The complex, as Sasha called it, rolled into view, and he stopped at the gate. He spoke in what I assumed was broken Italian before heading into the courtyard area at the front of the house. He parked and got out first.
“Come on, you’re safe. I swear.”
“I want to believe you, but I’m pretty sure the man responsible for this is here.” I said, gesturing to my neck. He sighed. “You’re not wrong. He is here, but you’re not going anywhere near him. Trust me on that.”
I closed my mouth before I said the words on my tongue and followed close to Sasha as he headed inside. It was way busier inside than I figured it would be. All kinds of conversations flooded into my ears, from laughing to shouting. He set his hand on my upper back and directed me through the house, down a set of stairs and down another set of halls. It was getting confusing quickly.
“How the hell do you live here? I would get lost just trying to get to and from work.”
“You get used to it after some time.”
“I would never.”
He scanned his phone on the front of the pad and the metal doors popped open, the lock clicking. He lightly pushed me inside and called out for Alessio.
“I’m right here Sasha. Just give me a moment to finish up here.”
“Take your time. We can wait.”
Sasha turned to me and spoke.
“The man who did that to you isn’t one of Maddox’s men. He is kind of on loan, per se. That’s why even if I wanted to tell who it was that did this to you, I can’t.”
“Hey, don’t worry. I get it.”
Alessio, the perfect image of his father, stepped into view, his glasses resting on his forehead and not the bridge of his nose. He pulled them down and whistled.
“Look at that. Fuck, he got you good. That’s going to bruise like crazy.”
“I figured that.”
Sasha’s phone rang, and he fetched it from his pocket and held it to his ear. I could hear the yelling from where I was.
“Alessio, Ambrose might have to wait for a few minutes. Luca and Marco have gotten physical. I need to get up there and get this under control.”
“Go, Go, I’ve got this.”
The younger doctor sighed.
“You have no idea the shit I deal with around here from these walking anger issues.”
“I could never.”
“It’s different when you grow up in the heat of it, versus outside it.”
“I bet—---” Crashing sounds and more cut me off as Alessio yanked me out of the way of two large men clearing going at it. They were interested in ripping each other apart.
“Luca, Stand down!” Alessio said sharply. The one male did exactly that, but not before he gave one last punch. Sasha and another man, this one far larger than the rest, his eyes scary cold.
The other man dusted himself off, looking at Alessio, and our eyes met. I realized was the man from before, the one who choked me.
“What the hell is going on here?” Alessio demanded with the air of authority.
“He was running his fucking mouth, and he got what—--”
“Please, I was just reminding you I had him before—--”
“Shut your fucking mouth.”
“Make me, or are you too scared your boss with hang you out to—-”
“Marco! Enough!” Sasha demanded.
Marco, huh? I had a first name for the face of the man, at least now. Our eyes met again. I tore my eyes off him and looked at Sasha.
“Sorry it’s not usually like this.” Alessio grumbled.
Both males were bleeding, Split lips, bloody noses, and black eyes, those were for sure the outcomes here. Alessio checked on the one male, not the one who attacked me, and left the other male there. Groaning, unable to turn my healthcare brain off, I yanked on a pair of gloves from the wall holder where Alessio had and slipped them on.
“Ambrose, Wait.”
Sasha grabbed my upper arm.
“Don’t let me try to kill me again, yeah?”
“This isn’t wise.”
“He needs to stop that from bleeding, and I have some knowledge there. Let me at least use it. He might try to kill me less.”
“I don’t like this idea. I wish you would listen.”
“Healthcare brain, I help where I am needed.”
Sasha shoved a few gauze pads and a box of wipes into my hands.
“For the love of god, don’t tell your dad I let you do this shit.” Sasha hissed.
I approached the man, Marco. He had a tissue pressed to his split lip and was pinching his nose. He was clearly fuming about this whole fight. Holding the wipes and gauze in my hands to show that I can in peace, he seemed to let me get closer.
