La Rosa Del Sur (The Rose of the south)

Chapter 18

Chapter 18
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I hissed as Mia finally extracted the bullet from my bloody shoulder. Luckily it hadn't gone in too deep and seemed intact. We were back in the blue guest room I'd stayed in the previous night, sitting on the bluebird sheets of my bed . She set her tweezers down on the nightstand and swiftly brought a cloth to staunch the bleeding.

"You were lucky," Mia said, pressing my hand to the now crimson cloth. "Any further and you'd need major surgery." She lifted my hand away with the cloth and poured a bit of warm soapy water onto the little hole. I sighed at the soothing feeling.

"How's Zoe doing?" I asked as she padded the wound with a soft cloth.

"She's resting," Mia said simply. "She had quite a lot of nasty bruises and a minor concussion. No broken bones though. That boy Diego hasn't left her side." She finished cleaning my shoulder and plastered on a gauze pad. "There you go. Don't try and do anything with that arm for a little while and keep changing the bandage every day."

"You've done this a lot, haven't you?" I watched Mia gather her tools. Her chest heaved with a great sigh.

"It's something I've had to pick up," She said. "When your brother, your father, and your husband are involved with the Mafia, someone's got to look after them. They aren't going to do it, so that means I have to." Mia looked me in the eyes. "If it was up to me, I wouldn't live like this."

"You could just leave it all behind," I said, rolling my shoulder a bit. "Find a nice little house, maybe have a kid or two."

She smiled, closing her eyes. "That would be a dream. But it's not in the cards for me." She opened her eyes. "But it can be for you. You and I aren't so far apart in age. You aren't bound by anything to stay, you have a chance to get your life started right, you can leave the Mafia."

I looked into her imploring eyes and shook my head. "You don't understand, Mia. I can't leave. I still need to figure out what happened to my abuelo last year. Listen," I leaned in close to her, my voice lowering slightly, though no one else was in the room. "I think he might still be alive." I explained everything I'd heard on the voice recorder last night. When I'd finished, her mouth was slightly agape. Before she could respond, however, the door burst open and my mother stood there, breathing hard.

"They're back," She gasped, clutching her chest. Mia and I scrambled to our feet and sprinted behind her, down the hall.

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Everyone had returned, alive but not unharmed. Rafael had several bruises marring his face, while he and Ezekiel supported a half-conscious Malik between them. Giovanni walked with a serious limp, leaning heavily on my father for support, who had a serious slash down his left arm. Luca brought up the rear, a smudge of blood under his nose, along with a fresh black eye.

My father practically dumped Giovanni on a squashy armchair in the living room, and rushed to my mother. They embraced, whispering to each other in Spanish, my mother shedding a few tears. Mia relieved Rafael of carrying Malik and quickly moved him to the red couch. Rafael staggered over to me and threw his arms around me, breathing hard into my hair. I squeezed him tightly.

"Cuidado, hermana," He said, his breath hitching sharply. "I was just in a fight." I relinquished my hold on him slightly, pulling away to look up at him. He smiled and ruffled my hair.

"What happened after we left?" I asked.

"Well, Luca pretty much appeared out of nowhere and explained that you, mamá, Mia, Diego, and Zoe had gotten out," He began. "We actually managed to take down quite a few of our opponents, and they started to retreat." His voice became fuzzy as I suddenly locked eyes with Luca across the room. That bastard. He wiped a damp towel under his nose, still looking at me. I swallowed a rising lump in my throat, suddenly feeling warm.