Chapter Fifty-Four
Matteo
A month later
A t first, there’s just a vast blackness and nothing else.
It’s neither deep, nor shallow. Wide, or narrow.
Light, or dark.
It’s simply empty. A sensory deprivation chamber in my mind, of sorts.
Then, slowly, the faintest of sounds start to bleed through. The soft whir of machines, the scuffling of shoes on linoleum, the steady beeping of a computerized heartbeat.
Muffled, unrecognizable voices.
Life .
I’m in a hospital room.
The blackness encroaches. It gains weight and pulls me under before I can open my eyes.
The next time I’m mentally reawakened, there aren’t any voices and there are no sounds of footsteps. The machine continues to beep, but other than that, there’s eerie silence.
My mind feels like it’s trapped in a prison made of my body. There’s a disconnect between the two that means true consciousness is just out of reach. I’m a voice in my head, but I don’t yet have control or function of my limbs.
The sticky fingers of the blackness grasp at me, trying to take me under once more.
A moment of clarity flashes through my thoughts, and I remember.
The fire.
Being trapped.
Valentina.
Valentina .
My ears search for what I need to hear. They yearn to make out the lilt of her voice, the clear bell of her laugh.
It isn’t there.
Internally, I shake from exertion trying to resist the pull of that nothingness. I can’t go back to it, I need to find Valentina.
I need to make sure she’s okay.
Finally, I feel myself break through. I feel my body turn on.
A tingle starts in my toes, drawing my awareness to that part of my body first. It spreads quickly from my extremities to my core, and I do a quick scan to see how I’m feeling. I realize that I’m laying on my stomach and my back is tender.
The skin prickles like it needs to be itched.
My limbs feel stiff and wooden. Creaky from lack of use. How many days have I been unconscious?
Opening my eyes takes multiple attempts. My lids are heavy. It feels like I have to lift physical weights to get them up.
It takes a gargantuan effort to open my eyes but I slam them almost immediately back shut when the first person I see is none other than Thiago da Silva.
I must be in the middle of a nightmare.
Sporting his usual all-black suit, he sits comfortably in one of the two chairs next to my bed, legs spread like he owns the place, reading something on his phone.
He wouldn’t be here if there wasn’t something very wrong. Something very wrong with her .
“Where is she?”
The words come out in a painful croak, my throat dryer than a desert.
Thiago looks up from his phone, his face expressionless. “Finally. Took your sweet time waking up, didn’t you, Bella Durmiente ?”
I shift on the bed, then hiss sharply. The skin pulls at my back when I move, revealing the area is far more injured than I realized. I can’t remember how badly I was hurt the night of the fire.
“Where is she?” I repeat.
Thiago stands and walks up to me, his expression grim.
“Valentina saved your life.” My heart clenches in my chest. The machine beeps louder, once. One staccato beat that reflects my reaction of dread to his stony face. “She inhaled a lot of smoke. More than anyone could take and stay conscious, and yet she carried you to safety.” Even though he stops, I can tell he’s not finished. “She lost consciousness the second she saw you were safe. She coded.”
There’s a loud ringing in my ears.
It’s not a figment of my imagination—it’s really happening. The machines start blaring. The beeping surges, carried upwards by a crazed tempo. A cacophony of alarms announcing the panic in my heart wraps around us.
I push up onto my arms, uncaring of the now obvious pain screaming in my back, and rip out my IV. I’m on my feet instantly, roaring,
“Where the fuck is she, Thiago?”
The blood rushes to my head and I immediately keel over. The machines catch my fall. I grab onto them and try to order my legs to hold up the weight of my body. Unfortunately, they don’t want to seem to listen.
“Fucking Italians.” Thiago shakes his head in distaste. “First you take a month-long nap and now you think you can just go prancing about the place.”
His words flick a switch that reboots my body. I release the machines and turn slowly, my mobility regained.
“A month? I’ve been in a coma for a fucking month ?” My heart drops to the ground like a lead weight and shatters. I take a stumbling step towards him, uncaring that I’m a hobbling, weakened, vulnerable and, therefore easy, target. “Where is Valentina, Thiago?”
The machines continue thundering their alarms.
He places a long finger in each ear then glares at me with a black look. It’s strangely reminiscent of the waiting room from my not too distant coma.
“Can you calm your fucking heart rate down first? I can’t hear myself fucking think with all that screeching.”
“Calm it down yourself.” The organ nearly thrashes out of my chest. “Tell me your sister is alive.”
“Alive?” Thiago’s fingers drop from his ears as if to make sure he understood me correctly. “Of course she’s fucking alive.” He scowls. “Do you really think you would still be if she wasn’t?”
