IMPORTANT!!! - hi everyone, thank you so much for taking the time to read my story, despite how prone I am to disappearing on you. i want to ask one last request of everybody, but before that, I want to let you all know that without fail, I’ll do my best to complete the book this year, but before that, I need to tie up some loose ends.
so next month, I’ll be busy doing that. updates will naturally have to pause because I have to write over a hundred Chapters in that time to complete the other ongoing book. but as soon as its done, I’ll completely focus my energy here. we’re still a decently long way from the end so I’ll have to work just as hard to complete captive mate by the end of the year.
I’m really grateful for your endless patience, I’ll do my best not to disappoint you all. thank you for reading<3
Angelo had cleaned up rapid-fire fast, he would still need to take another bath after this, but that could wait. The metal scent of blood still clung to his damp skin even as he put on the papery shirt and loose pants that he found in the wardrobe.
So he didn’t think twice about throwing Nikolai’s coat on over it, it had barely dried out and was still a little damp, but it didn’t bother him.
A knock on the door made him pause momentarily while he was in the middle of putting on Nikolai’s coat, wondering if it was the Alpha back so soon.
"Who?" He called out.
"Jael," A familiar voice responded, "Nikolai sent me."
"The door is open," Angelo said even as he walked over.
Jael opened the door carefully, surprised to find the Omega clean so quickly. He had stood outside for a bit after making all the arrangements, contemplating whether he should wait longer or just knock to give him a heads-up.
"Silvia is fine," He reported, standing at the open doorway.
Angelo’s eyes went wide, that had been the sole thing on his mind, he was grateful for Nikolai’s thoughtfulness.
"Well, mostly," Jael tagged on carefully, choosing to leave the rest of the incident for Silvia to explain herself. He took out a phone, briefly went through it, and then handed it to Angelo.
"Call her and find out for yourself," He said as he backed away, making himself scarce.
Angelo glanced down at the lit screen of the phone, where a contact had already been picked out, he just had to tap the green call button.
Without hesitation, he rang her up, his heart thumping with trepidation at the vague information Jael had given him.
"Hello?" A familiar voice answered as soon as the call connected, but it wasn’t Silvia.
"Cain? Is Silvia... Where is Silvia? Is she okay?" He asked in a rush, each question painful.
"She is," Cain said bluntly, "She’s undergoing surgery right now-"
"Wait, wait, if she’s fine, then why does she need surgery?" He cut in, desperation bleeding through his voice.
"Because those bastards shot out her knee," Cain forced out through gritted teeth. "Fortunately, I got her to the hospital almost immediately, but her leg might never fully heal."
Angelo went eerily quiet. A lot had happened just that morning, and it was barely noon, but the gunshot he had clearly heard stood out loud, going off over and over again in his head.
"H-Her knee? Just her knee? She’s going to be f-fine?" He asked in a rush, stumbling over his words a few times.
Although Cain had said it before, he repeated himself gently. "Yes, just her knee. She’ll be fine. She said to tell you to get some rest and come see her later when you call," He went on, having his first proper conversation with Angelo in such dire circumstances.
"She’ll be in the theatre for several hours, so there’s no rush. The worst case scenario would be that she would need a prosthetic leg, and the best would be that she would temporarily need a cane." He gave Angelo all of the details, sparing nothing.
It helped to calm Angelo down completely, nodding even though Cain couldn’t see him. "We’ll be there later this afternoon," He replied reflexively, including Nikolai without thinking.
The fist that had his thumping heart in a chokehold finally eased as the call dropped, wiping the tears in his eyes with the sleeves of Nikolai’s coat.
Silvia couldn’t die, she was so strong - he could barely remember his mom’s face, and even his childhood was nothing but shadowy nightmares. When he thought about his mom now, he saw Silvia’s face, and the years he had spent with her stood out in technicolor.
Now that his goal had been accomplished, the adrenaline that made him shower in record time faded away, leaving behind aches. He found flip-flops to put on his feet, opening the door gingerly.
It was no surprise to find Jael gone, but he didn’t go out, closing the door once more and going to sit at the edge of the bed, waiting patiently for Nikolai.
He had no clue what the future held for him, but the people he held dear were alive, and he would take that as solace for now. They would all sort things out, they could sort things out, as long as they were alive, as long as they were alive...
He let himself think about Luis Caddel - that had been his first violent kill. He had always been quick, methodical.
It didn’t bother him, if anything, the blood washed away the fog in his head, the shadowy nightmares. It atoned for some of the torment he had silently endured for years.
Just as quickly as the thought came, it left, and he was back to worrying about things that actually mattered, Nikolai’s Mafia House and Silvia’s surgery.
Angelo rose to his feet and drew open the curtains, watching the rain patter against wet gravel through closed windows, returning to his perch on the bed.
He only looked away when the door opened, turning towards the door to see the person he had been waiting for striding in.
"Waiting for me?" Nikolai asked the obvious, closing the door behind him.
Angelo rose to his feet and walked right over, "Yes, how did it go?" He asked with concern shining in his glassy eyes.
Nikolai just buried his hands and face in Angelo’s hair, even though they were bloody. "Great. I merged my Mafia House with Davian’s, do you want to come with me to stay with them for the meantime?"
Angelo gingerly leaned his weight against Nikolai, he had left his hair down for days, wishing that he could have this one last time. "Can..."
"Yeah, Silvia can come along if she wants." Nikolai replied, anticipating his question.
Angelo had completely lost his reluctance to work for the Mafia, it wasn’t the Mafia that had killed his mom, it was Luis Caddel, and he had tried to take everything from him again.
"I do," He answered without hesitation. "Let’s go see Silvia after we clean up properly and get something to eat."
"Pancakes?" Nikolai teased.
Angelo was feeling rather indulgent right then, "Fine, pancakes."