CHAPTER 2

All the way to the clinic, Stephanie held Oisin's hands between hers, lightly massaging them in an attempt to provide him a minimum of comfort. While waiting for Lawrence at the library, the young man puked twice, and now he was just retching into the paper bag the guard brought from his husband's bakery.

As she murmured words of comfort in Oisin's ear, trying to soothe his tense nerves, Stephanie examined the other three men from the corner of her eye. Ian was a mess, and it showed, in spite of the efforts he made to keep himself together; although he was focused on the road, the young woman could tell Lawrence was worried, too.

The only one who seemed calm and composed was Brian, but Stephanie could sense the concern, and even panic, radiating from him in waves. You'd say Oisin was his own flesh and blood, the young woman said to herself, her heart melting at the thought. He has to be strong for poor Ian, too , she continued her internal monologue, repressing a sigh.

Stephanie and her twin brother Bailey had a perfect childhood, thanks to their mother and stepfather, who loved them to no end and offered them a lot of beautiful memories. The children who always smiled—this was how she and her brother had been known in the neighborhood where they grew up, and they had their parents to thank for that.

However, sometimes, Stephanie wished the two of them had an older brother who would support, help, and advise them, especially after their parents, first their stepfather, and after a few years, their mother, passed away. Well, I guess one can't have everything, she said to herself, closing her eyes for a moment, while she continued to massage Oisin's hands.

"We're here," Brian said, trying to sound relaxed. "How thoughtful of Doctor Stark to send the welcoming committee after I messaged him that we are on our way here." He pointed to the male nurse pushing an empty wheelchair who was heading to the van that had stopped in the hospital's parking lot.

"I'll wait here. There's no point for me to go inside, too." Lawrence spoke in his smooth, deep voice while helping Oisin to climb down from the van. "Try not to wear the waiting room's floor too much with that pacing of yours." He flashed a grin in the librarian's direction.

"Here we are." The nurse helped the young patient to get comfortable in the wheelchair, then turned to Brian, Stephanie, and Ian. "Follow me, please. One of my colleagues from the reception area will take you to a waiting room."

"Everything will be fine," Stephanie mouthed to Oisin, who seemed a bit more relaxed. A few minutes later, in the waiting room, she watched, slightly amused at the librarian pacing up and down . Lawrence was right, he is going to wear the tiles out, she thought.

After half an hour that seemed an eternity, especially to the two men, the door opened and Doctor Stark let himself in. "After performing some basic tests, a physical exam, and an ultrasound, I have the pleasure to inform all of you that everything is going according to plan." He looked at Ian. "Take good care of them, don't let Oisin make great efforts."

"Congratulations are in order." Smiling softly, Brian put a hand on the young vet's shoulder.

"I'll take good care of my husband, I promise." Ian let out a breath he didn't know he was holding, then turned to the librarian, frowning in confusion. "Congratulations, for what?"

"Hey, Doc, you might have to say that to him again." Brian gave Alasdair an amused look, slowly shaking his head. "Kids these days…"

"Oisin is pregnant." Hands on his hips, Doctor Stark looked at the younger man, who was the embodiment of confusion. "You did that to him. Well, the male pregnancy treatment he started a few months ago helped a lot, too. I'll leave you now, but here's the hero of the day." He gestured to Oisin, who stepped into the waiting room, a radiant smile on his face.

"Thank you so much, my love. You made me the happiest man on earth." Eyes brimming with tears, Ian kneeled before his husband and kissed his belly and hands, then stood and cupped the other's face, covering it in butterfly kisses.

"Congratulations to the two of you." Stephanie hugged the fathers-to-be. "I'm sure you'll spoil Oisin rotten." She smiled at Ian, who was still a bit shocked by the very happy, but totally unexpected, news.

On the way back to The Base, Oisin, who wasn't sick anymore, Ian, and Brian debated if the two should let Ian's parents know about the pregnancy. Stephanie was a little surprised by the topic of discussion; from what she heard, the young man came from a very loving and supporting family, who embraced him for who he really was.

However, Stephanie didn't ask any questions. By the look of things, she wasn't going to give up on her job at The Base anytime soon, so she had all the time to find out the complete story. For the time being, the young woman was just relieved and happy Oisin was fine. Well, as fine as a pregnant person could be. She smiled at the thought.

Stephanie's phone vibrated in her pocket, which made her smile become brighter. It was her favorite moment of the day, when she and her brother Bailey exchanged the first impressions of the day. That boy works too much. He's all skin and bones, the young woman sighed as she answered the text. Then again, he loved what he did, so she couldn't blame him.

Funny thing , Stephanie said to herself while she was checking the inbox after the conversation with Bailey ended, Brian's phone number and mine are almost identical, except the last digit. The young woman hadn't noticed that little detail before. For some reason, she had the feeling it would be extremely important sometime in the future.

