Helping Mr. Gang Leader .Chapter 68: a good enough start..Going back to work felt great. Gianna had always taken pleasure in a full workday, squeezing in as much as humanly possible. And though she wasn’t able to return to her full sixteen hours work days, pulling a solid ten was a good enough start.“You know,” Angelo said, leaning against the doorway to where Gianna was rifling around a drawer in her office desk for something. “I think I’ve heard our patients gush about how happy they are to have you back at least a couple dozen times today. Even the ones that aren’t even being treated by you, have to pop in and say hi.”Pleasure flushed through Gianna. “I’m happy to see them, too.”Most quietly, Angelo asked, “We’re very glad to have you back, we all know you’re the star attraction here.”“That’s not true,” Gianna said without missing a beat. “Everyone here pulls their weight fairly. And if anything, you and Enzo and Victoria have been pulling more than your own weight. I’m so
Helping Mr Gang Leader .Chapter 69: always never safe .The rest of the morning brought more well wishes and happy comments from patients, an easy flow of unrushed patients, and steady routine.During lunch Gianna holed up in her office and called Dante, eager to hear his voice and talk about even the most mundane things.“I miss you,” Dante said, and before she realized what she was doing, Gianna was whispering it back as fiercely as she could.They’d seen each other earlier that morning, Gianna waking up sore in the best way, and Dante wrapping around her like an octopus with a vow never to let ago. They’d changed the sheets on the bed together, enjoyed coffee, and kissed so much that Gianna’s lips had gotten puffy and red.It had been perfect, especially in a world that had so little perfection in it.And Gianna almost regretted telling Dante she wasn’t in love with him yet. Because there’d been nothing but love in her chest for Dante who’d stroked her hair back from her forehe
Helping Mr Gang Leader .Chapter 70: directly into the lion’s den .Walking through the clinic felt like walking to the gallows. Nurses and patients stopped to wave and greet him, all of them with smiling faces, and Gianna grinned back out of sheer willpower alone. But it felt fake and hollow and her balance was such that she worried she’d tip over, or her legs would give out.But there was a show to put on as Stetson bumped and prodded her along, and Gianna understood the consequences for failing to be convincing.She was almost to the front door, almost to the point of no return, when she saw Angelo coming through the door, the last bits of his lunch in a white bag hanging from his fingers.“Gianna?” Angelo asked, clearly not expecting to see her. “Where are you going?”Gianna felt Stetson’s impossibly large presence behind her and redirected the conversation, asking, “A little late getting back from lunch?”Angelo looked at her sheepishly. “Sorry. Traffic was bad. I’ll stay a lit
Helping Mr. Gang Leader .Chapter 71: time is ticking.. tic toc .Clyde turned his full attention to Gianna and brought a hand up to cup her face. It was nothing, absolutely nothing, like the way that Dante touched her. And as Clyde’s fingers traced over her features, a calculating look on his face, Gianna began to feel more and more ill.“I want you to know,” Clyde said finally, “that I think you’re very, very pretty. For a doctor, you’re about as pretty as they come.”Gianna tried to hold her ground.“And,” Clyde continued, “I happen to appreciate pretty things.”Stetson made an irritated sound and ambled off down the hall.“I don’t …” Gianna tried.“I’m going to let you in this room in a second,” Clyde said, leaning forward toward her in a far too intimate way. He was so close to Gianna they were nearly on top of each other, Clyde’s mouth a ghost of a breath away from being on Gianna’s. “And if you do anything wrong, I’m going to make you substantially less pretty.”“Wrong?” Gia
Helping Mr. Gang Leader .Chapter 72: a threat is a threat .Taking a strong, reassuring breath, Gianna rallied herself to action, rolling up the sleeves on her shirt and turning to Clyde to ask, “Who spends the most time with Maddox?”Clyde and Hagrid looked between themselves, probably more surprised at her assertiveness than anything else.But then Clyde shrugged and asked, “Why? It’s probably me.”Gianna leaned back over Maddox to start her examination.She could see immediately why the doctor who’d treated him previously had suspected a simple cold, or even the flu. Maddox had an elevated temperature, was clearly shivering despite his fever, and was much paler than any human looked when they were healthy.“How long has he been like this?”Maddox crossed his arms and stepped nearer, thinking aloud, “He started complaining of a headache about three weeks ago. Then it was stiffness in his body about five or six days after that. At least that’s what he said.”Carefully, Gianna pull
Helping Mr. Gang Leader .Chapter 73: better than any kind of violent reaction. Maddox said, “So you’re the doctor I hear so much about all the time.”“And,” Gianna offered back bravely, “you’re the gang leader who threatens my clinic from time to time.”Maddox’s face was blank for a moment, making Gianna fearful, but then he was laughing in a harsh way, something that turned into a deep cough.It seemed, at least a little, like the tension in the room was broken, and for that Gianna was thankful.“Clyde said you’ve had a headache for a while? And some stiffness?”Maddox gave a dry swallow, shifting a little in the blankets that cocooned him, then clarified, “In my neck.”Gianna froze. “Did you say in your neck?”Confused, Maddox nodded. “Sometimes my back, too.”Gianna felt a sliver of hope. “Can you tell me if you know of any recent rashes on your body? If not, can you give me permission to check?”Maddox asked, “You want to take my clothes off?”Hagrid interjected, “Boss, don’t
