Authors: Alexa Land
Andreo and I followed. When I looked to my left before we ran in the opposite direction, I caught a glimpse of Dante’s friend Christopher Robin and his husband Kieran. They were both in full zombie makeup and covered in fake blood, yelling and flailing hysterically while a group of doctors and nurses tried to calm them down. When we boarded the elevator and were on our way to the ground floor, I looked at Dante and said, “Zombies? Really?”
My cousin shrugged, still grinning. “I didn’t tell Christopher to show up in zombie makeup, I just told him to cause a diversion. What can I say? He’s an artist, he got creative.”
On the bottom floor we got lucky, because no one saw us as we slipped out a staff entrance. Or for all I knew, maybe there were more zombies downstairs distracting the staff, too. In the parking lot, a man and woman stepped forward and transferred Luca into the ambulance so quickly, carefully and efficiently that they had to be medical personnel, even though they were dressed in street clothes. Andreo climbed in with his brother and hung the IV bag from a hook on the ceiling of the ambulance. The medics climbed in too and immediately began hooking Luca to a bank of monitors.
Dante’s husband came up to me and handed me my backpack and a small suitcase. “I packed in a hurry,” Charlie told me. “Sorry if I forgot anything important.”
“Thanks, I’m sure it’s fine.” I checked the backpack and located my passport in the front pocket.
Dante told me, “The ambulance will take you, Luca and Andreo to the airport. We gave my brother Gianni a heads-up, and he and his boyfriend will meet you in the South Pacific. We thought it was best that you go somewhere with family, in case you need a hand.”
“Luca’s in no condition to travel that far.”
“He’ll be fine,” Dante assured me. “I had to fly once right after surgery, and I’m setting him up with a doctor and nurse on a private plane, just like I had. They’ll keep him stable.” He pulled a thick envelope from his pocket and handed it to me, which proved to be full of cash. “I didn’t have time to exchange this for the local currency, but you’ll be able to do that at the concierge desk at the hotel. Don’t use your credit cards while you’re away, just to be on the safe side. I’ll handle your financial transactions from here, call me if you need anything.”
“Do you really think Jerry’s going to come after us?”
“I wouldn’t put it past him,” Dante said. “Now you should get going. We’ve been lucky so far, and I don’t want you to be detained by hospital security.”
“Yeah, okay. Thank you so much for all your help.” I hugged him and Vincent before I climbed into the ambulance. “I’ll talk to you both soon,” I said, and pulled the doors shut behind me.
The moment I sat down, the ambulance started moving. Luca was taking in everything with wide eyes. “You’re going to be okay,” I told him, making a conscious effort not to look worried. “We’re going to take you somewhere safe.”
“Just stay close, okay?” His voice still sounded raspy.
“I won’t leave your side. I promise.” He nodded and let his eyes slide shut as he exhaled slowly. I took his hand after I forced mine to stop shaking.
The flight to Tahiti took all night, including a stop-off to refuel in Hawaii. Dante had booked us on a private jet, and the doctor and nurse who’d met us at the hospital went with us. They kept Luca comfortable with a steady drip of pain meds, and closely monitored his vital signs. He ended up sleeping through most of the flight, and so did Andreo.
I couldn’t fall asleep, though. My worry kept me up. I watched Luca closely, taking his pulse every few minutes and reading the machines that had accompanied us onto the plane, even though the medical professionals were already doing that.
They were an interesting pair. I found out Julie (the doctor) and Peter (the nurse) were husband and wife, both in their late fifties, and I got the impression they specialized in less than legal medical emergencies. I wondered how long they’d been mob doctors for my family, or if this was a new arrangement.
“Are you a doctor?” she asked me when I took Luca’s pulse for probably the twentieth time and recorded it on a chart I’d made for him.
“No. I used to be an EMT,” I told her.
“Why’d you quit?”
I shrugged and told her honestly, “My personal life imploded, and my career became collateral damage. I’m in law school now.”
“Why law school and not med school?”
I shrugged and said, “I never believed I had what it took to make it through medical school.”
“I think you probably sold yourself short,” Julie said before going to sit with her husband at a little table by the window.
The young, attractive flight attendant brought them coffee and asked me if I needed anything. “Just to get there already,” I murmured. She assured me it wouldn’t be much longer.
My cousin Dante never ceased to amaze me with his ability to get things done quickly, and with perfect attention to detail. Another private ambulance was waiting for us on the island, along with a car and driver since that ambulance was quite small. Only Luca and I could fit in the back of it, and everyone else followed in the town car.
Both the airport and the medical facility where Dante had made arrangements were in Papeete, and it was just a short drive. Soon Luca was tucked into bed in a modern, private room. I’d have been willing to bet it was the most state-of-the-art facility in all of French Polynesia, just because Dante would have made sure of that.
