Sold to the Capo-Chapter 69: HAVING TO CHOOSE A PRIORITY

VINCENZO’S POV

A day later, I was walking down the grassy paths that led to the mansion while Val jogged beside me.

"You’re in trouble, you know that, right?" She said for the umpteenth time, and this time, I was forced to answer her.

"What the hell is it, Valentina? I really just want to go home and check on Adriana and make sure that she’s fine, she’s currently traumatized, and she just woke up, so please cut to the crap and tell me what you want," I said, exasperated.

She had her hair up in a bun and a frown was fixed on her face. "Just because Master LaRosa hasn’t spoken doesn’t mean he’s just gonna let it slide"

Of course, he wasn’t. This was my father that we were talking about, he wouldn’t let something like that slide.

"Look, not now, Val. He’s been calm enough for a while so let’s just leave iㅡ"

"Leave it for now? You fucking shot him. Do you think that is just gonna slide off because you’re his son? Of course not!" She exclaimed, her tone higher now.

"Watch your tongue, Valentina, I have it under control" I growled at her.

She straightened up, an annoyed look on her face. "Yes sir, I understand. You have it under control. We’re in touch with Don Luca and he said our target hasn’t come home yet"

I nodded at that. "Keep an eye on the second guy I said and for god’s sake, stop bothering me, I have enough on my plate right now"

She took a step back, her hand resting on her waist. "Okay sir, I’ll drop by the house in the evening to make sure that she’s fine"

"Where the hell is Henry?" I asked looking around the mansion.

"He had a run with Theo and Gilbert. They stopped at the bar at the alley to make sure that business was going well there as planned" She explained.

"Okay, later when you come in the evening to check on Adriana, we’re going to need to talk about that list we made, I revised a lot of names there and tell Henry to look into the making of the helicopter landing pad in Las Vegas club and get the documents ready for me to sign so we can get the business running," I said, beginning to continue walking to the mansion.

Val let out a soft yes and walked away leaving me alone to finally go into the mansion.

As soon as I entered, I rushed to the stairs and quickly went up the stairs to the direction of our room where I had left her when I carried her here unconscious a day ago.

As I got to the room, I stopped at the door just as someone walked out, flinching on seeing me.

"Vincenzo..." Grace said, her tone filled with surprise.

"What are you doing here? I thought the doctor would be the one here" I pointed out as I peeped behind her to look inside the room.

"The doctor left a long time ago, I came to check up on her"

"You’re lucky the guards let you in" I wagged my finger at her.

She smiled at my words and shrugged. "I guess I am lucky"

"C’mon, out" I nodded to the stairs.

She gave a mock bow and straightened up. "She’s shaken up and doesn’t want to open up; give her some time, and don’t give her a tough time with your overbearing attitude, Don Enzo." She bowed slightly again and sauntered off.

I watched her for a few seconds as she went down the stairs and out the house before I pushed open the door to my room and I entered to see Adriana sitting at the edge of the bed.

She was backing the door, hunched over as she gripped the edges of the bedsheets, her knuckles white as she let out little gasps of breath at intervals.

"Tesoro?" I whispered.

She raised her head at my voice and turned around to look at me slowly, her eyes red-rimmed.

The sight of her tears made me freeze for a while before I got ahold of myself and rushed to her, kneeling before her. "Hey, c’mon, you’re fine now; no one’s gonna hurt you here," I reminded her, fighting the urge to cup her face. I doubt she would appreciate anyone touching her right now, especially not me.

She didn’t say anything; she looked blank, haunted, like something had happened to her over the course of the day that she had come back home. She looked like how I felt most of the time. Empty.

"Tesoro, talk to me" I bit down hard on my lip, staring at her with concern in my eyes. "What’s wrong? Do you need me to call the doctor?"

She quickly shook her head at that and let out a shaky breath. "No, don’t.." her voice cracked as she finally spoke. "I just...food"

I immediately stood up at that and nodded. "There’s food. I’ll get it here in a minute," I assured, but she stopped me with a raise of her hand.

"I’ll come downstairs myself" She whispered, forcing herself to stand up.

I went to her side and wrapped my hand around her waist to steady her. "You okay?" I said nodding to her leg that had been grazed by a bullet.

"Yeah, I’m fine" she smiled even though it didn’t seem genuine.

Her smile turned into a wince as she took a step forward and I quickly steadied her. "Slowly," I urged her, my voice soft as I led her outside the room and stopped at the top of the stairs.

We both looked down at the stairs and she looked at me with a nervous smile. "I’m fine, I can make it" She assured but I knew that it would hurt.

"Nope. Hold on" I muttered, lifting her in my arms bridal style, forcing her to wrap her hands around my neck. "C’mon..."

She buried her face in the crook of my neck, her warm breath tickling my skin as I walked down the stairs with her in my arms like she weighed nothing.

I liked the feel of her in my arms, I liked the way she grabbed onto me for support, I liked the way she didn’t protest, but above all, I liked the fact that she was alive and here with me. She was safe with me.

As soon as we got to the foot of the stairs, I still held her in my arms as I walked over to the couch and laid her there. "Sit down" I ordered her even though my voice had no bite to it.

She obeyed and adjusted on the couch, clutching her shirt in her fists as she waited for me to get the food for her.

I quickly went to the kitchen and grabbed a plate for her, which I quickly piled some food onto it for her, and I rushed out again to quickly drop the food onto the table for her.

"There, eat" I muttered as I sat opposite her to watch her eat.

She reached forward and instead of grabbing the spoon, she grabbed the apple by the side of the dish that I had prepared for her.

"Aren’t you hungry?" I asked confused.

"I feel like I’ll throw up if I eat that" she muttered, biting into the apple.

I nodded, understanding what she was saying, but even more, I wanted her to not just answer my questions briefly; why wouldn’t she open up to me?

"What happened there at my father’s house?" I forced myself to ask, wincing when I saw the way she tensed at the question.

This time, however, she didn’t keep silent; she actually spoke up this time, a bitter chuckle accentuating her words. "I killed him" she whispered.

I frowned, confused. Who did she kill? She was avoiding my gaze now, her eyes fixed on the half-eaten apple in her hands.

"Who are you talking about?" I cajoled softly. I remember she was holding a gun when I had found her. Had she used it to kill someone?

"I killed them..." She said again, her voice cracking as tears gathered in her eyes. "I killed people..." She had begun to whimper, the severity of her actions only now catching up to her.

My phone rang at that moment when I was staring at her in shock, and I contemplated ignoring the call, but Adriana wiped her tears and nodded to the call, muttering something about me answering the call, so I did.

"Don Enzo, I know you said not to call, but something happened," Val said through the phone. "Henry said the boys down at the bar got arrested this evening, weapons and drugs were found on them, and they’ve been locked up; an investigation will be carried out on the bar," She reported.

I almost palmed my face in frustration. "Val, this isn’t the time" I hissed into the phone.

"Don Luca called. Your guy is home tonight. It’ll take you an hour to leave and get there. You don’t know when next we’ll get him; I suggest you leave now if you wanna get him; Don Luca can’t hold him down for long," Val reported.

I froze and took one look at Adriana who was staring blankly at the table while tears dropped her eyes.

It was a no-brainer for me. I made my choice for my priority right now.

Without replying, I hung up and dropped my phone on the table, and set it to silent, a blank look on my face knowing that I had made a choice.

Adriana.

That was my priority.