Helping Mr. Gang Leader .Chapter 74: nothing to lose .“What are we doing here?”Stetson ignored her, which Gianna guessed was better than any kind of violent reaction, like Clyde or Hagrid might have given.There were tons of men cluttered around the garage, some of them talking to each other, but most of them standing tensely.Something was happening.“In,” Stetson gestured to a nearby car.The backseat was empty when Gianna climbed in, and Stetson came in after her, shutting the door firmly and gesturing for the driver to start the car.“We’re going to Mercy West,” Stetson said finally when the car drove forward a bit, one more in front and one behind. “Maddox will meet us there. You’ll perform the test, administer the treatment, and you won’t say anything unnecessary to anyone.”Gianna looked at him a little flabbergasted, mouth hanging open. “Did you just … have you commandeered a hospital?”Stetson snorted. “No. of course not.”Probably even Infinite couldn’t take over a hosp
Helping Mr. Gang Leader .Chapter 75: violent way of saying I love you .They were zipping away without warning after that, cutting down narrow streets, taking corners too fast, and putting a real distance between themselves and Infinite.Gianna had no clue where they were by the time the driver of the motorcycle was pulling into an abandoned looking warehouse. But her heart had calmed significantly, and she was less scared even as the heavy door came down behind them in the well-lit area and several more boys were spotted standing around.With weak legs Gianna got off the bike and looked between the half dozen men in front of her.The motorcyclist turned off his bike, popped off his helmet revealing a face Gianna didn’t recognize, and asked one of the other men in the room, “Everything go okay? When I got the doctor out of there, things were getting pretty dicey.”Gianna looked immediately to him. “You know who I am?” Gianna shook her head. “What’s going on?”One of the men, looki
Helping Mr. Gang Leader .Epilogue: Time to start living .If six months ago, when Gianna had been worried that her father would pull funding for the clinic, and that they’d have to close their doors to an ailing public who needed them, anyone had told Gianna that not only would her clinic be surviving, but also thriving and expanding, she would have laughed and then likely wept.But with the summer heat beating down outside, Angelo sending post cards regularly, Harry a fulltime practitioner at the clinic, and full community support, the clinic was now officially relocated to a building that was three times its original size.It was a surreal moment for Gianna, walking through the front doors of the new clinic that was set to open in less than two days, looking around at what her hard work and dedication had finally landed her.Infinite being flushed out of the area, regardless of how it had happened and the part Gianna felt she played in it, was the best thing that could have happe
Helping Mr. Gang Leader.Chapter 109: crying for the rest of my life .Maddox was in the apartment.Maddox was in a personal, private space that was supposed to be safe. And if he’d gotten past the men standing guard outside …Wiggling her toes a little against the water, Gianna asked quietly, “What are you doing here?.”She didn’t want to wake Dante. She couldn’t. If Dante came out here to where Maddox was with a gun, it would only put him in danger. Gianna couldn’t risk that. She wouldn’t.“It’s all gone,” Maddox eased out, moving forward fully into the light, gun raised to Gianna’s chest level. “It’s gone and it’s your fault.”“My fault?” Gianna questioned. She shook her head a little. “No. I …”“Clyde,” Maddox said morosely, more like a sad wail than anything else. “Clyde. He’s gone.”Gianna took that as confirmation that Clyde was likely dead.“I didn’t kill him,” Gianna said evenly.Maddox looked … worrisome. From where Gianna was standing she could see that Maddox’s eyes wer
Helping Mr. Gang Leader . Chapter 108: Maddox .“Gia!”Gianna was jarred away from her conversation with Rio as Giovanni nearly barreled into her side, exclaiming, “This party is awesome!”“You just like it because of the food,” Gianna accused, but she gave Giovanni a playful nudge to the shoulder. “Go ahead and eat as much as you want. I hear that the person who’s supposed to be looking after your eating habits hasn’t been doing a good job.”Giovanni made a surprised squeak, damaged eyebrows going high. Rio scoffed.With the speeches over the floor was quickly becoming a small dancing area, music playing softly. It was a sure sign that the night was starting to conclude.Giovanni dashed back to the food table and Gianna turned to Rio, asking, “Do you want to dance?” She would have loved if Dante had been able to come. Truthfully, Gianna was a bit desperate to finally be able to show off the person who held her heart. But Dante had been extra busy with Axel lately, and she was tryi
