White Knight (Dirty Mafia Duet, #2)(39)

The entire waiting room is packed with people I’ve known my entire life, or most of it, waiting on the same news.

Will the king survive?

Memphis gets up to go to the restroom with Holly, who’s barely holding it together, and Benny sits down beside me.

“You know he’s been having heart problems, right?” he asks.

“What?” I whip my head to the side. “No. He never said anything.”

With a nod, Benny dangles his paper coffee cup from one hand. “He’s been seeing a doctor regularly for it over the last year. Been too stubborn to take the doc’s advice. Couldn’t wrap his head around the downtime. Didn’t want to show weakness at such a sensitive time.”

“And he told you all this? Shit, I can’t believe he told anyone.” Show no weakness might as well be the creed that Dominic Casso lives by. And possibly dies by, coincidentally.

“He only told me because, well, he knows I’m not gonna be here long enough to tell anyone else. But you deserve to know too, kid,” Benny says.

“What do you mean?”

His gaze dips to the floor before coming up to meet mine. “You don’t live like I did and get to have a happily-ever-after. Karma’s a bitch, and she always takes her due. I’ve got lung cancer. Terminal. Maybe six or eight months, if I’m lucky.”

“Jesus, Benny. Why didn’t you say anything?”

He shrugs, his shoulders appearing bonier than ever under the blue Hawaiian shirt, now that I’m really looking. “Not shit anyone can do. I’m not fighting it. I deserve it. Hell, I deserve worse for all the terrible things I’ve done.”

Never once have I heard Benny speak about the lives he ended on Dom’s orders. Never have I heard regret from him. He doesn’t seem to need an answer from me, because he keeps going.

“Dom’s gonna pull through this, and once he does, you need to tell him you’re out. You’re better than this, kid. You don’t need this life. It’s not for you.”

“Then who the hell is it for?” I ask, because I sure as shit don’t know.

“Punks like Enzo who don’t have anything to lose. You got that woman of yours, and no matter who she really is, she’s worth so much more than this.”

I cut my gaze to his. “What do you mean, no matter who she really is?”

Benny’s fingers curl around the paper coffee cup that he still hasn’t taken a drink from. “You forget, I spent a lifetime studying people in all sorts of ways. Something ain’t right about her.”

“Leave it alone, Benny. I have it under control,” I tell him, hoping it’ll stop him from prying, but it doesn’t.

“I saw her eyes, kid. The only reason she’d be covering those up is because she doesn’t want anyone to know who she is. Doesn’t want anyone to remember her. I told her if she fucked you over, I’d take care of her myself.”

My chair is uncomfortable and gets less tolerable by the second. I shift closer to allow our conversation to stay discreet. “Jesus Christ, old man. Don’t you dare touch a fucking hair on her head. I know exactly who she is and why she’s hiding.”

“You sure about that? Because the last woman I saw who had eyes like that was killed in a bloodbath that started a feud that still hasn’t ended.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

He coughs and hacks, finally catching his shallow breath. “It’s just a feeling, but my gut has saved my life more than once, and I don’t think it’s wrong this time either.”

I need to know. “What woman?”

Holly and Memphis walk toward us, and Benny goes quiet. Before I can ask him again, a doctor steps into the waiting room.

“Is the Karas family here?”

I jump out of my seat and head for Holly and Memphis. Holly holds out her arm, and I take it. Cav is right behind her.

“Yes,” she says. “We’re the Karas family. Please, God, tell us he’s okay.”





26





Cannon





Holly huddles at Creighton’s bedside, where he’s slipped in and out of consciousness over the last few hours since he’s been out of recovery. A bullet nicked his spleen, but they were able to repair it and his prognosis is excellent.

Thankfully, the ER got Greer stitched up from the shard of flying glass that sliced her arm, and she and Cav just left Creighton’s room to give Holly some time alone.

Dom and Enzo are both still in surgery, but we’ve only gotten updates about Dom. He had a fully blocked artery, and they’re working on the bypass and the stent.

Throughout it all, Memphis has been a rock. She’s calm, collected, offering a shoulder to cry on to Holly, and making sure Cav and Greer have everything they need. It’s like she’s already more part of the family than I ever have been, and I’m fucking glad.

Every time she makes another round, going from one person to the next, she stops beside me, curls into my side, and lets me hold her until we’re both ready to keep pushing on.

It’s closing in on midnight, and the halls of the hospital have quieted. Only nurses in scrubs or patients in gowns walk soundlessly behind us, as if not wanting to disturb our vigil.

“Have they given another update on Dom?” she asks, standing beside me.