Chapter 52
My whole body aches. It’s no surprise what damage a bullet can do, but I’m still whimpering in agony as I come to. The bright lights of my hospital room break through the haze, temporarily blinding me. A groan slips free as I try to move, pain shooting through my chest and down my arm. “ Fuck!”
“Shit, Sera?”
It takes all my energy to roll my head to the side in the direction that the panicked voice came from, and when I lock eyes with bright blue ones, I swear my lungs seize up. I try to reach out, but pain ripples through me, causing me to cry out again.
“Stay still,” Luca pleads, his hand holding mine. “You need to keep still.”
“Gabriella,” I try to say, but my voice is scratchy, like I’ve swallowed stones.
“She’s fine. Giovanni is fine.”
“Enzo?” I allow the worry to vibrate up my throat, ignoring the pain it brings.
“Alive,” Luca replies, and I don’t miss the bitterness he delivers with that one word. It only confuses me, because this wasn’t Enzo”s fault, yet it feels like Luca’s placing the blame on him. This was my decision. I chose to walk into that building, I chose to pull that trigger. I just hope that what I did worked, otherwise all of this would be for nothing.
“Did… I…” I huff a shallow breath. “Did I kill him?”
Luca smiles, reaching up to brush my hair away from my face. It’s a gentle caress that I didn’t know I needed. His touch is always like that; always surprising me. “You killed him, Dolcezza. You fucked shit up like I knew you would. My little angel of death.”
I bark a laugh at that nickname, but quickly groan when the pain in my shoulder pulls harshly. “Remind me to never get shot again.”
“I promise.”
My brows knit together softly. “Who are you and what have you done with Luca Fontana?” I jest. “He doesn’t make promises.”
His answering chuckle is filled with sincerity. He continues stroking my forehead, seemingly lost in the motion. It’s nice, soothing. For a second, I let my eyes close and relish in the warmth of his fingers as they caress my skin. I hum in response, because it feels so good, so relaxing. I almost drift off under his touch until his voice whispers, “Hey…”
Cracking one eye open, I frown when I see the concern etched across his features. It takes me a moment to actually take note through my sleepy state, but when I do, my breath is stolen by how broken and lost he looks.
“What’s wrong?”
His brows are furrowed, his lips bright red from where he’s no doubt been worrying them between his teeth. As much as I want to, I can’t reach out to him. As much as I need to, I don’t know what I can say to him. I already know what’s running through his mind, what’s got that beautiful face so stricken with grief.
“I thought I lost you,” he whispers, adoration and fear dripping in his tone. He kisses my knuckles reverently and I can’t help but smile.
“I would never leave you,” I croak with conviction despite my dry throat. “I love you too much.”
Luca’s eyes widen, his lips kicking up into a soft smile that makes my heart skip a beat. “Is that the drugs talking?” he teases.
“No,” I glare. At least I don’t think so. To be honest, I have no idea what drugs I’m on, but they have to be strong ones because the moment the silence fills the space between us and my eyes close, I drift off into a peaceful sleep.
It takes a few days for me to fully regain consciousness to the point I don’t feel like I want to sleep every five minutes. The drugs the doctors had been pumping into me kept knocking me out, but now that they’re sure I’m showing signs of healing, they’ve put me on milder painkillers.
I wake up to the soft snores of Luca beside me. He’s the only person I’ve actually seen since I was admitted, and while I love that he’s refused to leave my side, I can’t hide the disappointment I feel that Levi and Enzo aren’t here, too.
Luca has moved to the other side of my bed, where I can move my arm. My right arm is pretty much dead weight, which I’m remotely unsurprised about. From the conversations I’ve had with the doctors, I’m ‘lucky to be alive’. I’d nicked a part of my right lung, severing the muscle between my AC joint and shoulder blade. I couldn’t help but smirk as the doctors explained how if I hadn’t got here when I did, I’d be dead. I’m guessing nobody told them I shot myself, or that I knew what I was doing, that I knew exactly where to point to ensure it would go straight through and hit my grandfather. They certainly aren’t aware of how protective my men are or how their quick reactions are the reason I’m still alive.
