Chapter 2 Antonio

Five years, four months, and eight days.

The last time I remember seeing Gemma Marzano clashes with a moment in my life I hate. Leaving New York again because I have to do what’s best for The Family. My heart broke because I’d fallen for someone I knew I couldn’t have. The lingering memory is a stolen kiss after her graduation dinner.

Now we’re on the opposite side of the country with her lips brushing against mine once again. Her tongue swirls in my mouth and I have plans of never letting us go back to familiar strangers.

The deliriously devilish ideas swirling in my mind of every way I can have Gemma, own Gemma, own her orgasms, have plagued me in the past. When the Marzano brothers arrived in San Francisco a few months ago, I had no idea she came with them. My selfish prick is ecstatic over the idea of her being so close I can touch her.

And now?

Now, she feels small in my arms. I pull back from our kiss and Gemma’s eyes roll to the back of her head before she collapses against me.

“You’re going to pay for this, Verducci,” I warn the newest Don of the Dacosta Family. The fat bastard took over after Vito Dacosta’s untimely incarceration.

I flex my fingers in and out, letting the pain course through my hand. There’s a tightness in my chest. The iron-tainted scent of fresh blood excites me in a way I hate to admit. Blood on my hands from pummeling some asshole to the ground feels different from treating a patient. Wielding the power of life and death outside of my job has me flying high.

Verducci holds his hands up in surrender, saying, “Let’s not be brash, Doc. Take your girl and go. Make sure you explain to Bash—”

“Don Marzano to you,” I snarl, scooping Gemma into my arms. I won’t let a stranger disrespect the hard-earned title of my best friend.

“My apologies. Tell Don Marzano that Don Verducci extends his apologies. We will take care of this matter ourselves.” Verducci’s words don't assure me of anything other than letting me know I’ll be back to take care of that sniveling little shit, Frankie, myself. In the meantime, I have to get Gemma to the clinic.

Just outside the door, people wait in line for the bathroom as if nothing’s happening. To the average clubgoer, nothing is happening. It looks like another girl who can’t hold her liquor being carried out.

Ronan Cannella, one my closest friends and colleague, is sweet talking some woman at the bar when he sees me hauling ass out of the club with Gemma in my arms and her friend on my heels.

“Did you drive?” I ask Gemma’s friend.

“No, we didn’t. We’re responsible drunks. Who are you? How do you know Gemma?” She asks. It lets me know that she’s new. At least, a friend of hers from the last five years. No one from her childhood would have to ask.

“I’m Antonio Calisi, friend of the family. And you are?” I ask, with a peek over my shoulder. I don’t trust Verducci not to follow us.

“My name is Natalie. What’s going on? Is she going to be alright?” she asks right as Ronan pulls the car up to us. People are beginning to file out of the club. I nudge my chin for Natalie to get into the front seat while I slide into the back with Gemma still in my arms.

Ronan knows his way to the clinic. It makes it easier to treat Gemma in the back seat. I tap the side of her cheeks lightly, trying to get her eyes to open. Beautiful gray eyes peek at me from behind their heavy lids. She moans, rolls her eyes and shuts them again.

“Come on, Gem. Open those gorgeous eyes, love.” I beg of her as I reach under Ronan’s seat to pull out his medical kit. There’s always at least two in his car at any time. As ER doctors, we never go out without them.

After checking her pulse, I gently hold her eyelids open. One at a time, I check her pupils with a small flashlight. Her heart rate is too slow. Every breath sounds hard for her, and I know we have to work fast.

“Narcan?” I shout to the front seat as I rub the top of her lip with my thumb as firmly as I can without hurting her. Normally, I’d use my knuckles, but Frankie’s blood is mixing with mine across them. She moans, moving her head slowly with annoyance.

“Stop, just let me sleep.” Gemma whispers.

Ronan slams his fist on the steering wheel. “No. Meant to restock at the hospital earlier. We'll be at the clinic in two minutes.”

“Do you have any idea what that asshole gave her?” I ask Natalie, who’s facing the wrong direction in her seat to watch my every move.

She shakes her head from side-to-side as we pull up to the clinic. Ronan grabs the doors as I rush Gemma inside the Cannella Medical Group Health Clinic. Ronan’s family, him and his sisters to be exact, run the place. I step in from time to time when I need to get away from the hospital shifts.

The silence of the empty clinic is haunting, but we rush inside to one of the exam rooms. Soft beige walls are soothing under the emergency lighting. Hardwood floors have the same shade of light brown with white cabinets against the wall. White countertops run along the bottom cabinets with jars and trays of his sister’s supplies.

Ronan’s already in emergency mode as Natalie paces in circles.

“What are we looking at?” Ronan questions as he preps instruments and tools.

“We’re not going to crack her chest open. She’s more responsive than I expected so we can hold off on the Narcan. What’s the drug of choice at that place?” I ask him.

