“I leave you for a few weeks and you already need stitches?” Sebastian laughs as he waltzes through the door with Carter. The two of them with smirks on their faces as I jump up from the chair and greet him. I love Sebastian like a brother; our bond could never be broken. We hug one another with solid back slaps and laugh.

“Good to see you back in town. When did you get in?” I ask, knowing that he mustn’t have been in town long, since he was only in Sicily yesterday.

“An hour ago. Goldie is resting, and then I walked into Carter on my way to your place, and he filled me in on what happened,” Sebastian says, his eyebrows raised in question as he takes in my nasty gash.

Goldie has tamed him a little. He is still lethal, of that there is no doubt, but he is happier, almost joyful, and I know she has had a positive impact on him.

“Yeah, we got Federico tonight, but Dominic is still proving to be elusive,” I grit out, still not thrilled that we only got one brother. To be honest, I expected him to be more forthcoming, but he remained tight-lipped. Even when pushed, he still doesn't know how to kill a man, which is apparent from the slice in my shoulder just now. I took pleasure in using his own knife to slice it across his throat merely an hour ago. Unfortunately, most of his blood went directly onto my torso, kindly washed off by Little Red, and as I sit back down in the chair for our doctor to continue stitching me up, the thought of Little Red's hands on my body is enough for me to adjust myself.

Fuck, I need to get a grip.

Sebastian’s eyes narrow at my sudden change in demeanor, and Carter stifles a laugh, at which I scowl.

“What am I missing?” Sebastian asks, looking back and forth between Carter and me.

“Nothing,” I say at the same time as Carter.

“Fucking spill it,” Sebastian says, and I sigh, looking at him in the eye.

Sebastian’s eyes drill into mine, and a small smile appears on his lips.

“Ahh, the little redhead is still here, isn’t she?” Of course he hits the nail on the head. A sly grin turns to pure joy across his face at the fact that I am now the one with a woman on my mind. Something he battled with not long ago after meeting Goldie.

I look down at the doctor's hands as he takes the small needle and threads my skin together. Carter passes me a glass of whiskey, which I make quick work of to help dull the throbbing.

“So where is Dominic?” Sebastian asks as he types something into his cell phone, changing the topic and getting us all back on track.