His Mafia Prince
Chapter 218: Once Family, Always Family

Chapter 218: Once Family, Always Family

(TYLER)

Outside, a little further down the hall, there seems to be a heavies convention happening. The combined presence of the Terra Nova and Triple Triad bodyguards hasn’t gone unnoticed by the hospital staff. The tension however fades a little when they see me joining them. I nod at the nurse’s questioning glance. Even so, she is still frowning at the men. She nods back. I guess that means that she won’t call security just yet.

"You need to stop hanging around in a group like this. You’re freaking out the staff."

Miles appears at the entrance, looking like a man on a mission.

"Go on now." He says when he arrives at the group. "Back to your posts. I checked out. We are okay." He nods to Giulio, his junior, and Giulio nods back then the men disperse. Two head to guard Sasha’s door. Two others skulk separately in the reception. I’m certain that there are more of them throughout the hospital too.

Miles stays with me. I’m sure that he is waiting for Arlo. Giulio, and the two other men give me respectful nods.

"Hi, Giulio." I offer my hand.

"I’m so sorry about what happened to your husband." He says. I’m moved that he said your husband instead of Sasha or boss. Maybe, he thinks discretion is important for being out in the open like this. Still, I like him for it.

"Thanks. And who’s with you?" I turn my attention to the other two men. Of course, Miles is the head of security, but there’s no way I’m letting anyone hang around this room without knowing who they are myself. Especially after that Irish man took me from our home.

Giulio flicks his head at them, and they both step forward to shake my hands.

"Leo Vitale." The first guy says with a smile that has exactly the right edge of sympathy to it without being condescending. His dark thick hair falls on the ringlets around his face. The kind of face that you check out twice because he is handsome as hell.

"Everybody calls me Carlo." The older wiry man says. He has a rodent-like sharp nose and chin. "Pleasure to meet you." He shakes my hand but I yank it away and suck a breath.

"Tyler." I say. Just call me Tyler. Everybody does. Well except Sasha. I hear you are looking after Mrs Adonis?"

I wonder what they think about me, or even if they’ve heard about me. But the curiosity in their eyes doesn’t escape me, a deliberative gaze like they are summing me up.

"Leo here made an exemplary performance last week in the field." Giulio says dryly. But I don’t miss the glances they exchange. The kind of look that should be kept private. The kind of look that Sasha and I sometimes give each other without noticing it.

Well, well. That’s great for Giulio.

Yet, feeling that flirty lightheaded energy flowing around between them just makes me think of my alpha. Laid still and unmoving down the hallway. "I’ll go back to Sasha." I say, forcing a smile. "Unless there is something that you want to ask me about?" I ask Miles.

Miles shakes his head. "I just got word that there may be something going on outside. That somebody is checking out the scene. But there is nobody there now."

"I’d still prefer to get you out of here and back to the house, Mrs Adonis." Giulio insists."

"We should let Tyler get some rest anyway." Lucia says then hugs me again as we say our goodbyes. She alongside her guards then make their way out of the waiting room. The hospital staff visibly relax. They aren’t used to having Italian mobsters hanging around.

I turn to Miles. "I’ll tell Arlo to come along so that you can leave."

"I’m here to watch you, Tyler." Miles tells me in an oddly soft tone. I’m relieving the other guard so that he can get some sleep tonight. But you tell Arlo that and get some rest yourself."

"Oh, well. Thanks for being here, Miles."

"I’m just doing my job." He says. But I notice the grim look on his face that I almost ask if there is something else that I should know of. But then, even Sasha kept me away from the family business, so I probably shouldn’t know a lot about it. Plus, I don’t have time to worry about the Triple Triads. Sasha needs all my worrying power.

***

An hour or so later, I’m woken up by two familiar voices arguing in the hallway. They build and build until they are loud enough that I head out the door, yank it open then glare at Miles and Jericho.

"Shut up." I whisper fiercely, closing the door behind me. "I don’t want Sasha to hear whatever it is you two are arguing about. He’ll just get angry that he can’t wake up and come handle your shit himself."

"Sorry, Tyler."

"Sorry." Jericho says then glances down at his feet? "We didn’t...I didn’t know that you could hear us."

I prop my hips against the wall, cross my arms then lift my chin. "What’s the problem?"

The two of them glance at each other uneasily.

"Come on, you might as well tell me what the problem is." I sigh when I notice that neither of them is forthcoming. "It will take my mind off Sasha for a sec." I say, knowing quite well that it won’t. But I also feel slightly better standing here than I did dozing off on the chair next to him.

For the last hours, days or whatever, I’ve spent the bulk of the time staring at Sasha, sleeping or watching the hospital staff do things in his inert body. Maybe a little conversation about the mob business could take my mind off it for a while.

"Miles is blaming himself."

"For what?" I ask.

"For this whole..." Jericho waves his hand around.

I stare at Miles. "Seriously, that is what you’re yelling about?"

Miles shifts on his feet, shoving his hands deep into his pockets. He shoots Jericho a death glare from the side of his eyes. "See I...I just wanted to see if somebody could take over as head of security. Because I’m not doing a good job."

"And I’ve been explaining to Miles here," Jericho snarls but then drops a mutter at my frown. "That he’ll just be fucking up more instead of just keeping his head up and doing what he knows Sasha would have wanted him to do."

"What the hell?" I sigh exasperatedly. "Miles, you can’t be thinking of quitting. Literally, right? Once in the family, you’re always... You know, family. For life." The last few days have been surreal, and now I’m standing here giving career advice to a mobster. "And like Jericho said, Sasha would want you to do what is right."

"Besides, no one else can do your job like you do." Jericho adds.

"Oh, is that it?" Miles fires back. "Having a shifty security guy is better than having no security guy?"

"Shut up." I hiss.

"Listen, if there’s anyone who should be blamed for this whole mess, it is me." Jericho says. "If I hadn’t focused on the wrong things and watched out for Sasha―"

"It isn’t your fault, Jericho." I say. I really wish it was, maybe then, I would have somebody to direct my anger at, apart from myself. It really isn’t the time to be shifting blame, but I just can’t help thinking that maybe things would have played out differently if I hadn’t ended up at the scene. If I handled the situation better back at the house. If I thought things through before leaving with the Irish guy. Then again, I wanted to make sure that they were safe.

"Tyler, it was my job to make sure that you and the boss were safe." Miles starts, but I shake my head.

"No, it wasn’t you, Miles. You know what?" we look at each other and I put a hand on his arm. "It was neither your fault. Nor Jericho’s. Not the first cause anyway. It was mine. I’m the one to blame for this."

Miles does a double take.

"What do you mean?" Jericho asks.

"I mean that if it weren’t for me, if it weren’t for everything I’ve done... everything I am―then maybe Sasha wouldn’t be lying on that bed.

"That’s not―" Miles begins, but I hold up my hand and he stops.

"Listen. I need to go back inside." I feel weary again and I want to sleep more, at least rest my head on Sasha’s bed. Hold his hand and doze beside him. Just be there for my alpha and remind him that he will be okay. That he will pull through, and I will be on his side until then. "You two need to go deal with that family shit, okay. Do it for Sasha. Keep it together for him."

I head back into the room and shut the door on them before they can say anything else.