Ronan cuts his eyes at me. “I don’t know. They used to peddle coke and mollies, but I don’t know what the trending drug is these days. I have no idea what’s going on in there now. I only went to Trips tonight at Don Vito’s request.”

“More like his orders. Requests can be denied. You should have told me the real reason why we were going there. Why are you still doing anything for that asshole? He kidnapped an innocent kid.” My voice is barely above a whisper as I work on Gemma.

Ronan shrugs. “He may have condoned that, but he didn’t actually kidnap the kid.”

“Don’t do that, Ronan.”

“I’m not excusing it. Besides, he’s serving federal time for that, too. Honestly, I still owe him a few favors. It's why I did work for his organization in the first place. The same way the Marzano’s helped you...”

I shake my head not wanting to rehash our too similar histories into the medical field. It’s one of the reasons why we connect so easily.

He takes heed not to go down that rabbit hole, saying, “I was supposed to see how well Verducci did tonight.”

“Yeah, because this is a sure-fire sign of a successful grand reopening,” I shake my head while staring down at Gemma. I slide a few strands of her silky blonde hair away from her face.

Beads of sweat bud across her forehead, but the good news is she’s coming out of it. Gemma moans, clenches her teeth and immediately turns herself onto her side. Her words are muddy with discomfort. “What the hell, Nat? Why did you let me drink so much?”

“You only had one shot of Tequila.” Natalie says from over my shoulder.

“It feels like my brain’s being flipped around by a tornado,” Gemma moans.

Natalie’s gaze moves between me and Ronan. She shakes her head and moves closer to Gemma, telling us, “You should get a bucket and mop. This could get messy.”

“I will not throw up.” Gemma grumbles. “I’m not giving that asshole the satisfaction of actually making me sick to my stomach. I just need some Gatorade. Where are my fucking shoes?”

“I can do a recovery IV for you,” Ronan says as the sound of the front door clinic opening draws our attention.

I’m already scanning the room, wondering which drawer has a gun inside of it. This isn’t Ronan’s exam room, so it’s not likely I’ll find one. Hard thumps of my heart against my chest send spikes of adrenaline to my brain. Every inch of my body tenses with anticipation for a fight.

“What the fuck happened tonight? Where’s Gemma?” Damian Marzano’s voice booms through the empty clinic. Natalie, Gemma, and Ronan let out a collective sigh of relief. I find my body unclenching as well.

“Some asshole named Frankie spiked Gem’s drink,” Natalie tells him.

Damian pauses, taking a moment to study Natalie from head to toe before turning to me with a questioning glare.

“Look, I went with Ronan and spotted Gemma at the bar. Frankie Genero ordered drinks for them, but before I could do anything, she’d already taken the shot,” I tell Damian.

Damian’s face reddens with anger just as the other two Marzano brothers come in behind him. Don Sebastien “Bash” Marzano is the oldest of the three, with Casper a few years younger than us and Damian, the youngest. Although they share the same gray eyes as Gemma, there’s nothing delicate about any of them.

Bash and I were close at one point, but life has a way of showing you who your true friends are. While I don’t doubt our friendship, six years in prison showed me where the Marzano family loyalties lie. Still, I consider him my friend, but I know that title doesn’t hold as much weight as Don.

Casper’s at Gemma’s side, helping her sit up while Ronan sets up the IV.

Bash notices the bruising on her arm and turns to me, “How’d this happen?”

I look at Gemma with memories of breaking down that storeroom door. “I didn’t like the look in her eyes at the bar and she wanted to go to the bathroom. I went to grab Natalie to help her, but Gem walked away from the bar. By the time we made our way to the bathrooms, she was already fighting with Frankie in some back room.”

“Yeah, but you should have seen him, guys. Antonio was so fucking strong the way he broke the door off the hinges.” Natalie says with excitement in her eyes.

The mere mention of it makes my shoulder sore. Damian darts his gaze between me and Natalie. I can tell he doesn’t like her admiration of my actions, but it’s only that. Admiration for me coming to her friend’s rescue. How could I not?

“I did what needed to be done,” I tell them holding out my hands out for them to see my bloody and bruising knuckles. “I broke his nose, but Verducci threatened to kill me since Frankie’s a part of the Dacosta family.”

Damian snarls, talking to his brothers. “I knew Vito wouldn’t keep his fucking word. He promised I could buy Trips off of him if we didn’t go to war. Then he pulls this shit? People need to die, Bash. TONIGHT!”

“No,” Gemma says quietly. “I told Verducci that Antonio and I were engaged, and that Antonio’s protected by the family. I didn’t want a war to start between families and you guys just got to the west coast. The scumbag who drugged me said he didn’t know who I was, but Verducci said they would take care of it.”

Bash nods, pausing to think a moment, and says, “Verducci’s not going to do anything about this. It cements his position as the new Don of the Dacosta family and shows me to be weak if I don’t handle this Frankie shit myself. You two need to stay engaged. Really act the role.”