Sure, it sounds a little sadistic to say I shot myself, but it was no suicide attempt. I wasn’t setting out to be a hero in any form. I could never make the decision my grandfather wanted me to make. And yeah, there were probably a hundred other ways that night could have gone down, but I’d choose to take that bullet over anyone else, any day. I don’t regret my decision, because I eliminated the enemy. I took out the instigator of my assassination attempts, the one who called on other families to do his dirty work. Giovanni has his daughter back and the team is in one piece. That’s all that matters, and I couldn’t be happier at those results.
Still, there’s an odd sense of loss gnawing away at me from the inside. I can’t pretend that I’m not hurt by Francesco’s actions. If he was telling the truth, then I need to confront my father, again. I need to know the truth, the full truth that isn’t some half-cooked story. I need to know what happened all those years ago, because my gut is telling me that this wasn’t just a case of my mother having an affair.
I run my left hand through Luca’s sandy hair where sleep has mussed his hairstyle. He’s facing away from me, but I’m almost certain he looks as peaceful as I feel watching his back rise and fall. My fingers play with the soft strands, and for a moment, I close my eyes and relish the way they thread between my fingers. When a soft sigh releases from Luca’s lips, I pull away.
“Sorry,” I rasp, gazing into his sleepy blue eyes. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”
He smiles back, the tight lines etched in his face softening as he releases a yawn. “You can wake me any time, Dolcezza.” He reassures me by threading his fingers with mine and kissing each knuckle. Then, without asking, he hands me a cup of water from the side table, holding it in front of me so I can take a sip from the straw.
Wordlessly, I accept. While I’m more than capable, I welcome the kindness and take a couple of heavy gulps, soothing my parched throat. Damn, that feels so good. I never thought I’d enjoy a cup of room temperature water before now, but the scraping sensation in my throat encourages me to take a greedy gulp.
“Have you even left this place?” I joke, taking in his disheveled attire—the same suit he was wearing days ago.
He bats me off with a shake of his head, quirking a brow at me. “Have you?”
I guess that answers my question.“You don’t have to stay here, Luca. I’m not going anywhere.” Because I’m certain that’s what’s plaguing his mind. Luca has always been a little difficult to read, but past experiences tell me he’s got a lot on his mind, and recent events have only reminded him of what he lost.
“I know,” he smiles, standing up to kiss my dry, cracked lips. “And neither am I.”
Damnit.How does this guy go from a brooding, grumpy nightmare to one of the sweetest guys I know? I don’t think my heart can take all the sweet words and caring smiles much more. And that’s just from Luca—I still have Levi and Enzo hanging around somewhere, probably waiting to see me. Knowing Luca, I bet he told them to get fucked so he could keep me to himself a little longer.
As for Giovanni, he’s probably long gone with Gabriella like he promised. I can’t say I fault the man, but a goodbye would have been nice.
Speaking of the guys.I frown as I remember our conversation from a few days ago. “Where’s Levi and Enzo?”
“They’ve been busy helping Rocco,” he sighs, rubbing his brow.
“With what?”
Before he can answer me, a soft knock sounds at my door. The guys managed to get me in a private room away from the foot traffic. It’s more of a precaution at this point, because even though Francesco is dead, there might still be a target on my back. I’m not stupid enough to think his death will put an end to all of this, but without an incentive, I don’t know what else someone could gain from taking me out. It’s not like the movies where one family takes another out and instantly inherits their title. There are rules to our organization; standards set by the Elders.
Shit. The Elders.
The door to my room creaks open and I’m instantly met with two pairs of stunning green eyes. While one belongs to the man who threw my heart through the wringer, the other belongs to the most gorgeous little girl I’ve seen. Her dark curls frame her round face, her hair a lot cleaner than the last time I saw her. She’s smiling, too, not at all shy like when we first met.
As Giovanni and Gabriella step into the room, I can’t help but grin widely. Relief washes over me that these two are okay, that they haven’t left already. I knew they were okay from what Luca told me in my intermittent periods of consciousness, but seeing them in the flesh does something to my heart.
“I hope you don’t mind,” Giovanni smiles, gesturing to his daughter carrying a bouquet of brightly arranged flowers.
“Not at all,” I rasp, accepting the flowers with another smile that tugs at my chapped lips.
Gabriella hops up on the end of the bed, beaming at me with a toothy grin that makes my heart melt. How she’s so happy after what she went through, I’ll never understand. Her strength is something to be envious of—not even I can look like she does after being held captive for months. Judging by the way she sits comfortably, though, I’m relieved to see that the Verdis took some care of her, even if their intentions were malicious.
