Sweet Hope (Sweet Home #4) (33 page)

“Mr. Carillo took a gunshot straight to the stomach. He lost a lot of blood. When he was brought in we had to operate straight away. We managed to repair the wound and successfully remove the bullet. He’s been transfused with blood and is now stable.”

The doctor had yet to let us see Axel. My nerves were shot. I felt sick to my stomach as the doctor explained the extent of his injuries and how it could have killed him if the police hadn’t found him when they did.

“Give us a few minutes to get him into his new room and he'll be ready to receive visitors, but only two at a time.”

The doctor left the room. As I tried to breathe, a police officer walked in. “You’re Axel Carillo’s family?” he asked and looked at Austin.

“Yes, sir,” Austin said and got to his feet. “You know what happened to him?”

The police officer closed his notebook and nodded his head. “You know a Mr. Remo Marino?”

I closed my eyes feeling my world was falling apart. I was numb, totally numb knowing that I could have lost the love of my life. The love of my life who deserved this
new
life he had—literally—carved out for himself.

Remo… Remo Marino. That bastard almost took my heart from me.

“Yeah, I know Remo,” Austin said, the tone of his voice dropping to arctic temperatures.

The officer raised his eyebrow. “Old crew member?”

Austin stared at the officer, but didn’t say anything. The officer swallowed and nodded his head. “Okay, I get it.”

“What happened to Remo?” Levi asked, seeming to take himself by surprise.

The officer ran his hand down his face. “Mr. Marino was wanted on five counts of drug related felonies as well as two homicides. He’s been on the run for years. He crossed state lines in a stolen vehicle and it was only a matter of time before we caught him… unfortunately he managed to attack Mr. Carillo before we discovered his whereabouts. Another car passing by saw the incident and called it in.”

“And?” Rome asked. “Where’s the prick now?”

“Mr. Marino open fired on the attending officers. He had no intention of going to prison. He was shot dead on the scene.”

The silence that followed the officer’s news hung heavily in the room. But I couldn’t help but be thankful that Remo had died… that meant… that meant Axel was finally free.

He was finally free of his past.

The officer opened the door and said, “I’m sorry your brother was injured. It seems he’s turned his life around. I hope he pulls through.”

As the door shut, Austin slumped against the wall, sliding down to floor. He covered his face with his hands. “Christ…” he said in a gutting voice that made fresh tears spring from my eyes. “That fucking Heighter cunt. If he wasn’t dead already, I’d kill him myself.”

Austin raised his head to me. “Ally?”

I met his gaze.

“Alessio?” he questioned. I knew what he was asking. He wanted to know if he was a danger to his brothers.

“Serving life. Three counts of Homocide,” I replied, and saw a ton of tension leave his muscles. “He’s never ever getting out.”

Just then, the doctor walked in the door. “Mr. Carillo can have visitors now.”

I immediately jumped to my feet, as did Levi and Austin. The doctor looked at the three of us and his shoulders sagged. “No more than you three, okay?”

We followed him out of the door and with every step I took, my heart beat faster and faster. I wanted to see Axel so desperately that I almost broke into a sprint. Clearly feeling my anxiousness, Levi reached down and took my hand. Startled, I met his gray eyes and saw the fear and sadness in their depths. He was just as afraid of walking in that room as me.

The doctor led us to a room at the corner of the hallway. Chest tight and feeling numb, I followed him through a door, when I immediately froze in my tracks, as did we all, Levi’s hand grasping mine like a vise.

Axel…

Like a dam breaking, water poured down my face as I looked to my broken love in a hospital bed. Wires were poking in and out of his skin, blood being transfused into his arms.

His beaten eyes were closed, his lips were swollen and bruised and his long hair was brushed back off his face.

Even like this he was beautiful… my dark and tortured anti-hero… the man I was always destined to adore.