A tremulous sigh escapes from my lips. The machines die down instantly. There’s no slow decrescendo. One second they’re blasting, the next the beats are steady and even.
Thiago glances at them, then back at me. “Jesus, that’s pathetic.”
Guilty .
“Speaking of pathetic, you’re the one waiting anxiously by my bedside table for me to wake up, stronzo .” I smirk at the way the smile wipes off his face, but only for a minute. “Tell me where s—”
“Matteo!” A voice calls from the door.
I turn and only have time to see hair flying before Valentina’s body collides with mine. She jumps up and lands into my arms, drawing a happy, throaty groan from deep in my chest before she clasps my face and kisses me.
“Valentina,” I mumble against her mouth between kisses. “Len—” My next words are swallowed up by her lips. I crush her against me. Holding her feels so good. “Are you alright, cara ?”
“Yes.” Kiss . “ Yes .” Kiss. “YES.” Wet kiss .
I open my eyes and find her cheeks awash with tears.
“You’re awake,” she murmurs, burying her face in my neck and sobbing openly. “I wasn’t sure if you’d ever…”
My forearm tightens on her lower back.
I run a reassuring hand through her hair before dropping my palm down to wrap around the back of her neck.
“You saved my life. I wouldn’t be here without you.”
She shakes in my arms. “You came for me.”
“Always.”
I stiffen when I look up and notice Valentina didn’t walk in alone. A tall, blonde woman wearing a flowy pink dress and sandals watches us with tears in her eyes. I can’t place her, I don’t think we’ve ever met, and yet—
A warning growl shakes the air. Thiago aims a furious glare at me, his gaze dark enough to drill a hole straight through the middle of my face.
“It’s going to be hard for you to catalog the color of Valentina’s dresses without your eyes, Leone,” he says in a threatening whisper. “Look away.”
He keeps his gaze pinned murderously on me as he walks over to the woman in pink and curls a hand snuggly around her waist.
She swats his chest affectionately, ordering gently, “Be nice.”
Thiago turns at the sound of her voice, magnetized. His features melt into an infatuated smile, one that sends a shiver down my spine.
It’s not that it’s not a nice smile, it is, I guess. It’s just that it’s … unnatural on its wearer.
Like watching a fish suddenly attempt to climb a tree.
Weird.
This must be the wife he’s so obsessed with.
I share the affliction and understand it.
And yes, I can’t resist. Catching his gaze, I flick a pointed look between him and his wife and mouth, “Pathetic.”
If Thiago thinks he’ll make me bend the knee, I’ll go blow for blow with him. On everything, including this. I don’t care how petty it is.
The man looks back at me like he’s going to swing.
“I’m Tess,” the blonde says with a bright smile.
Thiago grumbles. “He doesn’t need to know your name.”
“Yes he does, baby,” she insists, looking fondly back at me. “He’s going to be my brother-in-law.” Tess wraps her arms around his bicep and smiles sweetly up at him to distract him. “Why don’t we leave them to it? They have a lot to catch up on.”
I focus back down on my fiancée. Her face is tilted up at me as she rests it on my shoulder. Her eyes are closed and she looks seconds away from dozing off. Up close, I can see dark smudges under her eyes. She hasn’t been sleeping well.
“I’m not leaving my sister with him when he just woke from a coma. We don’t know if he’s dangerous.”
Ignoring the bantering couple, I cup her cheek and hold her. Simply hold her, something I apparently went without for a whole month. The coma was nothingness and that’s exactly what life without her is like.
“The man with third degree burns on twenty percent of his body currently holding your sister’s entire body weight in his arms is not a danger to her, Thiago.” When he looks ready to argue, she pulls out a bag from her purse and shows it to him. His mouth snaps shut as his eyes grow heavy. “I bought your favorite candies from the gift shop. I thought you could put them to good use.”
He purrs. “You’re playing dirty, amor .”
“Not as dirty as I hope you’ll play in about five minutes.”
“Alright, get the fuck out,” I snap, keeping my tone even.
“That’s no way to speak to your future brother-in-law,” Thiago drawls, giving his blessing in a roundabout way. Not that I was ever looking for it. When my gaze shifts to his, he pierces me with a searching look. “You gave it all up for her. Why?”
“I love her.”
Thiago huffs and wraps an arm around his wife’s shoulders. “Make sure I never doubt that statement in the future, not unless you want that coma of yours to become permanent.”
My eyes are still glued to Valentina’s face so I don’t watch them go, but I hear them stop at the door of my room.
