful expression. "I know what you mean, ma." She swallowed the lump in her throat. "And I'll do everything I can to make sure Dmitry never gets a seat on the Council and Santi never gains influence here... Whatever it takes."
"Whatever it takes," Tina emphasized. "Remember that, Simone."
A few moments of silence passed before Syd spoke up again.
"How's pa?"
Tina gave Syd a sad smile. "He's doing alright... You'll be able to see him in a few days when we take Sean home. He'll go through physical therapy at our house with your father. We'll have someone here in the city for you."
"Right, right..." Syd nodded. "And Lali? Did they bring her here for treatment or put her in a civilian part of the hospital?"
Tina took a deep, exacerbated sigh. "Yeah, about that..."
+++
A/N: I do think one of the many mistakes I made in this book was not showing more of the Rossi brothers in action before this bc I was trying to focus on Syd's development. So I hope their behavior moving forward doesn't seem outta nowhere... I mean, I did allude to it, so it is what it is.
Sn: I kinda wanna do a Tina/Jeff prequel.
If you're here and you're also reading "The Last Petal" and wondering why tf I keep updating this book and haven't updated the other in over a week, I'll be posting two chapters at some point today and will like post at least one more over the weekend before I become more consistent w updates.
Also, every time I hop on here and see this book getting more views/engagement, I'm amazed. Really appreciate y'all taking the time to read/vote/comment/follow!
Me, reading y'all's comments: