Matteo’s POV
“We need to go have a bloody retribution against the Camorra or they’ll think that we are weak. How could they kidnap and torture our Capo and consigliere without us taking a fucking revenge?” Vincenzo argued with the underbosses.
Francesco glanced at me but my face remained stoic as ever. I couldn’t even concentrate as I kept thinking of Aurora and how she was doing. I was supposed to hate her and my brother too for betraying me, but I couldn’t find it in my heart to do so.
Love was a weakness that I wasn’t supposed to afford but here I was loving the woman that I should hate. Love made my father a sadist and made Aurora an orphan, but I could do better.
My attention was drawn back to the meeting by the angry yells that slipped from the mouths of the underbosses. Their faces were scrunched up in rage and with the clenching of their fists, I thought that they would go physical against themselves.
“It’s enough! Damn it!” I barked, causing them to keep quiet as their lips clamped shut. “Don’t you think it is improper to argue so loudly while I’m in your midst?” I asked, rising to my feet.
Vincenzo, the architect of the argument and the underboss who sought for retribution the most, stood up as well from the sofa in my office.
There were about eleven of the underbosses present for the meeting, all of them seated on the long sofa that stretched along the walls of the office. “I did that in your defence, Capo. I’m sorry.” He apologised, and the anger disappeared.
“We’ll surely have a retribution, but we need to make careful plans or the second loss will be greater than the former.” I assured them, my mind flashing back to the point where we kidnapped and tortured. “We have to watch their every move and strike them when they don’t expect.”
My phone vibrated on the table, which I ignored as I was still passing out information, but it became persistent. Aurora knew better than to call me and Angelo was present here even though we weren’t on speaking terms.
I checked the screen and realised that it was from Ricardo. “I’m in a meeting, what do you want?”
“Sir, Aurora has been shot in the stomach and she has collapsed.” He replied and my heart constricted at his words.
************
I stormed into the hospital with Angelo behind me. Several scary thoughts whirled around my mind, causing me to get more anxious. If anything happened to her, I’d blame her for the rest of my life.
The knowledge that she was in the hospital fighting for her life and that of our child made the scales that had kept me bitter and angry at her for a few months fall off my eyes. If she was with me none of this would be happening.
Doctor Luca stood at the reception, with nervousness and fear sculptured on his face.
“How is she?” I asked as soon as I got to where he was standing.
“The bullet wound affected her pregnancy and you have to make an important decision right now or both mother and daughter would be lost.” He informed me and my ears tingled immediately.
Aurora was carrying a girl in her womb? I began to imagine who she would look like if she came out to the world and how I would protect her from anyone that would try to harm her.
Then I remembered doctor Luca’s words. “What important decision is that?” My heart thudded faster than the time Aurora was kidnapped, then I realised something.
Aurora had always been in danger ever since I came into her life. At first, she took a bullet for me, then she was kidnapped by Ginevra, now she was shot by an unknown enemy. A reasonable man would have let her go, but if losing Aurora would make me look unreasonable then I wouldn’t mind.
“You have to choose between Aurora and your daughter.” He said and my world came crashing down before my eyes.
I willed myself not to lose my already brewing temper because his options were like standing between the devil and the deep blue sea. “There has to be another way around this, Luca. I can’t lose my woman and our child.” I growled, as my eyes narrowed in slits.
My breath had become uneven and I was very sure that I would lose it all very soon. “We’ll try our best and search for other options but you really have to make a decision as soon as possible because we can’t do much to save her in the present state that she is in.” He claimed, but I had gotten to my tipping point.
My hands reached for the collar of his shirt as I slammed him against the wall, causing some of the nurses to scamper around for safety. None of them dared to come near me because I wasn’t in my right senses anymore.
“If anything happens to Aurora and my daughter, I’ll make sure you have a taste of your balls cooked and fried before you meet your maker. Do you understand?” I seethed as he nodded incessantly, his eyes reeling with fear and pain from the way I gripped his white shirt.
“Let go of him, Matteo. It’s not his fault,” Angelo pleaded on his behalf, squeezing my shoulder.
I shrugged away his touch then I let go of doctor Luca who was almost gasping for breath but tried to act strong. He clutched onto the wall while trying to catch his breath. He massaged his throat which had turned red while I stormed out of the hospital to think. I couldn’t even demand to see Aurora because the sight of her looking pale and unconscious would make me break.
“Why do you keep following me around, Angelo? Aurora is in there because of you, I hope you know that?” I barked pacing to and fro in the facade of the hospital.
“I know.” He said quietly which caught my attention as a look of regret and remorse settled on his face. “I did something really bad. Terrible, even.”
I ruffled my hair in frustration, anticipating his confession and by the look on his face I knew that it would hurt a lot.
“Just say what you did, Angelo!” I snapped, losing my patience.
“You are right about me being the cause of Aurora’s accident.” He braced himself and stared at me. “That afternoon you met us together, she had come to apologise to me personally. I made her feel like I’d accepted it then I almost hit her and that was when you came in. I was happy that you sent her out of the house but it wasn’t enough for me….” His voice faltered and his lips quavered.
I didn’t want to believe that he did what I was thinking. “So tell me, what did you do?”
“Oh God,” He muttered loud enough for me to hear.
I glared daggers at him, and took a step closer to him while locking my gaze at him and balling my fingers into fists. “What the hell did you do?”
“I followed her this afternoon to the park and tried to shoot her, but I swear that I didn’t do it. Someone else did.” He admitted in a rush and everything began to make sense to me.
Who knew that Angelo could be this petty? Watch out for the next chapter.