Chapter 9

Lucia had been kept on her toes all morning, doing a follow up on the patients assigned to her from yesterday's accident on the bridge. She, being the top resident, had the most work issued to her, which barely left her with enough time to fix the tired look on her face.

Forget that, loose strands of her blonde hair had started to fall out, due to the stress she was facing. The hospital was currently understaffed, and had not received word from the nearest clinics in regards to taking some patients into their care.

To top things off, no one had seen or heard word from Mr Ferrari the head of hospital. Something that ate away at Lucia, causing her to zone out more than she'd like to.

"I think that's one of my patients." Lucia announced in a candid tone, as she pulled apart the light green curtains that demarcated the patients.

A man a few inches taller than her, wearing the same resident uniform as her looked over his shoulder and tossed a glance at her.

His slim face and meek features were what stood out the most about him, putting that aside, his hazel eyes and delicate nose complimented his slender body.

"You had your hands full, it was the least I could do." He told her, while checking the unconscious patient's vitals.

"Thank you..." She left her statement hanging, indirectly asking him for his name.

"It's Carmine." He replied, flashing a small smile at her, "we've worked together for a month now Lucia." He added in a hard to read tone.

"Right." She somehow managed to say, realising how unfamiliar she was with some of the other residents.

"It's fine, you're on a totally different level from the rest of us anyways." Carmine spat out, in a flattery tone.

Lucia pushed a strand of hair behind her ear and relaxed her shoulders. "I think I'm just an overachiever." She said, "my hands don't seem to like being idle."

"You say it like it's a bad thing, if I put in half as much effort as you do, I might have been able to practice my residency program without a recommendation letter from my uncle." Carmine confessed in a light hearted tone.

Lucia at the moment didn't know how exactly to respond to that, she had had some help from her dad, who was a retired dentist. Though it was just a little shove and a slight Pat on the shoulder.

"Anyway, are you free tonight? The rest of us are going out for drinks at a bar downtown." He suddenly proposed, scribbling something into the folder in his hand.

Lucia had never once been asked out by her other collegues for drinks before, and was of the impression that she would just be imposing.

"I think I'll have to take a raincheck on that one, tonight isn't a good night for me." She told him, buring her hands in her side pockets.

"You have plans after work?" He asked, raising an eager brow at her. "Is it a date maybe?"

"A date might be too far fetched, I'm just going out with a..." She took a drastic pause, unsure of how exactly to define her relationship with the CEO.

"So it is a date." Carmine pointed out in a somewhat disappointed tone, his expression dampened.

"Well, have fun." He concluded, landing a light pat on her shoulder as he turned to see himself out.

"It couldn't be a date..." She mumbled under her breath, her front teeth nibbled nervously on her lower lip.

"Right?" Her phone vibrated in her pants, reminding Lucia that she had to stop daydreaming and finally go for the coffee break she now had time for.

Thanks to Carmine.

She pulled out her phone and brought the screen to her eyes, only to find herself staring at a notification for a reservation for two. From a five star restaurant, she was saving up to treat herself to, on her birthday which was fast approaching.

If she had any doubts before that he hadn't just asked her out on a date, then the VIP table he booked for them was a clear indicator of his feelings towards her.

And for some reason, Lucia found herself looking forward to her dinner with the CEO of the hospital.

***********

Leo wasn't a novice when it came to how nasty disputes between members of the mafia could get. And he certainly wasn't naieve enough to think that a gun wasn't the only way to win an argument.

He understood this, in theory at least. So why was it, that he couldn't bring himself to come to terms with the fact that Vitto had been shot. 

"You were shot?" Leo forced himself to ask, he didn't notice any bullet wounds while he bandaged up her stabbed shoulder.

"Shot at." She corrected in an icy tone, "the son of a bitch actually pointed a gun to me, but he missed."

"And the stab wound? How does Ciro relate to that?" He inquired, half pouring his attention into what he was cooking.

"This?" She whimsically asked, as though the obvious wound was something she just obtained and hadn't noticed when it happened.

"I was too careless and didn't think that bastard Ciro would form an alliance with Don Renato." Her bitter tone was an indicator that she was taking things hard on herself.

"I had a feeling Ciro was going to betray me sooner or later, I just didn't think that he had the balls to approach Don Renato with his ambition. They must have hit it off good, after I killed his good for nothing son Rochus." She explained, lazily crossing one leg over the other.

Leo silently brewed a cup of coffee, because he had his back to her, she couldn't see the tensed look he had on his face while he listened to her.

"On the night my boys and I planned to take out Don Renato, at the pool house he frequently uses to host illegal black market auctions. We thought we had the element of surprise in our favor, and I didn't take in account that Ciro and his men would be there." She took a suspensful pause then averted her gaze to Leo, who stood Frozen in anticipation.

Her carefree smile swiftly faded, and the corners of her mouth flattened into a stoic hard to read expression.

"I lost some men in the shootout and only managed to escape with this stab wound. They're taking full advantage of the fact that papa is overseas."

Leo could tell that by the resentment in her voice, that once she had her thoughts in order, Vitto was going to burst out the door and pick a fight with these men.

"Drink up." He said, while handing her his favorite yellow mug to drink his freshly brewed coffee. The man tried his hardest to wear an indifferent look on his face while he stared at her.

He turned to return to his cooking, but Vitto herself had other plans for him. She suddenly dropped the coffee on the table and pulled him by the wrist, then caged him with both her legs.

"And what do you think you're doing?" On his face, was a well balanced mix of both irritation and bashfulness.

Vitto rested both her hands on his shoulders and pulled his face down to meet hers.

"You smell like leftovers and beer." He gruffly told her, trying his hardest to avert his gaze from the shirt which had ridden up and was showcasing her skin.

Vitto who noticed he had his eyes glued to the kitchen chandelier couldn't help but chuckle at how reserved he was acting towards her.

"Hey, eyes here." She scolded him in a bossy tone, using her hands to force his reluctant eyes to meet hers. Vitto rested her forehead against his, allowing their noses to touch one another's.

Leo found himself caged in-between her legs, while his eyes were busy burning the image of her deep brown eyes into his memory. If he moved just a bit, he might end up crashing his lips into hers.

"You have my attention, now what?" He inquired in a flat tone, seeking to kill the mood she was trying awfully hard to set.

"What will it take me to get you to say yes to marrying me?" Her smiling eyes turned serious all of a sudden as she bit her lower lip.

Leo was about to shut her down completely and tell her to move on from him, with the reason that he would never be involved with a gangster.

But...

"I don't know about marriage, but you said you wanted two things." He quietly said, resting his hands on her thighs, causing the woman to flinch at his touch.

"One was marriage..." His right hand snaked up from her thigh and went underneath his shirt, as he gently caressed the woman's body, causing a moan to escape her lips.

Vitto closed her eyes as both his hands set out to work, exploring different parts of her body. Leo brought his head to her neck and planted passionate kisses, taking in her scent.

He brushed his lips against her ears and lowered his lip to say something.

"I believe the other was me." On that note, Vitto who could no longer control herself ferociously pushed him away from her.

Leo felt his insides depress when she pulled away, but that feeling was replaced with stun, when she grabbed him by the collar and crashed her hungry lips into his, setting the pace for the both of them.