“Now wait a minute,” I tell them. “I’m thankful to you, Gemma, for saving my neck back there. And fellas, you’ve always looked out for me, but this is too much.”

I’m not husband or fiancé material in any way. My job comes first. My sexual tastes require a certain kind of woman who won’t run screaming when she realizes what turns me on.

Bash approaches me as Gemma refuses to meet my gaze. Out of earshot from everyone else, he looks me in the eye. “Antonio, I need you to do this. Frankie needs to die because it doesn’t matter what he says, or what Verducci says. If you’re not really engaged to my sister, they’re going to kill you.”

“I’ll take my chances, Bash. Do you really want me to be your brother-in-law?”

“You’ve done more for me than any of my brothers,” Bash admits, his voice barely above a whisper.

“And I’ve paid the price for that—”

He interrupts me. “And I’ve paid for your sacrifice a thousand times over. You’re a doctor without any stupid loans and you have a felony conviction. Who protected you behind bars? The Family did. Do you think that shit was easy? Or cheap? All I’m asking you to do is babysit for a few weeks while we sort this shit out. I can’t have Gemma with any of us full time while we do what we need to do to make this right.”

I sigh, pinching the bridge of my nose before I smooth out my eyebrows. As much as I’d love to be engaged to Gemma, genuinely engaged, there’s no way she can give me what I need. If she ever sees the kind of shit that lives in my head, she’d run screaming for the hills.

I don’t ever want to see a look of fear or disgust in her eyes. I don’t want her to see the kind of monster I can become. Bash is right about protecting me behind bars, but that shit only goes so far. I’ve had to do things I don’t want to be forgiven for, and I’m scared that even pretending to be engaged to Gemma might lure me into wanting it for real.

“Listen,” Bash continues his campaign to convince me. “This will be the last thing I ask of you. Being engaged to Gemma keeps the target off your back until we deal with Frankie.”

I glance at Gemma while she rests her head against Natalie’s shoulder. There’s no way I trust Verducci to handle anything in regard to his own man. But with the Marzano brothers involved, things are liable to escalate quickly.

“Let me think about it. I have a shift at the hospital tomorrow. If Verducci puts a satisfactory end to this Frankie situation, we can hold off on telling everyone about this engagement. Verducci seemed open to burying him somewhere to avoid a war,” I tell him.

Bash pats me on the shoulder. “I can wait twenty-four hours. In the meantime, Gem, you’re going home with the doc. I don’t want that asshole, Genero, stalking you to your place or anything like that.”

“Bash—” I say his name gruffly. Yet, I can’t tell him why I’m so adamantly against this. I can’t tell him about the lonely nights when I stroke myself to climax with fantasies of his sister’s lips tracing every line of my body.

Bash raises his hands in surrender. “She can stay in a hotel. She can stay with Natalie, but Antonio, you need to be wherever she is. We won’t trust her safety with anyone else. You’re going to be married after all,” he says with a grin.

Every alarm in my head rings loud and clear. This doesn’t end well if I don’t go along with this engagement. I don’t want Gemma in danger. I don’t want some target on my back for protecting her. The biggest problem is, once she’s in my arms, I’ll never want to let her go.

How the fuck am I going to play the good fiancé when every time we kiss, she’ll make my dick hard? How long am I supposed to ignore the carnal urges building inside of me?

With plans of giving Don Sebastien Marzano my answer tomorrow, I hope Verducci is a man of his word. If Bash handles Frankie before Verducci, bodies will fall, and I’ll have to rise to the occasion. My hands can’t stay clean when it comes to keeping Gemma safe.

I turn to her, happy to see she’s feeling better. Her slender legs swing over the edge of the gurney. I catch the quickest glimpse of the plump curves of her ass before she shimmies to pull the bottom of her dress down. Natalie wraps an arm around her waist and throws a look over her shoulder to me.

“You gonna take me home, too, Doc?” Natalie asks.

“I will,” Damian says before I can answer. “I’d rather take you home just to be sure there’s no one there waiting for either one of you.”

I move beside Gemma, wrapping my arm around her waist to keep her steady.

“Thanks, Antonio,” Gemma whispers.

We leave the clinic and Ronan locks up. Damian and Natalie pull off while Casper and Sebastien get inside their car. Ronan rushes to get to the driver’s side of his ride, but someone moves in the shadows.

There’s darkness across the road since nothing’s over there but trees that lead to another medial complex. Gunshots ring out into the night, sending the three of us to the ground to avoid bullets. Bash and Casper exit their car to use it as cover, firing into the darkness with their own weapons.

“I guess Verducci didn’t handle it,” Ronan shouts over the gunfire.

I shake my head while covering Gemma and trying to calculate the time and distance between our location and the car. It’s too risky to move. I turn to Ronan with anger building from the pit of my gut. Verducci will die for this.