Kissing The Moon Goodbye - A Midnight Mafia Novel

Two

Kate

               I hated hospitals, doctors, doctors' offices, and yet, that's all my life consisted of. I did pretty well considering I wasn't the patient, but the moment Nash pulled in front of the private rehabilitation center my chest tightened the way it always did.

"How has he been, really?" Nash asked when I didn't get out right away. I just needed a minute. Just a minute to gather myself.

"He's good." I lied. "Really good."

"So he's terrible?"

"Yes." I said and laughed. Once I started laughing I just couldn't stop. The past two months it had been one event after another. Alessio was shot. I sat beside his bed in the ICU not thinking he was going to make it whispering how much I would give up for him. A coma. My boyfriend went into a coma, had had three surgeries since the shooting, it was weeks before he actually opened his eyes and then he spent days still intubated before they finally pulled the tube out of his throat and he could actually talk to me again. And then Nash was gone. His job was done, he'd survived. He'd been by my side of course but when it came time to relocate we parted ways, we'd had no choice. Alessio and I had made a deal, he would give up the mafia and I would give up everything and move to Italy with him. So I had quit my job, I actually owed them money for breaking the contract early and Stacey was furious with me. Stacey and I had had a nightmare of an argument when Pietro took over the Genovese Mafia and finally admitted his lifestyle to her, naturally my best friend was so angry at me for hiding this from her she didn't talk to me or Pietro for weeks until the day Dad died. And now I was here.

My laughs turned abruptly into sobs and Nash pulled me across the car to him. "Shh Katie it's going to be okay. I promise, everything is going to be alright."

I pulled away abruptly and wiped my eyes, pulled the visor down quickly from the car and tried to make myself look presentable for Alessio. I was too pale, my eyes too red and too puffy. I cursed at myself. I needed to look presentable and strong for Alessio.

"It's okay to be hurt Kate." Nash said clearly using his super human powers to read my mind and fears.

"No, it isn't. Not right now." I muttered back pulling bobby pins from my hair to reposition them properly.

"Your father is dead." I stopped in my tracks. "If you aren't allowed to be hurting now when can you?"

Very slowly I continued doing my hair. "Alessio needs me." I explained calmly.

"And what about you? What about when you need someone?"

"I'm fine."

"Kate. Your father is dead."

"I know and I can't change that now. Can't do anything for him. But Alessio needs me. I can do something for Alessio. I can put on my big girl panties and take care of him. He's still here and he needs me."

Nash followed me out of the car and into the center. When we got to the room Alessio's bed was in a nearly sitting up position, he wore only a black tank top and sweatpants, long were gone the days of suits and fedoras. He was glaring at his hand, it shook violently as he tried to squeeze the little squishy blue ball in it.

"Hi honey." I said from the doorway. "How was your day?"

He took the unmoving ball from his left hand into his right and whipped it hard across the room and into a vase with flowers shattering it. "How do you fȕcking think?"