Chapter 29 Giuliana
GIULIANA
The first day passes in a blur of medical checks and worried watching. Nurses come and go, checking vitals, adjusting medications, making notes on charts. Danny brings me food I can barely eat. Viktor stops by briefly, his pale eyes assessing Luca before nodding once and leaving.
Luca doesn’t wake up.
The second day is worse. Every hour that passes makes the fear grow. What if he doesn’t wake up? What if the trauma was too much? What if I’m going to spend the rest of my life talking to someone who can’t hear me?
I start reading to him.
It’s Danny’s idea, actually. He appears with a stack of books from god knows where—thrillers, mysteries, even a few romance novels that make me raise an eyebrow.
“Romance novels?” I ask him, holding a paperback up of a woman in the arms of a man, her head thrown back in ecstasy.
Danny shrugs, not looking the least bit embarrassed. “Let him hear your voice. It might help.”
So I read.
I start with a thriller about a detective hunting a serial killer. My voice is rough at first, hesitant, but as the story unfolds, I get into it. I do different voices for different characters, add dramatic pauses at tense moments.
Luca doesn’t wake up, but I swear his fingers twitch when I get to a particularly exciting part.
“You better be listening,” I tell him during a break. “Because I’m not going back and re-reading this whole chapter if you miss it.”
I read until my voice gives out or until the nurses insist I need rest. Then I lie in my bed, holding Luca’s hand and watching his chest rise and fall.
On the third day, I’m feeling bold. Restless. The gunshot wound is healing well. I’m off the heavy pain medications and moving around more easily. The baby is fine, according to the daily ultrasounds they insist on doing.
But Luca still hasn’t woken up.
So I pick up one of the romance novels Danny brought. It’s got a shirtless man on the cover and a title that makes me blush just reading it.
“Okay, Luca.” I settle into my chair beside his bed. “This one is definitely going to make you wake up. If only to complain about how terrible it is. And you better not judge me. Danny picked this out.”
I open to the first page and start reading.
The prose is, well, it’s not good. The hero is described in such over-the-top terms that I have to stop several times to laugh. The heroine is helpless and swooning. The plot is ridiculous—something about a billionaire werewolf and his fated mate.
“Oh god,” I say, barely able to get through a particularly purple passage about the hero’s “smoldering emerald eyes” and “chiseled marble abs.” “Luca, if you don’t wake up and save me from this book, I’m going to assume you actually like this kind of writing,” I dramatically whisper, leaning forward.
“I am concerned that Danny has read this though. If he has, he has terrible taste.”
I keep reading, getting more dramatic with each terrible line. I’m doing voices again—a deep, growly one for the werewolf billionaire, a breathy one for the heroine.
“‘His touch ignited flames of desire deep within her core,’” I read, barely suppressing a giggle. “‘She knew in that moment that she was his, body and soul, forever bound by the—’”
“What the hell are you even reading?” a rough, gravelly voice interrupts.
I drop the book.
Luca’s eyes are open. Just barely, just slits of dark brown, but they’re open and they’re looking at me and he’s awake.
“Luca!” His name comes out as a sob and I scramble upright, trying to get out of the chair.
I throw myself at him despite the pain in my chest and the tubes and wires. He grunts. My arms wrap around him as carefully as I can manage, and I’m crying, sobbing into his hospital gown.
“Ow,” he says, but there’s amusement in his voice. “Cara, you’re killing me.”
I gape at him. How could he even say something like that after everything that’s happened? “Don’t you ever—” I can barely get the words out through my tears. “Don’t you ever do that to me again. Three days, Luca. Three days you’ve been unconscious while I’ve been losing my mind—”
His good arm comes up, wrapping around me and holding me against his chest. I can hear his heartbeat, strong and steady, and it’s the most beautiful sound in the world.
“I’m okay,” he murmurs against my hair. “I’m okay, Gigi. I’m right here.”
“You died,” I sob, all the emotions I’ve bottled up over the last few days finally bubbling to the surface. “You died and then they brought you back and then you wouldn’t wake up and I thought—I thought—”
“Shh.” His hand strokes down my back, soothing. “I’m not going anywhere. I promise.”
I pull back just enough to look at his face. He’s pale, drawn, clearly in pain despite the medications. But his eyes are clear and focused on me with such intensity that it steals my breath.