As Austin’s back bunched at seeing his older brother, I held his hand too. Austin’s eyes closed briefly at my touch, but they opened and kept focus on Axel. None of us could look away… we’d come too close to losing him.

“He’s been waking up more and more, so you should be able to talk to him soon.”

In some part of my brain, I registered the doctor leaving, leaving us alone, but my eyes were glued to the other half of my soul lying on that bed.

“How’s he ever gonna forgive us, Aust?” Levi said through a tight throat. “We treated him like shit, never gave him a damn chance to explain anything… and look what he’s been doing… look what he did for us both and we never knew. He nearly died in that prison trying to protect us, and he’s done it again… he’s protected us
again
…”

Levi’s voice cracked. “He’s always been protecting us, hasn’t he, Aust? From when we were kids, he’s always tried to keep us close… and we turned our backs on him when he needed us most…”

In the aftermath of Levi’s confession, the drips from the IV sounded like clashes of thunder as they dropped down into the liquid gathering in the dispenser.

I opened my mouth to tell him it would all be okay, when we heard, “Ain’t got… nothing… to be… sorry… for…”

Time seemed to stand still as the gruff timbre of Axel’s hoarse voice cut through the sadness of the room. As one, we all leapt forward. Axel and Levi ran to one side of his bed, and I the other.

Stroking my hand across Axel’s forehead, I watched him struggle to swallow and open his eyes. A tear from my eye splashed on his cheek, right on his crucifix tattoo. I used my thumb to brush it away.

As I ran the damp pad of my thumb along his jaw line, I felt that delicious sensation of a pair of Italian dark eyes watching me. Inhaling a fortifying breath, I blinked and glanced up to meet those beautiful eyes full on.

Top lip twitching into a hooked smirk, Axel opened his split lips and rasped, “
Carina…
” with a relieved sigh.

The endearment sounded like an answered prayer to my soul as it met my ears. Sniffing back my emotions, I gave him a watery smile, “Welcome back,
querido…
”

“What… What?” he tried to ask. I shushed him and shook my head.

“Everything’s okay,
you’re
okay.” I looked up at Austin and Levi standing anxiously on the other side of the bed. And reassured, “We’re all okay.”

Axel slowly followed my gaze, bringing him to Austin and Levi. “
Fratelli
…” he said quietly, slowly lifting up his hand.

Austin was the first to reach for Axel’s hand, his head lowering until his forehead touched their clasped fingers. “Axel… I’m so fucking sorry…”

“
Vai bene
,” Axel replied. He next looked at Levi. “Lev…” he said with feeling. I could see Axel’s eyes shining with unshed tears. He loved that kid to death.

Levi slumped to a chair like his legs could no longer take his weight, then his head hit the mattress, back shaking with the force of his tears. “I’m sorry, Axe… I’m so sorry…” he cried. Austin released Axel’s hand.  Axel laid it on Levi’s head.

Levi looked up as he did so and wrapped it in both of his hands. “We should have trusted you.”

Axel closed his eyes then opened them a second later. “Ain’t ever… given… you much of a reason… to trust me in your lives… I… get it.”

Austin shook his head. “You’ve only ever protected us, Axe… I get that now…” Austin wiped his eyes with the heels of his hands and asked, “those sculptures, Axe… why didn’t you tell us…?”

“Shame…” he replied in embarrassment, “I didn’t deserve it…” His head rolled on the pillow to me, his eyes wordlessly telling me how much he loved me, “none of this. I’ve been… unfairly blessed.”

Feeling my heart swell, I leaned down and kissed his lips. “You’re wrong.”

“I’m a sinner,” Axel said. I could hear how much he believed that statement. I could see it in his honest expression.

“No,” I soothed, “A sinner is a man who doesn’t recognize his wrongs. You have,
querido
, you’ve recognized them and done everything in your power to fix them… you’re not a sinner. You’re redeemed.”

“She’s right, Axe,” Levi said and his breath caught, “
Mamma
… she would be so proud of
you
.”

