Saverio did not waste her. He put her in his car with blood still drying on her apron.
The boathouse smelled of salt, oil, and fresh blood.
Luca lay on a steel table with his shirt cut open.
Saverio: He took a bullet meant for me.
Saverio: The doctor I called is not coming.
Saverio: So you will cut it out.
Renata looked at the wound. The bullet had gone in under his collarbone and did not come out.
Blood ran slow and dark down his chest.
Renata: I need light. Boiling water. Whiskey. And something for him to bite.
Saverio did not move. His men stood along the wall and watched her like she was the next mess to clean.
Saverio: Listen to me, you Sartori bitch. Everyone in this room hears me.
Saverio: If my brother dies on this table, I will cut your fucking hands off. Then I will put you in the water with him.
She believed him down to her bones. Her body went cold, but her hands stayed steady.
She had been threatened by men who smiled. Saverio did not smile.
Renata: Then get out of my light.
Saverio: What?
Renata: You want him alive. Move.
He moved.
Renata poured whiskey over the knife and then over the wound.
Luca screamed through the leather strap in his teeth.
She pushed two fingers into the hole and felt for the bullet.
Blood welled hot over her knuckles.
The bullet was deep and slick and would not come.
She had to widen the wound with the knife.
Luca: Fuck. Fuck, it burns.
Renata: Stay still.
Luca: You're digging in me like a butcher.
Saverio's hand closed on her shoulder.
His fingers dug in hard enough to leave marks through her apron.
He said nothing, but she felt the threat in every finger.
She found the bullet and pulled.
It came out with a wet click and a piece of red tissue.
Blood followed bright and fast.
Renata: Pressure. Now.
Saverio: He's bleeding.
Renata: That's what happens when you pull a bullet out of a man. Press here. Hard.
For a long minute nobody breathed.
Then Luca's chest rose, slow and even.
Renata stepped back with blood to her elbows.
Saverio: You saved him.
Renata: I did my job.
Renata: Now we talk about yours.
Saverio: Name your price.
Renata: My terms. Not a price.
Saverio: There's a difference?
Renata: One. You don't touch me unless I say. Your men don't touch me at all.
Renata: Two. I keep my secrets. You don't ask what I know or how I know it.
Renata: Three. I get paid. Four. When I say I'm done, I'm done.
Saverio: That's a lot of rules for a woman with no way out.
Renata: Five. You tell me the truth about what you need. No pretty lies.
Renata: I just had my hands inside your brother. I am the only way you have.
Saverio smiled, and it was not kind.
He stepped close until she felt the heat of him through her bloody apron.
His thumb touched the corner of her mouth, light as a question.
Saverio: Do you always make terms with dangerous men?
Renata: Only when they need me more than I need them.
Saverio: Then we have a deal.
He did not kiss her. He waited.
She felt the want in her chest, sharp and unwanted.
Behind them, Luca coughed and swore. Neither of them looked away.