I stood frozen, letting his words sink in. This was bad. Vincenzo knew. Somehow, he knew everything. And that terrified me.
Chapter Forty-seven
Rodion
I registered a beeping soundbefore I could feel the dull ache in my lower right abdomen. The pain only meant they had gone ahead with the transplant. My muscles ached, my brain was foggy. I let out a slow sigh and turned to where I last left Alessia seated. She wasn’t in the chair, and the chair itself had been moved from the bedside.
“Boss,” Dorothy’s voice cut through the haze.
I turned to where she stood, her tight smile in place as she stepped closer. “The surgery was successful.”
I tried to sit, and she rushed to stop me. I lifted a hand, stopping her. The pain gnawed but stayed within limits I could endure. An IV line ran into my right arm, tubes buried in my skin, claiming control that should have been mine.
She spoke carefully. “You need to rest for a while before you move.”
“What’s the status?”
She reached for the clipboard on the table. “The blood pressure is stable. But the vitals are still fluctuating, so we’re monitoring closely. You’ll keep the catheter for two to three days. Everything else is okay.”
I peeled the sticker from my hand where the injection had been, the sting fading to a dull soreness. “We can handle the rest back at the clinic. Where is Alessia?”
Dorothy shifted back, fingers tightening on the clipboard. “Sir, you might get dizzy if you move. You need to stay here for a week or two.”
I let the silence stretch, my gaze fixed on her until she looked away. “I asked a question.”
She busied herself with the drip, fixing it back where it had been. “She’s not here at the moment. I’ll inform Matvet and Madam Regina that you’re awake.”
Her words settled in. Grandmother? What the fuck was she doing here, and how did she know?
Dorothy walked out, closing the door behind her. The anesthesia still clung to my head, fogging my thoughts, but I scanned the bedside table for my phone. It wasn’t there. I pulled open the drawer, reached inside, and found it. But the screen stayed black.
Pavel should have called. The New York shipment should’ve been sorted by now.
The door opened, and for a second, I expected Alessia. Matvet appeared instead, dragging himself with a walking stick.
“Boss, welcome back.”
“I see you can walk now.”
He chuckled. “It called for it. Shouldn’t you be lying down?”
I glared, scanning the door, then back at him. “Where is she?”
“She’s probably preparing to run more tests. You’ll need to be monitored—”
“Where is Alessia?”
His eyes flicked away, something I had noticed with Dorothy. He was hiding something. I knew him well enough to read the most minor signs. This one spelled trouble.
“Matvet.”
He met my gaze. “The donor we had was murdered, and you could have slipped into a coma.” I let the words sink. “But we got another donor.”
“Where is my gun?”
“Sorry?”
I lunged for the drawer, shoving my hand inside to grab the gun. One bullet could remind him how to get straight to the point.