"Boss, you know damn well this is a trap. It's probably AI-generated," Leo said as I was dodging and weaving out of traffic.
This was on short notice because I was sent a strange message from an unknown number. Which, in hindsight, sounds very suspicious.
"Why would he do that?"
"To trap you because he knows you will come," Leo said. I sighed.
"What?"
"You are probably right. This whole love shit-."
"Unrequited love at first sight," Leo said, and I smacked him in the stomach.
"You are hitting me because I'm right. I told you to let the kid go because you haven't even spoken to him other than him running into you. He doesn't even fucking know you, and you are dragging him into all of your shit," Leo said, and I gripped the steering wheel.
He was very much right. He always was.
"Okay, whatever. After we go check to see if he's okay, I'll back off," I said, and I watched Leo roll his eyes.
"What now?"
"I wish I could take your word for it."
The two of us sat in silence as I looked at the directions. I turned and made my way down the street that Matteo had sent me.
"Fuck, I knew it was a trap," Leo said.
I sighed and took a deep breath.
"Boss, boss, look, pull over." and I did as Leo said.
"I don't think this is a fake." I turned off the car, and I grabbed my gun out of the center console.
The door of a house was completely kicked in, and there was blood on the doorstep.
"He just doesn't know when to fucking quit." I sighed, put my gun in its holder, and fixed my suit.
Leo and I walked up to the house and stepped over the broken glass.
"You take upstairs, I take-." blood. Everywhere.
"So glad you made it," a voice said, and I turned around. It was Matteo.
"What is wrong with you?" I asked, grabbing him by his collar. "You just don't know when to fucking quit. You leave him alone!" I threw him down on the floor.
Oh god.
I quickly ran over to him. He's still alive, thank God.
"Leo-."
"I already called them; they are on their way," Leo said.
"Are you two okay?" I asked, picking up Ryder's body. He felt like a dead weight as I put him over my shoulder.
One of them had a knife and was pointing it at me.
"You give me him back," he yelled, pointing the knife at me and getting closer to him.
"Hey, I know you are scared; I would be to-." Knife right in my leg.
"Hey, that hurt," I said, as I'd assumed Brandon quickly backed up.
"I'm not here to hurt you. And I'm sorry he hurt your brother. I know you are Eliza and you are Brandon and you go to school with my daughter," I said with an awkward smile.
"How do you know that?" Brandon screamed.
"Well, I have had my eyes on this brother of yours, and after this, you won't ever see me again. People like me are fit for love, so. I'm just going to make sure he is stable, and then never again will you guys see me. Now let's go," I said, and they didn't move.
I sighed.
"If I was going to hurt you, I would have done it as soon as I walked in. Now come on," I said, and they still looked unsure. Fucking kids.
"They are here," Leo said, and I nodded.
"What about matteo?"
Leo gave me this thousand-yard stare.
"What? Are you hurt?" I asked, checking on him frantically.
"More like traumatized, I felt like I was lecturing a pervert," Leo said, and for the first time, he looked embarrassed.
I saw Matteo come in, and I quickly took my gun out. "You touch any of them and you are getting a bullet right between your eyes; you hear me?" I screamed, and Matteo smiled.
"Can we call a truce just for one thing?"
"If it's Ryder or any of his siblings, it will not happen."
"Give me Leo."
"Yeah, not happening either; he's my right-hand man."
"Not for that."
"Not for what?"
"I want him."
"Excuse me?" I asked. What is this guy on about?
"I want him," Matteo repeated.
"You can't; he works for me," I said, trying to push past him.
"That's not what I asked you."
"I want him," Matteo said again. "Like as my plaything."
"You nasty son of a bitch. Brandon and Eliza," I said, and this time they quickly followed me.
"Well, he's an adult; he can do what he wants, but at the end of the day, he works for me," I said.
"And at the end of the day, hell no, tell your boys to come collect your ass," Leo said, smacking the guy and pushing him out of the porch.
He took out his phone and started to type.
"Okay, so the people are coming to fix the door and replace all the broken stuff, and then we get in the car and take him to the hospital." I nodded.
What a strange day!
Matteo needs to fuck off for, like, one day out of the year and let me breathe.
This is why mafia bosses don't have love interests past hired people.
I made my way outside, still with Ryder on my shoulders.
"Boss," they bowed to me.
