Chapter 2

Catherine

The silence and tranquility is broken by a loud, interpenetration sound. The sound of a gun. One shot rings out through the silence making the birds take flight with loud shrieks of terror. The shot is then followed by a loud groan, curses, shouts and eventually a couple more shots.

Without thinking I make my way through the low bushes towards the sound of someone in pain. That someone has been shot and needs medical attention, something I can assist with while waiting for an ambulance. The fact that it might be dangerous or a bad idea to run towards gunfighting never crosses my mind.

As I break through the treeline I see a man on the ground and a man kneeling beside him holding some kind of cloth against his stomach. I grit my teeth at the knowledge that a shot to the abdomen can be big trouble.

“Get away from here, lady.” The unhurt man growls at me when I reach them and kneel on the other side of the hurt man.

“I am a doctor and this man is in serious need of medical assistance. You can call for the ambulance while I take a look and keep your friend alive.” I only throw him a determined glance before shifting all my focus to the gunshot wound.

It’s bad and bleeding profusely. It is also in a place where it can do great damage to internal organs. I turn the man over slightly to look for an exit wound and when I can’t see any I curse inwardly. 

How could it not have gone right through?

Unless it's one of those bullets designed to shatter to cause greater damage. This time I curse out loud. There has been an increase of those kinds of bullets in the past six months or so. I know because I have had to dig out the fragments in the bodies of both cops and criminals. The friend doesn’t say anything, but he doesn’t call for aid either. I feel my anger spike at his ignorance of this person's life.

“Call for an ambulance if you want your friend to survive! He needs surgery!” I growl at the man sitting in front of me.

“There will be no ambulance.” A new voice has me turning my head to where the road from this parking lot we’re on leads. My mind goes blank as I see an fallen angel and four other men striding towards us with determined steps. The man in the front leading the others is like no man I have ever seen. 

He must be in his early forties with a tall and lean build and black hair, salted with gray at his temples, swept back in a modern and effortless look. His sharp jawline and prominent cheekbones gives him an edge. An edge I would love to fall over. He is gorgeous, wearing a white suit with a black button up shirt beneath. It has to be hot wearing a suit on a warm day like this. But he looks unbothered by heat despite his recent run after a gunman. At least that’s what I guess he and his companions are returning from. “Who are you?” He growls at me when they stop in front of the injured man and me.

“What happened to Gregor?” The kneeling man in front of me speaks and breaks my awe. I blink, mentally shake my head and return my eyes to the wound, where they should have been all along.

“He got away. But we’ll take a visit to his brother later. How is Nino?” His voice is cold, hard and still velvety soft like chocolate. A shiver of pleasure runs down my spine and I clear my throat before answering him.

“If this is Nino, he’s not doing all that great. He’s not losing too much blood at the moment, and the gunshot wound is in a very delicate place and there is no exit wound. That means the bullet might have been one that shatters to injure the organs surrounding it. He needs to go to a hospital and get surgery.”

“Are you a cop?” A man behind the godforsaken handsomeness asks.

“No. I am a doctor. A surgeon. And I know that he needs surgery if he is to survive!” I glare at the handsome man again and something hits me. A nagging feeling that I recognize this man. But I can’t place where I have seen him before.

“There will be no hospital. But if you are a surgeon you can operate on him.” He glares down at me and I glare right back.

“And what instruments should I use for that? A stick or some stones? Perhaps you have a pocket knife that would work just as good as a scalpel?” I sneer at him and for a second he looks shocked about my sarcasm. Then it is replaced by anger and determination.

“Place him in the car.” He says to the men behind him and they move to take Nino from me. “She’s coming with us.” He says to the man in front of me and in a second he grabs me tightly around my upper arm.

“Hey! Let go of me!” I struggle in the man’s grip but it’s too tight. They move as one towards two cars parked on the other side of the parking lot. One man goes towards another car parked a bit away. I don’t see what he does with it and before I know it I’m shoved inside a large black SUV.

The shot man is placed beside me in the backseat and even though the situation is upsetting for me I react on instinct and stem the blood flow from his wound. The man that I guess is the leader sits in the front passenger seat and the man that manhandled me takes the driver seat and we’re off.

“You can’t just abduct a person like this!” I shout at them but at the same time I make no move to stop treating Nino. He groans and I glance at him with concern. “I demand that you take us to the hospital so this man can have the right care!”

“You are a surgeon, right?”

“Yes, but-”

“You can treat these kinds of wounds, right?”

“Yes, but still-”

“Then there is no need to go to a hospital. You will treat him. I have all the necessary material and instruments at the mansion.” I grit my teeth in anger at this pompous man.

“I have not given my consent to this. If the injury is too great I might not be able to take care of it alone. He will need blood and antibiotics, anesthesia.”

“Everything you need will be provided to you.” I sigh and give in. Even though I don’t want to do this in this way I can’t let a man die when I have a chance to save him.

The ride to the mansion takes about forty minutes and when we arrive we are met with people in scrubs and a gurney. My door is opened and the driver pulls me out and leads me inside to a room where I can change and clean myself before entering the outdated operating theater.

My mind is in an uproar. Why would someone have all these things in their home, ready to use? Are the persons in scrubs medical personnel? But I don’t have the luxury to wallow in these thoughts. There is an injured man that needs my knowledge and expertise to survive and I’ll be damned before I give up on saving him.

And I present to you, Alessio Peccati. A handsome devil, gorgeous enough to make every man jealous and to make every woman need a dry pair of panties.