Luca fell asleep again almost immediately, and I sent a text to my cousin Gianni. It said:
Hey. So, I’m in Tahiti. I assume Dante told you I was coming, and that basically everything back home is a complete disaster. Where are you and your boyfriend?
He wrote back just a minute later:
Zan and I are en route, we should be there tonight. We were at sea when Dante called us on the satellite phone yesterday. How’s your boyfriend? By the way, you’ve told me nothing about him so I’m ticked off at you!
I answered with:
He seems to be okay. You and I have a lot of catching up to do. Looking forward to seeing you. I assume your freakishly thorough brother told you exactly where to find us.
Gianni replied:
Of course he did. See you soon, Cuz.
I returned the phone to my pocket and watched Luca as he slept. Andreo and Julie, our doctor to-go, came in a few minutes later. They were both speaking fluent French with one of the doctors on duty. As he made a few notes on Luca’s chart, Julie told me, “We’re leaving your boyfriend in capable hands, Nico. Good luck to both of you.”
“Thanks for everything. Are you and Peter flying right back?”
“No. We reserved a cozy cottage on the beach for the next couple weeks. We’ll be following up with Luca when he gets out of the hospital, and in the meantime, we’ll be enjoying a nice little vacation, courtesy of your cousin Dante.”
Once she and the other doctor left, Andreo came up to me and said, “Why don’t you take a break, Nico, and get yourself something in the cafeteria? I don’t think you’ve eaten in hours.”
I shook my head. “I promised Luca I wouldn’t leave his side. No way do I want him waking up somewhere unfamiliar without me.”
“It won’t do either of you any good to let yourself get run down and dehydrated.”
“I know, but I’m not going anywhere. Maybe one of the nurses can bring me some coffee.”
“You’re as stubborn as my brother,” he said as he turned and headed for the door. “I’ll bring you something so you don’t keel over.”
“Thanks,” I called after him, not too loud since I didn’t want to wake Luca.
He returned a few minutes later with sandwiches, coffee and little plastic tubs of tropical fruit salad, and we both ate at Luca’s bedside. Halfway through the meal, my phone buzzed and I pulled it out, read the long text from Dante, and fired off a reply before finishing the rest of my sandwich in two big bites.
“Was that news from San Francisco?” Andreo asked before wiping his mouth with a paper napkin.
I nodded. “It’s such a mess. Jerry’s on a rampage. He’s furious with Dante and Vincent for lying to him, and for protecting you and Luca. I don’t know what he’s going to do, but this isn’t just going to go away.”
“Do you think Jerry can track us here?”
“I’m sure Dante covered our tracks. He probably paid someone off to make the passenger list from that private flight go away.”
Andreo said, “It’s surprising that Dante and Vincent are on our side. They were directly affected by what my father did. If anyone had cause to hold a grudge, it would be them.”
“They despised your father, but they’re also both truly exceptional people. They’ve managed not to let the actions of one person color their opinions of your entire family.”
“They’re better men than me,” Andreo said, looking down at his coffee cup. “I really believed all you Dombrusos were the same, a bunch of lowlife thugs. But then, I learned that from my father, so I should have known not to just accept it.”
I had to ask. “What kind of a father was Sal Natori?”
“Cold. Demanding. He raised me to be a soldier in his army and the heir to his blood-soaked throne. The fact that I wanted no part of his legacy was irrelevant. I’m so glad Luca barely knew him and was spared all that shit.”
“What about your mom, what was she like?”
“I don’t really remember her. She died when I was four.”
“I’m sorry,” I said. “What happened to her?”
“I think my father killed her, not that I have any proof. He would never tell me how she died.”
“So, who raised you?”
“A long string of nannies,” Andreo told me, balling up his sandwich wrapper and getting up to toss it in a trashcan near the door.
“Sounds like a lonely childhood.”
He shrugged and said, “I survived. If you’re done interviewing me, I’m going to take a nap. Wake me if my brother needs anything.” Andreo returned to the chair in the corner and tried to fold his large frame into it.
“I’m glad Luca has you in his life,” I said after a pause.
“I’m glad he has you, too.” A minute later, he was snoring softly.
*****
My cousin Gianni looked better than I’d ever seen him. It was more than the fact that he was tan and toned. There was something in the way he carried himself, a relaxed confidence that I hadn’t seen before. I watched him and his boyfriend Zan approaching the medical center from the window in Luca’s room. They were hand in hand, deep in conversation, their heads inclined toward each other. Alexzander Tillane was a very famous pop star, and a couple months earlier they’d sailed off in search of some peace and privacy, away from the relentless paparazzi.
I met them in the hall outside Luca’s closed door, and when he saw me, my cousin’s forehead creased with concern. He hurried to me and grabbed me in a hug, and I said, “God, I missed you.”
“I missed you, too, Nicky.”
“Hi Zan.” I went to shake his hand, but he pulled me into a friendly embrace instead.
“Good to see you, mate.” He had an English accent, diluted by years in the states.