"One of you will take the car back, and then we will go to the hospital," I explained and from the looks of it, everyone understood.
I sat down and watched Ryder as we drove.
Poor kid. He didn't deserve this. Fuck, I'm so goddamn selfish.
"Why are you stressing? Your men already said he was in stable condition. Is the guilt of your men finally getting to you?" I looked up. It was Brandon. He looked irritated.
"Matteo doesn't work for me."
"He doesn't?"
"No, we are rivals and he loves attacking people dear to me. Even though I hadn't made any moves on your brother, he had already picked up on it and attacked him, so after this whole thing is over I'm gonna let him go," I said and Brandon nodded.
"You seem in pain in a way."
"I did get stabbed in the leg."
"Yeah, not that pain; more like I don't know, same look my dad gives my mom kind of pain," Brandon said.
"Getting attached to someone I have never even spoken to, is embarrassing considering the fact I am literally about to turn 40," I said, slumping down while watching Ryder.
"Old ass," Brandon coughed out.
"Boss, we are here."
"Send him to the suite, I want him to live, you hear me?" I asked and they nodded.
I watched as they wheeled him off into the hospital.
"You coming, boss?"
I nodded.
I stood up and looked at the hospital.
I looked down at my hand. The beeping of the machine I was hooked up to was making me lose my mind.
"Boss, it wasn't your fault." they kept telling me that. Over and over again.
It wasn't my fault.
It wasn't my fault.
IT WASN'T MY FAULT.
Then why is my arm fucking gone? WHY IS MY ARM FUCKING GONE THEN?
I ran that red light. I ran it. It's my fault. It's my fault.
"Boss, he was drunk; it's okay." Is it okay?
My daughter is fine. My little girl is okay.
She's my world.
She's my everything.
I shouldn't have run that red light. She could have died. She could have died.
The beeping got louder as the door opened. That noise is horrible.
"I'm sorry," a voice called out.
Sorry? For what? I ran the red light; it was my fault. It was all my fucking fault.
"I just..." the guy stopped and he looked at me.
He was in a wheelchair but looked fine.
"I'm sorry for driving drunk. I'm sorry I smashed into you," the guy said, and he bowed.
He reached out to me.
"You don't have to go," a voice said, and I turned back. It was Eliza. We were sitting in the waiting room.
"Huh?"
"You look like you are bugging. If hospitals bother you, don't go in," Eliza said.
"No, it's not that; I just-."
"I saw your arm; you don't have to go in," she said, and she nodded at me as she walked off.
I swallowed a hard gulp, and I looked at my hand. It looked so real. It almost felt real. Apart from the fact that the rest of my arm looks like a robot.
I sighed and stood up.
I walked with all my might over to his room, and I pushed open the door.
The beeping was loud. Oh god. Oh god.
Oh, he looks so precious. I walked over quietly and sat down next to him.
Even the scars from those knives wouldn't mess up his pretty face.
I pulled my hand back.
I was getting a little too comfortable, stroking his face like a creep.
God, he's precious.
Perfect in every way.
"You know how to braid robo Daddy?" I turned my head back. It was Eliza.
"Uh yeah, why?"
"You want to re-braid his hair," she said with a smile.
"Uh im-."
"Despite his ethnic background, his hair is just wavy." Hey, I didn't even say anything like that.
I smiled, and I lifted his head gently and slowly took out each of his braids.
"You got a freaky look on your face, robo daddy." I looked up and blinked at Eliza.
"I'm sorry, I just-." I stopped myself.
I ran my hand through his hair, braided one side down, and put a rubber band on it, and then the other side and another rubber band.
I laid his head back down gently and smiled.
"Freaky."
"What?"
"You are freaky."
"Because of my arm?"
"No, because of the horny look you are giving my sleeping brother." Oh, I let out an awkward laugh.
The two of us stayed in awkward silence. I don't know where my men were, or Brandon, for that matter, but it was awkward, and the beeping was overwhelming.
"Hey."
"Yeah?"
"If you want to date my brother or something. Uh, try to get him to stop smoking while you are at it," Eliza said, not making eye contact with me.
"I'll try if he falls for someone like me, that is. The whole mafia thing puts people off."
"Who knows, he might be into robo dilfs," I laughed.
"Who knows."
I looked down at him.
Hopefully, he will wake up soon.