"We're expecting a full, speedy recovery," one of the nurses said while jabbing Chloe with some other needle. She was still out cold which made me seriously doubt the nurse right at that moment.

"How..." I cleared my throat after realizing that it had gone weak with inactivity, "How can you say that so confidently?" I've been shot, my friends have been shot, and my family has been shot, it's never a speedy recovery. Ever. Chloe didn't deserve this. None of this was her fault, she was just an innocent caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. I hardly ever felt bad for people, but my heart suddenly ached for her.

The nurse looked at a loss for words causing me to believe even more that she had lied to me. Chloe wasn't going to recover quickly, "I...I don't know for certain, but I guarantee she'll get the absolute best care while she's here."

I fought off an angry comment, figuring that if I just stayed silent, she'd go away faster.

And I was right.

As soon as she left I rolled my chair over so that I would be right next to Chloe as soon as she woke up.

Hours went by before I realized that I had something. I only remembered this because I stopped to think for a second, and I felt my coat pocket being weighed down.

The ring.

Chloe said that if things had to happen this way, she at least wanted a ring. Me, being the rich and previously powerful mafia leader, had the money to splurge on it. So I did.

But nothing was worth what happened to her. Not even the biggest, most expensive ring.

I carefully took the ring out of the box and slid it onto Chloe's finger.

A quiet, almost grunt like noise escaped Chloe's mouth, "Angelo," her voice was raspy and delicate.

I was quick to retrieve both of her cold hands and hold them firmly in mine, "Yes, criceto mia. How are you? Are you in pain?"

She nodded, her whole face scrunching up into an uncomfortable mess, "Will you go find someone?"

I nodded whilst pushing myself back in the chair to allow room to stand up. "I'll be right back," I quickly left the room in search of someone apart of the staff.

I came across someone I knew. Alessandra was behind the receptionist's desk, a clipboard in hand and a puzzled expression on her face. She looked up and set the clipboard down on the desk, "Is Chloe awake?"

I nodded, "She's in a lot of pain."

Alessandra stopped another woman as she tried to walk past her. I'm assuming she was the doctor, "She's awake. We should tell her now."

"Tell her what?" I asked.

Alessandra and the other woman walked right past me, "You should stay out here, Angelo. If Chloe wants you to know, she'll tell you herself."

"You make whatever this is, sound like a very bad thing."

"Well..."

"Why so glum, blondie?" Luca asked while taking a seat in the open spot next to me. I came back here to be alone, but obviously that was too much to ask for. It always was. "Well, that was a dumb question. You got shot. You have every right to be sad. How ya feeling though?"

"Terrible," I whispered. As anyone in my position would know, life wasn't really a thing to look forward to anymore. I mean yes, it was thrilling and filled with adventures and new opportunities, but how long before that would all get old and life before this was what I hoped for the most? "I'm getting tired of all the surprises being with the mafia creates. I miss my old life where everything was just routine and I didn't get shot randomly."

"It's not going to happen again. Angelo's upping security and you're being moved into uncharted territory, aka, the mafia house."

"Great."

"Hey, stop being so depressing, Chloe. Is there something you want to talk about?" He asked quietly, he almost seemed to be hinting at something, "Like maybe something Alessandra told you back at the hospital?"

I sighed over-dramatically.

He wasn't the first person to interrogate me about this. Angelo tried on several different occasions in the past hour, but it just wasn't something I felt like sharing right now. I wanted to keep this a secret until I could fully wrap my head around it.

Angelo didn't need this right now.

"No, Luca. I'm not talking about it, so stop trying," I got up slowly, careful as to not irritate my wound, then I sought Alessandra out on the plane and took a seat in the open spot next to her. Her eyes were closed, but opened slowly as my presence was now revealed to her.

"Having a hard time with them?" She asked, an empathetic smile etched into her full lips.

I nodded.

"Welcome to the club. Don't worry, you'll get used to it. Just don't ever cave in, and they'll all learn to back off. Granted, it'll take awhile-"

I cut her off, a few tears slipping from my eyes as I did so, "I don't know what to do, Alessandra. I know I have to tell Angelo, but I don't know how to."

"It's ok, Chloe," she soothed, kind of like a mother would, "Give yourself a couple weeks, gather your thoughts and then tell him. You don't have to do anything right away, and do not ever think that you do. This isn't a bad thing, amica mia (my friend). Please don't get upset over it."

I sniffled and wiped at my tears, "It's too late for that." I did exactly what I didn't want to do at that moment, and made eye contact with Angelo, who was sitting with Dom on the other side of the plane. I averted my gaze to the window and did everything in my power to get my mind off everything.

It didn't work.

"God, I wish I could just get off this stupid plane."

+

The mafia house was exactly the same as it was last time I was here. Still filled with hundreds of terrifying men with guns and half naked women stalking around in search of their next victim. I didn't see the need for them, but then again, I didn't see the world like these mafia men did and I was ok with that.

I followed Angelo into a room all the way at the end of the very long hallway. It was the perfect size, and well furnished with only luxury items. The closet door was open, revealing multiple button up shirts, ties, and various pairs of pants and shoes. So, this was Angelo's room I'm assuming.

I could live here.

The bed grabbed my attention. It was king sized and draped in a red satin bedspread. It looked like something I could crawl into and have many nights filled with good dreams and nothing but the best sleep.

I looked up to meet Angelo's worried stare. I shifted my eyes elsewhere, now focusing on the flatscreen tv right in front of the bed.

I simply wasn't ready to tell him anything about what was told to me at the hospital.

"You can talk to me, Chloe. I don't know what the doctor told you, but I would like to. Obviously it has you feeling down and I don't like seeing you like this. Your normal self may be a royal pain in the ass at times, but I sure miss it. Is there anything I can do to make you feel better, amore mia?" His eyes screamed sincere and sad all at the same time. Who knew I was capable of making the mafia boss feel that?

I cleared my throat, knowing that my voice wouldn't be crystal clear if I hadn't, "I just need some time to think."

He nodded slowly, "I'll give you an hour or so before I send someone up. We have some things to go over about the mafia house."

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