Chapter 26
BANE
“Ara. My Ara, wake up,” a sweet feminine voice says. Is that a British accent?
I blink my eyes open and see a woman leaning over me—dark hair, brown eyes, a face so similar to my own. It’s like I’m looking at myself.
“Mom?” I croak.
A hand reaches down and touches me softly.
“Yes.”
My eyes grow wet, tears streaming down my cheeks as she wipes them away.
“Don’t cry. I’m just so happy I got to see you once more. You’ve grown up.”
I nod and reach out, touching her cold hand.
“I forgot about you. I forgot. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. I didn’t forget about you, my beautiful son.”
Those words make me let out a sob, and I hold onto her tighter.
“Where am I?”
“In the space between,” she says. “But don’t worry, you’re not staying. You’re going to wake up. Someone needs you.”
“Who?”
She lets out a small laugh and then leans down and presses a kiss to my wet cheek.
“Someone who loves you.”
I want to ask more questions, to stay with her a little longer, but she’s already starting to fade.
“Wait. I don’t want to go.”
“You have to. They need you.”
Her fingertips cling to mine, holding on, and I find myself weeping even harder. I want to talk to her longer, to see her. To hear her voice.
“I love you, Ara. I’m so proud of the man you’ve become.”
And then she’s gone.
I cover my face with my hands and weep into them. The woman from my dreams visited me, and now she’s gone once more.
Only this time, I won’t forget. I won’t.
“Bane,” a different voice says—deep, Russian. “Bane. Wake up. Please, umnyashka.”
A warm hand gently touches my cheek, just under my eyes, and I find myself slowly following it, back to the living, to the light.
“Bane. Ara.”
My eyelids flutter, and I see Georgiy standing over me, his gaze intent on mine.
“Bane,” he whispers, his voice cracking. “Bane.”
His lips gingerly hit my forehead as he holds my hand tightly.
“You’re awake.”
“I met her,” I manage to say, my voice hoarse and dry.
He lets go of me and brings a cup of water with a straw to my mouth, and I take a long sip.
“Who?”
“My mom.”
I know he doesn’t believe me, but he just nods all the same, hope in his gaze.
“She was beautiful. She told me to go home. That someone needs me.”
“That was me. I need you,” Georgiy says softly and then kisses my forehead again, his lips lingering against my skin. “I need to tell the others. They’ve all been so anxious for you to wake up.”
“How long have I been out?”
“Two weeks. I was…” he clears his throat. “…I was concerned you might never wake up. The trauma to your body, the blood loss…”
As he says that, I feel it—the pain in my back, my legs, my chest.
“Don’t move. You need to save your strength. Everyone wants to say hello.”
“Wait,” I say, reaching out with a wince. “Wait. Just…can we just sit for a minute, you and I?”
Georgiy hesitates and then settles into the seat next to my bed. It’s then that I really take him in. He’s disheveled, a new beard on his face, his eyes tired and red-rimmed. He’s never looked more beautiful.
My mom was right. He does need me. And I him.
My mind flickers, and I remember Georgiy bent over my dad, ripping his chest apart with his bare hands.
He’s never been more impressive. If I weren’t already obsessed, I would be now.
“What do you need?” he asks, taking in my silent, contemplative state.
“I was just thinking how you murdered my dad.”
He blinks at me, no emotion on his face. “He deserved it.”
“He did.”
He waits a minute and then sighs. “I have something to tell you…it’s about your mother…”
“I already know. He told me.”
Georgiy scrubs a hand down his face and shakes his head. “I had no idea who she was or that she was even connected to you. I swear it.”
“I know.”
He turns away and swallows, the click loud in the room. It takes him a minute to compose himself, and then he turns to face me.
“I promise never to hurt you again. I vow on my life.”
“You already saved me. You saved me.”
“I would do it again.”
My eyes move to his shoulder, remembering the sound of the bullet hitting his flesh, the scream that left my mouth.
“It’s fine,” he says, trailing my line of sight to his shoulder. “It’s like it barely happened.”
“It did happen, though. You took a bullet for me.”
“And I’d do it again to get to him. To save you.”
I feel my eyes start to water, and when the tears fall onto my cheeks, he reaches out, wiping them away.
“No tears, Ara Bane.”
“I’m just sad this has all happened because of me. You were hurt because of me. All those years ago, it was my fault.”
“No, not because of you. Because of a man who couldn’t be happy with what he had.”
Just as he says that, the door opens and Angel peeks his head in, gasping when he sees my eyes open. A shriek leaves his mouth, and he rushes over to me. And then minutes later, the room is filled with people.
My family. The ones I chose.
Then I see Anthony move through the crowd, everyone falling silent.
He stops at the edge of my bed and stares down at me.
“Glad you’re awake, Bane,” he says lowly.
“I’m so sorry” is the first thing I say. “This is all my fault.”
But he stops me with a gentle hand on my arm. “No. None of it is your fault.”
“He wanted your ports, your business, and his way in was me. I was his son…”
“No, he’s not your father, and you’re not his son. You’re mine. Ours…” He gestures to the room of people, and I see Agatha and Tatum with tears in their eyes, Teddy, who is bobbing his head, and finally Luca and Viktor, who are staring at me intently.
“We are your family. Not them.”
I bite my bottom lip to keep myself from crying, but it doesn’t help. The tears flow freely.
“Are you sure? Even after everything that happened?”
He hands me a jar, three tongues inside. “These are theirs. I made sure to keep them for you. And yes, even after everything, I won’t give you up, none of us will. I’ve already discussed this with Georgiy.”
I turn to look at him, and he just nods his head. Once.
“Yes. We have discussed this. You are a lucky man, umnyashka. To have so many who love you.”
That makes me sob so loudly that Angel crawls into bed with me and carefully curls himself into my side.
“We’re keeping you,” he whispers into my ear, and that’s all I need to know.