05

Alora's POV

Bianca hurried toward Gianni with an earnest look on her face, not hiding her excitement.

“Gianni, how are you doing?” she asked, her voice overly sweet.

“What brings you here, Bianca?” Gianni looked tired and unimpressed. Oh, he doesn't like her. Good boy. The girl seems rude and bitchy.

I felt a slight pang of pity for her as she tried to win his attention.

“Oh, I heard what happened! I came here as fast as I could. Let me assure you, I'll be by your side to nurse you back to health.”

Gianni gave her a horrified look, raising his brows. “Nurse me back to health? You? That’s funny.”

Ouch!

Bianca held her head high, indifferent to the subtle insult she just received.

“Yes! I mean, I attended medical school. I wouldn’t mind living here to take care of you and all the other injured bosses within the Mafia family.”

Both Gianni and I exchanged incredulous looks. “You have got to be kidding me,” he said, laughter bubbling in his throat.

“Why not? I can help,” Bianca challenged, her arms crossed.

“Help? You mean to say that wearing high heels and standing around constitutes helping, does it?” Gianni mocked, throwing a smile in my direction.

I couldn’t contain my laughter as I whispered to Gianni, “Honestly, I think she’s just doing that to get your attention, Gianni.”

Bianca shot me a glare before turning back to Gianni. “I can be more useful than just looking good, you know.”

“Back that up,” Gianni replied, his smile widening. “Tell me how you would take care of us.”

“Uh, I can heal cuts, give you shots, and… um, I prepare really good chicken soup,” she said, her shameless courage evident on her face.

“Chicken soup? Wow. I must say, that sounds incredible,” Gianni answered with exaggerated sarcasm, rolling his eyes.

“Why not? I can help! I’m ready for this!” Bianca insisted, standing upright.

Wow. The girl doesn't give up.

“Help? Okay then, Bianca, if you want to help, can I get some water? I am thirsty,” Gianni inquired, a mocking smile plastered on his face.

Bianca huffed but complied, leaving to fetch the water.

As soon as she was gone, Gianni turned to me. “I need to get some fresh air. I want to go to the garden.”

Before I could respond, Dante entered the room. “Gianni, you’re awake,” he said, approaching the bedside.

Gianni looked at Dante, a mischievous glint in his eyes. “Yes, Brother Dante, I'm heading out to the garden. Alora will come with me, and I think you should join us too.”

Uh, when did I agree to that? And why should Dante come? His beautiful face will keep me distracted.

My heart skipped a beat. Gianni knew what he was doing—he always knew. I kept my eyes down, silently begging Dante to refuse. 'Please say no, please say no.'

The thought of being near Dante made my heart beat faster than I was comfortable with, and I wasn't ready to face that.

Dante frowned, looking between Gianni and me. “Gianni, you need to rest. Let Alora take care of you. Besides, walking to the garden in your condition—”

Gianni cut him off, using his condition to his advantage. “Oh, come on, Dante. You don’t want to abandon your injured little brother, do you? Plus, you can help me walk,” he added, making sure to look as pitiful as possible.

Dante sighed in resignation. “Fine, let’s get you outside then.”

I closed my eyes briefly, my heart sinking. Gianni, you little rascal. I'll get you back for this, I thought, glaring at him, though he didn’t seem to notice.

We helped Gianni up, and the three of us made our way out to the garden. Gianni leaned on both of us, though I was pretty sure he was exaggerating his weakness just a bit to get his way.

Once we reached the garden, Gianni perked up almost immediately, his eyes twinkling.

“Dante, Alora, you both need a bit of cheering up. I have a good joke—Why didn’t the skeleton go to the dance? Because he had nobody to go with!” he said with glee, as if he hadn't just cracked a silly dad joke.

“Are you serious, Gianni? That was so bad!” I countered, shaking my head even as I laughed.

Dante, who had been watching and was clearly unimpressed, added, “You really think that’s humor? I can’t even classify it as a joke.”

Just as Dante finished his sentence, Bianca appeared at the end of the garden, holding a glass of water, a frown on her face as she stared at us.

Suddenly, Bianca shrieked, and the glass slipped from her hands, spilling the water on the ground.

“Oh no, my water!” Gianni exclaimed dramatically.

She hurried over to us, her heels clanking against the floor. Without hesitation, she hugged Dante and planted her lips on his.

My mouth fell open in shock. I had no idea they were that close—it seemed they were more than just relatives, as I had guessed.

“Can they even contain themselves for a second?” Gianni whispered to me. “And they’re doing this in front of a child too?” he added, smirking.

I rolled my eyes. “Perhaps they think we aren’t paying attention.”

Suddenly, Bianca turned and eyed me up and down, a frown quickly replacing her smile. “Dante, who is this Alora of a girl?”

Her rude tone made me glare at her, but before I could say anything, Gianni spoke up. “She’s someone you’ll never be,” he said flatly.

That's my boy.

Bianca pouted, turning back to Dante. “Dante, Gianni’s being rude.”

Dante sighed, glancing at Gianni. “Gianni, apologize. Stop it.”

Gianni shrugged, his expression innocent. “I did nothing wrong, did I?”

Dante just closed his eyes in frustration. Gianni then turned to me. “Alora, did I say something wrong?”

I smirked, shaking my head. “Nope, you didn’t. You didn’t say anything wrong.” I love this kid.

Bianca huffed in annoyance. “Bianca, Alora is the nurse who will be taking care of Gianni and the other men.”

Bianca’s eyes widened in disbelief before she sneered. “Well, I have a medical certificate, so I’d like to be the one to take care of them—not a little baby like Alora.”

I rolled my eyes, holding back a retort. Gianni, however, seemed ready to continue the bickering, but Dante cut him off with a stern look.

Bianca faced us, her eyes shining. “You want a baby nurse to help my Gianni! But you know that he’s injured, and I’m the doctor, right?” she said, her words barely making sense in her excitement.

Nurses are important too.

Dante sighed, giving no reply to her dumb question.

"Well then, I’ll be moving into the mansion to care for Gianni and all the other injured Mafia men,” she declared with confidence.

"What!" Dante, Gianni, and I questioned in unison.

Bianca rolled her eyes, then glared at Gianni and me. She turned back to face Dante with a pout on her lips. "Dante, please babe think about it. I could be the mafia doctor at the mansion and then Alora would be assisting me as a nurse. What do you think?"

Hell no!

The silence was torturing as we all looked at Dante. Gianni squeezed my hand, and I squeezed his, our eyes locked onto his brother, awaiting his answer to Bianca's request.