“Lev,” Axel whispered. Austin sat beside Levi, adding his hand on top of theirs. “I’m so proud of you… I
have
pride that you’re
my blood.”

Those words seemed to resonate with Axel, they meant something to the two of them and tears escaped Axel’s eyes. The sight of the three Carillo's together was my undoing.

After minutes of the Carillo boys mending fences, Levi suddenly said, “Only good things for us from this point on, yeah?”

Axel exhaled and I could see the pride for Levi’s show of strength glittering in his dark eyes.

Levi looked up and met the eyes of both Austin and Axel. “Swear it.”

Austin wrapped an arm around Levi’s shoulder, pressing a kiss to his head and said, “
Lo giuro
.”

They both then looked to Axel. Axel smiled through his swollen cut lips, a full genuine smile that I’d not seen him display before and he whispered. “
Lo giuro
.”

*****

Several hours passed as the three of us kept vigil by Axel’s bedside. He was tired, slipping in and out of sleep, but we stayed. The three brothers talked about Axel’s time in prison, Austin unable to believe that Axel hadn’t told him how he’d suffered. But they managed to move past it. Levi spoke of his fears of losing them both, but admitted he had bottled up his feelings for far too long, wrongly blaming Axel for all his pain.

They laughed, they cried, and when the night wound down, a peace had been found.

When the doctor entered to tell us visiting hours were over, Austin and Levi reluctantly rose to their feet, but before I could join them, Axel gripped my hand. “Don’t go,” he asked sleepily, and my heart melted.

I looked to the doctor and threw him my sweetest smile. “Can I stay the night? He needs me.”

The doctor sighed and I begged, “Please? I… I almost lost him…”

Seeing sympathy in his expression, he said, “Just you.” Austin and Levi both kissed him on the forehead and promised to see him tomorrow.

As they reached the door, I asked, “Will you please tell Molly and Rome I’ll see them tomorrow?”

Austin nodded and smiled at me. I staggered back at the power of that smile and, casting a last glance to his brother on his bed, he said only so I could hear, “Look after him, Al. Never thought I’d see the day, but that brother of mine fucking loves you to death. He may not show his feelings much, but he can’t hide how much he adores you.”

Reaching up to my tiptoes, I pressed a kiss on Austin’s cheek and whispered, “
Siempre.
”

Austin laughed. I kissed Levi too before shutting the door. Everyone but the two of us had left the room.

As I moved to the bed, Axel was staring at my shoes and met my eyes with a smirk. “I love those fucking shoes,” he said sleepily. I moved to the bed and, just as I was about to sit down on the nearby chair, Axel firmly shook his head and weakly patted the bed.

He began shuffling to the side to make room for me and I jumped forward at seeing the pain etched on his face. “Axel!” I hissed, as he winced in agony and held his stomach wound. Beads of sweat formed on his forehead as he relaxed back into the mattress… a space for me now at his left hand side.

“Lay down,” he said through gritted teeth and I shook my head.

“No! Look at the pain you’re in.”

“Ally, I was shot and could’ve died. Please, just lay the fuck down… I need you.”

I stood there debating what to do, but when I glimpsed vulnerability in his gaze, I gave in and carefully lay down beside him.

As I rested my head on his pillow, I reached down and threaded my hand through his. Axel squeezed my hand real tight, and when I looked up, I could see worry lines creasing his forehead.

“Hey,” I asked. “What’s wrong?”

Axel stayed quiet and I was sure I wasn’t gonna get an answer from him. But on a ragged breath, he looked up and pulled my hand to lie under his cheek. “Last night, for the first time ever, I was fucking scared.”

My heart sank as I saw how much that cost him to divulge. “Baby…” I whispered and, with my other hand, I stroked down his cheek. “It’s understandable. You were shot.”

Axel leaned into my touch and kissed my palm. “I wasn’t scared of getting shot, Ally, I was fucking terrified I would never get to see you again.”