“What do you want?” He said, his voice muffled.
“To help with your wounds.”
“Why? What reason do you have?” He hissed, holding his wounds still.
“Put your hands down and let me see your wounds, so that I can appropriately dress them as needed.” I muttered.
He lowered his voice to a whisper before he spoke again.
“Not worried I might choke you again?”
“Maybe if you decide to choke me again, do it in a way we will both like.” I said, using humour to try not to show him how much I was actually worried about him hurting me again. His eyes scanned me this time, and he dropped his hands, and blood poured freely from his nose and the split lip. I pinched his nose right away and had him lean forward.
“Hold this to your nose, and pinch, lean forward too.” I said.
As he did that, I pressed gauze to his lip, and he cursed me out in both English and Italian. I would have found it amusing if he hadn’t tried to murder me this early afternoon. Alessio came and took over from me after he got a fresh pair of gloves and the whole time he seemed to chew out the other male in Italian. I was glad I wasn’t him. Alessio was pissed. Two more guys came and then Maddox made himself known. He met eyes with me as I was pulling off the gloves and he smiled tightly, nodding, his eyes scanning my neck.
It had been a good while since I had seen Maddox, but he looked happy and healthy. He stopped in front of the two of them and crossed his arms.
“So who wants to tell me what the fuck happened here? Make it quick. I’m losing my patience.”
“He started it.” Marco grunted, which earned a sound of disgust from the other man, Luca. Another man, smaller, but definitely in the Vincent family blood pool, crossed his arms in annoyance, leaning down and hissing in the man’s ear.
“You both had been getting along with no problems. For Christ’s sake, you were being civil.”
“That was before he started trying to play off with your head with our fucking cities paramedics.” Luca, I believe his name was, said harshly.
“I told you it was a mistake, and you brought up my previous relationship, one I would like to stay in the past for both of our sakes. You don’t like me, but I keep telling you and him I didn’t do this all purposely. I didn’t even know his fucking daughter existed. I am just trying to make the best situation out of what they presented and I am far from fucking perfect. I am actively trying to better—-”
“Oh, can it whinny. With this, I’m turning my life around bullshit. You’re a snake, and you can’t fool me.” The other man snapped.
Alessio sighed, and took came over, lightly pulling me into a side room, an office and closing the door, not that it did much to help. It was a very heated discussion outside.
“They really don’t seem to like each other.”
“You can say that again. It’s a really messy situation, but everyone is trying, or at least trying sometimes, to make the best out of it. Luca is a hothead. He means well though ninety per cent of the time. It just gets ugly when you are in the situation where they are. Ex-husband versus current. Luca has a very unhappy opinion about Marco. But I can’t blame him. There were a lot of terrible things in that marriage before. Sorry, I should just dump all this on you.” He chuckled.
“I don’t know either of them, so I can’t pass judgement on them. But you can feel their dislike for each other in the air.” I said.
My only interaction with the other man, Marco, was not a pleasant one before this, and it seemed like it was pretty well known.
“Alright, let me look at your neck and we can get you out of this circus and back home.”
“Thank you, I appreciate that.”
He had me pull off the uniform top, and he pulled on gloves, and inspected my neck, humming. He touched a spot on my neck before checking all the bones, making sure they all moved and functioned the proper way.
“Plenty of soft tissue damage. You’re going to be bruised for a few weeks. It’s already setting in. I would recommend monitoring the bruises and if anything else pops up, call me and I’ll check it out right away.”
He grabbed a piece of paper and jotted down a number before handing it over.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. I really don’t mind. Pretty glad the chief called to have me check up on you. I was wondering if you were alright when I was informed about what happened.” Alessio said, sliding his glasses up again, massaging the bridge of his nose before sliding them back down.
Alessio walked me out to Sasha and gave him the all clear to take me home, and I glanced back at the situation behind us. Meeting eyes with Marco again, I frowned, tearing my eyes off his and following behind Sasha.
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