The Mafia Leaders Son (Mafia Series #1)

Grateful

Song: Surrender by Natalie Taylor

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Jake's POV

Emma's hand is cold in mine, as I sit by her bedside. It's been a few hours since she was rushed in, and she hasn't regained consciousness yet. But, the doctors believe she will be just fine.

Her ribs are bruised, she has a grade four concussion, which is when you lose consciousness for more than a minute, her nose is fractured, and one of her shoulders was dislocated from him throwing her around. It all makes my blood boil.

I heard from Ollie that her dad is at a different hospital entirely, and had surgery, and is recovering in the prisoner wing. As much as I wanted the bastard to die, he deserves to rot in jail. But, if he ever gets out, and goes after Emma, I won't hesitate to put a bullet between his eyes.

I sit back in my chair, running my hands through my hair, that's probably sticking up in every direction by now with how much I've messed with it the past four hours.

I let Q tell Danielle what happened, since he's had feelings for her forever and wanted to be there for her, and she broke down. He's been consoling her over the whole ordeal the past couple of hours in the private waiting room. Danielle said she'll tell Kira, since Kira has no idea about any of this going on with Emma.

My phone starts to ring on my lap, and I see it's the number I called for Emma's mom. She didn't answer earlier, so I left a voicemail, asking her to call back as soon as possible.

"Hello?"

"Is this Jake?"

"Yes, it is. Is this Emma's mom?"

"Yes. Please, call me Hailey. What's going on with my daughter?"

"She's in the hospital, Hailey." I go on to explain as nicely as possible about everything that's been going on, and she's absolutely stunned and angry, and feels guilty for not knowing anything.

"I'll be on the first flight home," she tells me. "And Jake? Thank you for taking care of my baby."

We hang up, and I slip my phone into the front pocket of my jeans. I lean forward, my elbows on my knees, and place my hands in my hair, pulling at it with my fingers. And then I hear the sweetest voice.

"Jake?" I look up quickly, I'm sure my hair looks insane at this point. But she's awake. And she's staring right at me.

"Emma." I smile, leaning towards her, taking her hand that's closest to me.

"What happened?" she asks, looking around at her surroundings confused.

"You're in the hospital. What do you remember?"

"I remember... going to my house, after Dee said there was a fire. And my dad... he was there. What happened? Why am I here?"

"Your dad...," I begin with a sigh, not knowing exactly how to explain this to her. "From what the doctors can tell, your head was slammed into a wall more than once, causing a concussion. And from that, they think you lost your balance and fell over, and that he kneed you in the face, causing your nose fracture. You fell to the floor from there, and he kicked you in the ribs, which caused the bruising."

Tears are streaming down her face at this point. "What happened to him?"

"I shot him in the stomach. I got to him right as he started kicking you, and I gave him a pretty good beat down, before shooting him. He's in a different hospital in the prisoners wing."

"You should have killed him," she sobs, her grip tightening on my hand. I drop my head, in guilt. I should have. "Thank you, for saving me."

"Saving you? I let you out of my sight, when I promise I wouldn't. He almost killed you. I didn't save you. I got there the last fucking second, and didn't even complete the job I should have." My words are cold, and she looks stunned. "I'm sorry. For fucking up and for scary you. For not being there like I should have been."

"Look at me." I shake my head, and her grip tightens more. "Jacob Cantelli." That gets my attention. Why the fuck was that kinda hot?

"What?" I ask, sitting up, giving her a blank look. She still has ahold of my hand, and I don't for a second think to pull it away.

"Stop being so hard on yourself. I ran away from you, you got to me as fast as you could have. And you saved me. You did. I wouldn't be here without you. You and I both know that. I know you didn't kill him for a reason, which I'm guessing is your dad. And I'm also glad you didn't, because I probably couldn't look at you the same. He'll be in jail, and he'll never touch me again." She squeezes my hand gently. "Come here."

She motions for me to move closer, so I stand up, and lean over her. She places a hand on the back of my head, and lowers my head to her level. I place my hands on either side of her, holding myself up.

"What are you doing?" As soon as the words leave my lips, hers are on mine. Holy fuck. It takes me a second, but my lips move in sync with hers. She breaks the kiss, and smiles up at me. I'm speechless.

"Thank you, for saving me," she whispers. I can't help the smile that grows on my face.

"I'd do it over and over again, princess," I tell her honestly, straightening back up. It may have just been a thank you kiss to her, but fuck, that kiss meant a lot more to me.

"Did anyone call my mom?"

"I did. She said she'll be on the first flight out of Florida." I hand her her phone, that I used to get her moms number from.

"Thank you. What about Dani and Kira?"

"Q told Danielle, and Danielle insisted on telling Kira, since she's not in on what was happening. I told Ollie to keep an eye on her."

"Thank you, Jake." She smiles.

"Stop thanking me." I chuckle.

"I can't help it. I feel so grateful to you."