Helping Mr. Gang Leader . Chapter 107: Unrequited love: The most painful kind of love to be trapped in .There was something to be said for persevering through adversity.Because for the first time in a very long time, Gianna managed to have an amazing Christmas.Christmas time for Gianna was typically not a huge event. She knew a fairly large number of people who celebrated the holiday, both religiously and in the secular sense, but with Gianna’s reduced family size, there weren’t a lot of people to celebrate with. She might go to a party or two, and see Giovanni for a few hours, but that was it. Most years she bought Christmas presents for the people she knew—almost in a compulsive way, and received a few only from the people she tended to be closest with.When she’d been a child, it had been the house keepers and nannies buying both herself and Giovanni presents with a prescribed budget from their father. Gianna couldn’t remember the last time her father had handed her a pres
Helping Mr. Gang Leader . Chapter 106: Mariposa takes care of family .For the first time in a while, Gianna saw some kind of amusement in her father’s eyes. The kind of emotion that Gianna thought had been carefully cut out over the years.“I’ve lied a lot over the past week and a half,” Her father said, looking Gianna in the eyes. “I lied about where my information about Infinite came from. I lied about Mariposa’s association with what happened. I lied about Mariposa’s identities. I lied about you being there at all, other than coincidentally, and I falsified information to make certain people disappear from the records. Not only that, I’ve … provided certain incentives to other individuals to make sure no important names ever come up or can be tied to this.”“Oh, dad,” Gianna sighed out, tears in her eyes.“Considering I deployed the national guard,” his father continued, “to offer back up to one gang over another in a conflict that spilled out onto the streets and ended up inju
Helping Mr. Gang Leader . Chapter 105: a medical mystery .Gianna screamed. She screamed her throat raw until it was painful to even breathe, and then she kept screaming, eyes locked on Rio’s body.“Shut the fuck up!” Clyde demanded, stalking towards her, the gun still raised.No. Not Rio. There was no way Rio was dead. He couldn’t be.“I said shut the fuck up!”Gianna couldn’t. She couldn’t stop screaming. She wasn’t in control of her body anymore.Clyde fired off a second shot, inches from Gianna. The bullet imbedded into the ground and Gianna fell quiet maybe out of an inability to do anything else, more than the fear.“Christ! Finally.” Clyde let out a long breath.Gianna gasped out a sob, and then she was crying openly, reaching out trembling fingers for Rio.Blood was seeping out around Rio’s body at a slow crawl, but from the way he’d fallen Gianna couldn’t tell where the bullet had gone in. She couldn’t even properly address the injury. She couldn’t do anything but collapse
Helping Mr. Gang Leader . Chapter 104: infinite bastards .The moment she injected the morphine into herself, feeling the buzz of the drug kick in, chasing away the pain, she sighed in relief. It made her a little loopy, relaxing back against the bed in a useless kind of way, but she was so thankful to be free of the pain she’d felt constantly for a day, that it was worth it.And it was hard, so terribly hard, with how exhausted she was, and lonely and scared, but after that Gianna forced herself to sit up and keep going.In the other syringe she loaded a likely lethal dose of sedative. It was hard to tell though, even for a doctor, as Infinite employed various sized people. The dose she’d filled would kill someone like Donald, put someone like Clyde into a coma, and likely only knock out someone Hagrid’s size.She wasn’t looking to kill anyone, but if they sent Hagrid after her, Gianna couldn’t take the chance that a smaller dose would barely have any effect. Hagrid was strong, in
Helping Mr. Gang Leader . Chapter 103: Karma? .When they locked her back in her room that night after the phone call, instead of taking her downstairs, it was absolutely clear to Gianna that they planned to use her as bait. They were going to dangle her out in front of Mariposa in the coming days and reduce her to mere fodder.Gianna, who cared more about Giovanni and Dante, and the rest of Mariposa, than anyone else in the world, was not willing to let that stand.She wasn’t just going to roll over and let things happen. Infinite had the advantage now, but Gianna was creative. She was creative, and above all else, she was desperate.So that night, using a pair of grooming sheers she found in the bathroom, she tore up the sheets on her bed. They were thick and of an extremely high quality, the kind of thread count that Gianna had grown up sleeping on. The best money could buy. But most importantly, it meant the material didn’t have much give. And she could wrap her ribs tightly an
Helping Mr. Gang Leader . Chapter 102: Gia is Mariposa now . “For Gia, right?” Giovanni asked, staring hard at Dante. “We’re going in for Gia, right?”And not for Maddox. The second half of the question was left off, but implied all the same.Rio said hotly, “If I come across that bastard, I’m going to take a shot.”“You’re not alone,” Ezekiel interjected.“Of course,” Dante said, voice going rough. “If any of us has the chance to end this by cutting the head off the snake, take the shot. But this is about getting Gia out. Leave Axel and his men to gun for Maddox. If we get Gia out, then we can hit Maddox later, on our own terms, and without him dangling someone we love over our heads.”Jovani leaned back, unease on his face, and said, “There’s one thing I’m really worried about.” He looked to Sal. “The cops.”“They could be a problem,” Sal agreed.“They will be a problem,” Jovani corrected. “They’re not just in Infinite’s pocket. They’re owned by Infinite. There isn’t a cop on th