***********

Who on earth calls at three in the morning? Brian thought with an irritated groan, extending his hand to stop the insistent buzz coming from his phone. Just before he pressed the button, the man changed his mind and answered the call; it wasn't the first time someone needed his help at an ungodly hour, and probably it wouldn't be the last.

Brian's conversation partner was a man who, in a thick voice, asked someone named Stephanie to come and get him from a certain address. The guy was coughing a lot and was a bit incoherent, apologizing every two or three words. The librarian was about to ask him for more details, but before he could, the call ended.

Since he found out about his Mafia roots and got actively involved in rescuing the Grand Families' heirs and protecting them, Brian got specialized in recognizing a dangerous situation when it was presented to him. Judging by how he sounded, the man at the other end of the line feared for his life; someone or something was threatening him.

Brian didn't want to go there unaccompanied, and Luca's name was the first one that popped up on the screen of his phone, so the librarian called him, hoping he would answer. Relief flooded him at the sound of the familiar voice, and half an hour later, the two of them were heading to the address the man provided with Luca behind the wheel.

Stephanie… A frown creased Brian's forehead as he tried to figure out who with that name did he know, and most importantly, had his phone number. After a few seconds of intense thinking, he remembered; it was the girl who Fergus hired a few months earlier as The Base's supply manager, the one who accompanied him, Ian, and Oisin to the hospital.

"Here it is, that's the address." Luca's tense voice pulled the librarian out of his thoughts. "And here's our man." He pointed out a silhouette curled at the base of a wall.

"Poor guy!" Brian exclaimed, slowly shaking his head. "I think we should call an ambulance and check him for wounds while we're waiting for it," he added as the other man pulled the car over into a parking spot.

"You are right. He is in very bad shape." Luca finally spoke after gently unbuttoning the man's shirt and examining him. "At least two cracked ribs, a couple of stabbing wounds close to the heart, and it seems he was also hit on the head." He briefly paused, lips pressed into a thin line. "Look at these bruises on his neck and face. What piece of shit would do that?"

"One who will meet his maker if I get my hands on him." Brian was livid; he clenched and unclenched his fists, barely able to breathe from the anger suffocating him. "Not if, when." The three words were spoken in a low, ominous voice.

"I'm going to help you." Luca spoke calmly, and one would believe he wasn't affected, but the librarian knew better than that. "Look, he was tied up, too. By San Gennaro's blood, some bastard used the poor guy as a punching bag." He switched to Sicilian.

"Right now, you're not helping, pet," Brian answered in the same dialect, slowly shaking his head. "It's taking everything I have not to find the monster and kill him," he hissed between clenched teeth.

"You are not the only one." Luca gently touched the cheek of the man curled on the asphalt, making him flinch. "This poor fellow doesn't look much older than Martino."

The pain in the other man's voice stabbed Brian's heart. "Yeah, you're right. He couldn't be more than a year or two younger or older than Stephanie, so around twenty-five."

"Stephanie, the new girl from The Base?" Luca frowned when the librarian nodded. "What's she got to do with him?"

"They are somehow related. He thought he was calling her." Brian was about to tell the other man more, but the arrival of the ambulance abruptly stopped him.

Bailey. Other than his name, and him being possibly related to the newest employee from The Base's administration department, Brian didn't know anything about the man lying on the gurney in the ambulance. The paramedic checked his vitals and shook his head, a gloomy expression on his face.

Stephanie. I should have called her when we left home, Brian facepalmed himself. However, he continued his internal monologue, maybe it was for the best, maybe she would have overreacted, which would have had a negative impact on the poor guy's already precarious state. I'll call her at the hospital, once the Doc gives us more information.

Frowning in concentration, Brian scanned the fragile silhouette on the gurney in an attempt to find out more about him and, possibly, how he ended up in that desperate situation. He had no wallet, which made the librarian suspect he was the victim of a robbery. However, the young man was wearing expensive dress shoes and a three-piece designer suit.

The streets were empty at that hour, and with no one to come to their victim's rescue. The attacker would have had plenty of time to strip Bailey down to his underwear. There were pawn shops where they would have gotten a few hundred dollars, maybe even a thousand dollars, for the clothes and shoes. No robber in their right mind would have missed that opportunity.

The ambulance stopped, pulling Brian from his thoughts. The paramedics extracted the gurney from the vehicle and rushed inside the clinic, closely followed by the two men who'd found the patient and chose to wait in the reception area. The librarian pulled his phone out of his jeans pocket and called Stephanie, trying not to sound alarming.

Once the call ended, Brian started to pace up and down in front of the reception desk, every second that passed without news about Bailey stretching into an eternity for him. Finally, Doctor Stark came out of the examination room and stared into the librarian's eyes for a long moment, slowly shaking his head.