“You’re really awake,” I whisper, touching his face like I need to confirm he’s real.
“Really awake.” His full lips quirk. “Though I’m questioning your taste in literature. A werewolf billionaire? Really?”
I laugh, the sound watery and slightly hysterical. “Danny brought them. I was trying to annoy you into consciousness.”
“Well, it worked.” His thumb brushes away my tears. “Though I have to say, your dramatic reading voice needs work.”
“My dramatic reading voice is excellent, thank you very much,” I insist. I’m still crying, but now I’m smiling too. “You’re just a snob.”
“I’m a snob with standards.” His expression softens. “Come here.”
He pulls me back down, and I curl against his side as carefully as I can, mindful of his injuries. We stay like that for a long moment, just breathing together, being alive together.
I want to tell him about the baby. The words are right there, pushing at my throat. But something stops me. Maybe the fear that it’s too much too soon, maybe the need to just savor this moment of having him back.
There will be time. We have time now.
We lie there in comfortable silence until a nurse comes in, gasps when she sees Luca awake, and immediately calls for the doctor. The room fills with medical personnel, dragging me away from him and poking and prodding and asking questions.
Luca tolerates it with surprising patience, answering their questions, following their instructions to squeeze hands and wiggle toes and track a light with his eyes.
“Everything looks good, Mr. Marchetti,” the doctor says, making notes. “You’re going to need several weeks of recovery, and physical therapy for that shoulder. But barring any complications, you should make a full recovery.”
After they leave, I return to my spot at Luca’s side. Danny appears in the doorway, and his face splits into a grin.
“Welcome back, boss. About time you rejoined the living,” comes his wry response.
“Couldn’t let you have all the fun,” Luca says, and his voice is getting stronger. “What’s the status?”
“Romano’s organization has collapsed. Most of his men have scattered—including Rico—or have been absorbed into other families. Viktor’s handling the territorial redistribution.” Danny’s expression turns serious. “And your father-in-law is asking to see you both.”
I feel Luca tense beside me. My father. God, I haven’t even thought about Dad since—
“H-he’s here?” I ask incredulously.
Danny nods. “He’s been here since we brought you in. No idea how he figured out you were here, but he’s waiting in one of the private rooms downstairs.” Danny looks at Luca. “He wants to face you. Says he’s ready to accept whatever punishment you decide.”
My heart is pounding. I don’t know if I’m ready to see my father at this point. What do I even say to the man whose choices led to all of this? I know I’ve defended him to Luca, but I can still be angry at him.
“Bring him up,” Luca says, and I look at him in surprise, my mouth falling open in an “o.” “Tomorrow,” he clarifies, “when I’m a bit steadier. But yes. It’s time we all had a conversation.”
The nurses try to move me into my room now that Luca is awake, but I kick up such a fuss that they let me continue to stay in Luca’s room. It’s more comfortable for me, I tell them. It’ll help with my healing and will help me sleep.
Except I can’t sleep. Every time I close my eyes, I see Luca covered in blood, dying on that warehouse floor. I see Romano’s gun pointed at him. I see the darkness taking him away from me.
“Gigi.” Luca’s voice is soft in the darkness. “Come here.”
How did he?
“I’ll hurt you,” I tell him, remembering how he winced every time he moved or bit back a curse.
He scoffs. “I don’t care. Come here.”
I climb out of my bed and carefully get into his, snuggling against his good side. He wraps his arm around me, holding me close and I can feel the tension leaving my body being so close to him.
“I can hear you thinking,” he murmurs, playing with my hair. “Your mind is so loud it’s keeping me awake.”
Normally, I would have made a snarky comment about that, but I’m too emotional right now. I sniffle.
“Gigi?” He sounds alarmed. “What’s wrong?”
“I almost lost you.” The words come out small and scared. “I almost lost you, and I don’t know how to stop being terrified that it’s going to happen again.”
“It’s not going to happen again.” His cool lips press to my forehead, leaving warmth in its wake. “Romano is dead. The threat is gone. We’re safe now.”
“But what about the next threat?” I ask, fresh tears spilling down my cheeks. I’m not stupid enough to think Romano was the only threat and we’ll now live happily ever after. “What about all the other people in your world who might—”