“Gabby wanted to come say thank you,” Giovanni explains, taking the seat opposite Luca.
“You don’t need to thank me,” I respond softly. “You know that.”
“Yeah, I know.” Giovanni’s expression drops to his lap.
I’ve seen that look before, and it tears me up. His features crinkle up the same way they did when our vehicle was run off the road all those months ago. He blames himself, and I hate that he feels responsible. None of this was his fault. The only person to blame in all of this is dead. Fuck knows where his body is, but the fact that he’s no longer calling the shots means that all of the terror and looking over our shoulders can finally end. Giovanni can go home with his daughter and live the life he always wanted. He doesn’t need to worry about protecting me, his focus can solely be on Gabriella.
“Papa wants to tell you something,” Gabriella sings-songs like a nursery rhyme, distracting us both. My only response is to chuckle and raise a brow at Giovanni, who suddenly looks a little sheepish.
Luca takes that as his cue to leave, offering to give us a minute. I’m fully in awe of this man before me, even more shocked when he offers to take Gabriella to the vending machine so Giovanni and I can talk in private.
She doesn’t hesitate to take his hand, boldly accepting it like Luca is family. I smile at that because in my head, there’s nothing more I want. We’ve all lost so much that we deserve a little happiness, and though I won’t try to convince Giovanni to stay, I’m still hoping he’ll change his mind.
With the look he gives me when the door closes behind Luca and Gabriella, I have to take a deep breath to control my emotions. This is it. This is him saying goodbye, leaving us so he can provide his daughter with the life they both deserve.
Before I know it, tears are stinging my eyes. I have to bite back a sob as Giovanni rounds the bed to take my good hand in his. Whatever he wants to say, he seems to be battling with the words.
“It’s okay,” I choke. I sound so damn weak, but I don’t care. He has to know that I don’t want him to go. I never told him I loved him back, and I hate myself for that, but even without the words, he must know that deep down I want him to stay. “I know you have to go.”
“Principessa...” He frowns, and I instantly feel put on the spot. His grasp on my hand keeps me grounded, but it doesn’t stop the tears from free falling.
I lift my gaze to his, captivated by the piercing green irises. “When do you leave?”
His smile slowly curls up on his lips. “I wanted to talk to you about that.”
Brows furrowing, I brush away my tears and try to sit up in an attempt to give Giovanni all of my attention. I fail miserably, but then he’s there with the bed remote in his hand, tilting it to a seated position.
Placing the remote on the bed, he takes my hand again, fingers stroking the band aid that covers the tube providing me with fluids. He sighs deeply, eyes following the tube until he finally reaches my inquisitive and worried gaze. “Is the offer still on the table?”
It takes a second for the words to register with me—probably due to the drugs I’m being weaned off of—but when they finally do sink in, my eyes widen. “You’re staying?”
Giovanni nods, his deep chuckle confirming as much. “If the offer is still available, yes. I’ve already looked at schools for Gabby and a place for us to stay…” he trails off, surveying me anxiously.
But there’s no way he can ignore the smile stretching my lips, or the way I squeeze his hand in response. Excitement pumps so fast through my veins that I have to catch my breath. I pull Giovanni toward me, hoping he’ll get the hint and close the distance to give me what I so desperately need right now. I don’t even care that I haven’t brushed my teeth, and neither does he, because he barely hesitates a split second before he”s kissing me deeply, carefully. Like he’s committing it to memory.
Every press of his soft lips against mine, every stroke of his tongue is seared in my own mind, reminding me of what the future could hold for us.
He kisses me until we’re breathing the same air, gasping for a deeper connection. He’s not desperate with the way he kisses me, but he’s firm in telling me exactly what he wants with the way his lips move against mine. Eventually, he pulls away, breathless. His eyes seem darker, full of lust, and I can’t ignore the pulse that throbs between my legs. He’s just kissed me so deeply that he damn near stole my soul.
“So… is that a yes?” he whispers against my lips.
I smile, because there’s no way in hell I’d say no. There’s not a chance I’m willing to give him up. Right from the moment we met, there was a connection, and if I was to let that go, I don’t know what that would say about me. I use my good hand to tug him closer to my mouth again. “Give me one more kiss and I’ll think about it.”
“Yes, ma’am.”