Martina walked back to the ward where Roberto was. She looked into the ward and saw the nurses were wrapping his arm with a bandage. She could guess they had gotten the bullet out of him already.
Vincenzo was glued to where he stood in the ward and he had a terrified look on his face. He regretted watching them remove the bullet from Roberto’s arm.
Roberto looked at him, and after seeing the look on his face, he scoffed.
“When will you ever stop acting like a pu*sy? Why do you look so horrified?” Roberto asked, and Vincenzo shook his head.
“I am not horrified.”
“Of course, you are not. You look so bold right now.” Roberto teased. He looked at the door and saw Martina watching them.
“Tell her she is going to regret going against my orders.”
Vincenzo turned and saw Martina at the door. He heaved a sigh and looked at Roberto.
“She couldn’t stand the sight of blood.”
“I didn’t ask you to speak for her, Vincenzo. Go out there, and tell her she is going to regret going against my orders.”
Vincenzo nodded slowly and walked out of the ward. He shut the door behind him and grabbed her hand. He pulled Martina away from the door and stopped after moving far enough.
“What is wrong with you? Why did you pull me like that?” Martina asked.
“Tell me one reason why you are always so stubborn, Martina.”
“Because I see no reason why I would want to listen to anything he, or you, says.”
“Can you please stop? You are going to get yourself killed.”
“No, I can’t. If Roberto wanted to kill me, he would have. A long time ago. But here I am, standing strong the way I have always been.”
Vincenzo exhaled and rested his back on the wall.
“You can’t be so sure about Roberto’s character. You can think he can’t kill you, but he points a gun at you suddenly and pulls the trigger.”
“I am not scared of him like you are,” Martina said and turned to walk away.
“I care about you, Martina. And that is why I am worried about you.” Vincenzo uttered, and Martina halted. She turned to look at him, and he walked up to her.
“Martina, I do care about you. I am scared he is going to get so mad at you one day and kill you.”
“Why do you care?” Martina asked.
“Because… Because I care, Martina.” Martina sighed and rolled her eyes at his statement.
“Vincenzo, I am so tired, and I am not in the mood to joke. I am not scared of you or Roberto. If he wants to kill me, then let him do it. My life is miserable anyway.” She turned to walk away, and Vincenzo held her hand.
She turned and they exchanged looks. They stared at each other, and he tried to find the right words, but he didn’t find them.
“Roberto ordered me to tell you that you are going to regret going against his orders.”
“Seriously, Vincenzo. You stopped me to tell me what I already know?”
She yanked her hands off him and walked back to the ward. She opened the door and walked in. Roberto kept his eyes on her as she walked to him.
She pulled a chair she found next to his bed and sat on it.
“How is your arm?” She kept her gaze on his arm as she spoke.
“It is none of your business.”
“I know it is none of my business, and I don’t care about you either. I want to know if it’s time to rejoice, or if I still have to put up with you.”
Roberto chuckled and looked at her.
“Well, unfortunately for you, you have your entire life to put up with me because I am not dying anytime soon.”
“You can’t be so sure. No one knows tomorrow. I could be the one that would be your killer in the future.”
Roberto let out a hysterical laugh and winced after he felt pains in his arm.
“You? My slave, kill me? You need to stop daydreaming.”
“I’ll say this to you one time, Mr. Roberto Galante. I am going to ruin you.”
Roberto grabbed her by the arm and pulled her closer to him. He felt pains in his arm but he was too pissed to pay attention to it.
“Say that one more time, and I promise your blood would stain my shirt.” He said with gritted teeth.
“You’re hurting me.” Martina felt a throbbing pain in her arm as he grabbed her. He let go of her and looked away.
“Get out!”
Martina stood up from her chair aggressively and walked to the don’t in anger. She turned to look at him and gave him the middle finger.
She got out of the ward and met Vincenzo sitting on a chair that was close to the ward.
She looked at him for some seconds and proceeded out of the hospital.
“Where are...”
“I am not running away, okay? I’m going to sit in the chair. I’m done here.”
Vincenzo looked at her as she walked out of the hospital. He tried so hard not to look at her a*s as she walked.
“I need to stay focused.” He muttered to himself.
***
Caterina rushed down to Alberto’s office after he called her for an impromptu meeting about Martina.
She got to his office and stormed in, ignoring the instructions his secretary kept yelling.
“Alberto.” She called, and he rushed to her and hugged her tightly.
“Boss…”
His secretary stopped talking after she saw them embrace each other. She headed out of the office quietly and shut the door.
“I spoke to Martina on phone. She borrowed a man’s phone to call me.”
“What? Has she escaped?”
“No, Caterina. She has not escaped, and I don’t think she wants to escape.”
“What do you mean? She is suffering, we need to save her.”
“She doesn’t want to be saved. She told me she wants to finish what she has started. She wants to bring him to justice her way. I tried talking her out, but she refused to listen. She didn’t give me any information about her whereabouts.”
“What?! Why is she doing that? She had the chance to gain her freedom, but she threw it away?”
“I am as confused as you are, Claudia. I told her I don’t care about apprehending him anymore. I just want to rescue her, but she wouldn’t listen. She hung up.”
Caterina exhaled loudly and shook her head in confusion.
“What do we do?”
“We track the next call she makes. But, I don’t think she would call me anymore.”
“I hope it isn't what I am thinking.”
“What are you thinking?”
“Nothing. It’s nothing.” Caterina uttered.
“I hope he doesn’t kill her before she gains her freedom.”
“He wouldn’t. Martina can take care of yourself.”
“Are you giving up already?”
“What do you expect me to do? She has chosen her job over me, Alberto. She doesn’t care about me anymore.“
“C’mon Caterina, it’s…”
“Don’t speak for her, Alberto.” Caterina’s eyes heated as she spoke. She stood up and walked out of his office in tears.