“You, too.” I took a quick look at him when he let go of me. He was quite a bit older than my cousin, but you’d never know it. Aside from some streaks of grey in his elbow-length, thick brown hair, Zan could have easily passed for twenty-eight or so.
Like his boyfriend, he also looked tanned, healthy and happy. He was a nice guy, but being around him was just a bit surreal, since I’d grown up listening to his music. It always seemed weird to look into the face that had been on my album covers (and yes, I’d bought vinyl as a kid, because I’d thought it was cool).
“There’s someone I want you two to meet,” I said.
Gianni hesitated and asked, “Are they both in there? Both of Sal Natori’s sons?”
“No. Andreo went out to buy himself a change of clothes, so it’s just Luca. How much has Dante told you about all of this?”
“A fair amount. He asked me to keep an open mind,” Gianni said, tucking his black hair behind his ear. He was growing it out, and it almost reached his shoulders.
“Okay, good.”
There was uncertainty in his big, blue eyes as he said, “I’m not gonna lie. This is weird for me, Nico. I grew up hating the Natoris, and not just the one who murdered my parents and sister. I hated all of them for the feud that led to their death. It’s kind of hard to just let go of that.”
“I understand, believe me. But you know me better than anyone, Gi. I wouldn’t fall for a monster. Luca’s such a good guy. Please give him a chance.”
“Dante told me Luca took a bullet for you. How is he?”
“Stable and really drugged up, so he’s not in pain,” I said. “Considering the amount of morphine going into his system, it’s surprising he’s as lucid as he is.”
“Alright, let’s go meet your man. I have to say, I’m more than a little curious,” Gianni told me.
“Sure. Oh, one more thing. Remember the story of my first kiss when I was fourteen? I know I told you, probably more than once.”
He grinned too and said, “Way, way more than once. It was by the fountain in Viladembursa, at the very end of your family vacation. You didn’t get his name.”
“Turns out, his name is Luca Caruso.”
Gianni’s eyes went wide. “That’s him? You’re shitting me!”
“I think fate brought us back together.”
“You totally don’t believe in stuff like that.”
“I didn’t before,” I said as I pushed open the door to Luca’s room.
*****
Luca was released from the hospital after three days. We relocated to a bungalow in one of the quieter parts of Tahiti while he kept recuperating. It was one of a dozen in a tranquil, turquoise bay, and was part of a fairly small high-end resort. Each bungalow was built over the water on its own private pier, and had a thatched roof and a little deck out back. Gianni and Zan moved into the one next door. The rest were empty. Andreo got a room in the pink, two story building a few hundred yards behind us, just above the beach. Since it was off-season, most days it felt like we had the resort to ourselves.
I didn’t get why Dante had sent us to rendezvous with my cousin and his boyfriend at first, but after a while it started to make sense. While all my time and attention was focused on Luca, Gianni and Zan were an amazing source of support. They ran errands, bought us groceries, prepared meals, and reminded me to eat and sleep (sometimes insisting).
Most importantly, they provided moral support. It felt good knowing they were there for me, to listen and give me advice and even just a hug when I needed it. Caring for Luca around the clock was exhausting, but I didn’t want to relinquish the job to anyone else. As long as I was the one looking after him, I knew he was getting everything he needed.
Gianni had been worried about the brothers and remained suspicious of Andreo, but he’d warmed up to Luca quickly. That made me happy. I loved watching them bonding, even if their favorite topic was funny Nico stories. My cousin had literally fallen on the floor laughing when Luca told him the story of how we met (the second time, with the dogs and bacon lube and the leather pants). Since Gianni and I had grown up together, he had plenty of anecdotes to share in return.
Meanwhile, Luca was healing well. The bullet had caught him in his upper chest, and torn through muscle but missed his internal organs. If there was such a thing as getting lucky when being shot, he had. He refused to admit he was hurting, but he kept taking the pain pills he’d been prescribed, which told me he was putting on a brave front for my sake.
He and I spent most of our time side-by-side on a pair of padded lounge chairs on the little deck at the back of the bungalow, in between the tropical showers that drifted over the island daily. We’d read or play chess with the rustic, carved wood chess set Zan had found us at a local artisan’s market. It started to feel like we were on vacation, especially given that gorgeous setting. But when Luca had to get up, either to stretch his legs or use the bathroom, and pain made the color drain from his face, I was reminded that we weren’t exactly on a romantic getaway.
There was another reason why that wasn’t the case. Even though we spent every waking moment together, Luca and I hadn’t talked. Which is to say, we chatted a lot about all kinds of light subjects, but neither of us brought up the bigger issues that hung over us. We hadn’t been in a good place right before he got shot. We’d hurt each other, him by not being honest with me about his father, and me by running and shutting him out. Then a bullet rendered all of that trivial, but just temporarily. Our problems hadn’t gone away. They’d just gotten set aside while Luca recuperated.