“You and I as family?” Thiago’s smile stretches evilly. “Should be fun.” He says it like he’s going to make it anything but for me.
Game on.
I glance down when hands push insistently at my chest.
“You shouldn’t be standing up,” Valentina scolds, ordering, “Get in the bed and lay back down.”
“No,” I answer, arms tightening around her middle. “Apparently, I haven’t held you in a month. I’ve got some making up to do.”
Valentina’s lip trembles and she looks away.
“What is it, cara ?” I question softly.
“The doctors weren’t sure if you’d ever wake up. They told me I needed to be ready for you to…” She blinks and a tear cascades down her cheek. “That I needed to be ready for you to die .” A choked sob escapes her lips and she shoves me back. “I told you. I told you I didn’t want you to die for me.”
I grab her hands, noticing that they’re still covered in a thin layer of gauze, and pin them to my chest.
“If I had to relive that night a thousand times, I'd make the same choice every single time. My life hasn’t been my own since the night I met you. I’m not interested in a world without you in it, Leni.”
“I think you underestimate how much I love you, Matteo. You thought I would leave you there, you thought that I would choose a world without you in it.”
I shake my head. “I hoped, cara . I hoped you would save yourself, but deep down I knew you’d make the reckless, impulsive decision.” My lips find hers. “I just couldn’t face it.”
A sharp, jabbing pain shoots up my spine. I flinch and groan loudly.
“You’re hurt—”
“ You’re hurt,” I growl, turning her palms over and kissing them gently. “You burned your hands.”
“I had to get the beam off you. It was killing you, Matteo.”
A deeply possessive rumble sounds in my chest as I pull her closer. “I think the reason I suffered as a boy was so I could earn and deserve your love as a man.”
Two fresh tears fall down her face as her eyes soften. I sweep them away with my thumbs. “You have third degree burns on your entire back, Matteo.”
I kiss her again. “I don’t care.”
“The skin is completely scarred—”
Another kiss. “Don’t care.”
“Matteo,” she says, lifting a hand to stop me. “The ‘R’... it’s gone. These burns have scarred over it.”
A pressure I wasn’t aware of lifts off my chest. I didn’t realize until just now how much the scar weighed on me mentally. For the first time in a decade, I breathe unencumbered air.
Valentina looks up at me hesitantly.
“That’s good, cara ,” I reassure her. “These are scars I wanted, scars I’ll wear proudly because they announce just how far I’m willing to go for you.”
She falls into my arms once more and we hold each other, cling to the other’s body like we fear being separated.
“What—” A voice erupts from the doorframe. “What the hell are you doing?”
I look above Valentina’s head to find a doctor storming towards me.
“Are you insane?” She scowls. “You’re not even supposed to be conscious, let alone standing. Get back into that bed before you seriously injure yourself.” Before I can say anything, she turns towards Valentina and squeezes her forearm excitedly. Her entire demeanor changes when she whispers to her, “He’s finally awake. Oh, Valentina, I’m so happy for you.”
I lift a quizzical brow at the woman in question as Valentina guides me back to my bed.
“Matteo, this is Doctor Cassie Cavanaugh. She helped save your life when you first got here, and has been looking after you ever since. My sister-in-law Tess was also attacked the night of the fire and spent a couple of weeks in the hospital, so Cassie has been busy with our family.” Valentina smiles over her shoulder at her. “She’s become a friend.”
“I’ve watched your fiancée agonize by your bedside for weeks on end,” she announces. “If you don’t want to put her through that again, I suggest you lay back down and rest .”
Cassie played a trump card and she knows it. I grumble as I lay back down, only mellowing out when Valentina sits and holds my hand.
“ Cugino .”
Enzo appears by my head. There’s an expression of relief on his features that twists my gut as he places a hand on my arm. “Took you fucking long enough.”
I groan. “Not you too. I’ve already had enough of that from her brother.”
He snorts. “Maybe there is hope for this truce after all.” His eyes rake over my covered back and drain of humor. “I’m glad you’re okay, cugino .”
We’re not big on displays of affection so we both clear our throats awkwardly.
“Did you find Guido?”
Enzo’s jaw tightens as his eyes meet mine. “He’s dead.”
“You didn’t wait for me?”
He shakes his head slowly, drawing a frown from me. “I’m not the one who killed him.”
“Alright, visiting hours are over,” Cassie announces before I can reply. “You can come back tomorrow.”
Valentina whips around. “But—”
“Not you.” Cassie squeezes her hand. “Of course you can stay.” She turns towards Enzo. “But you need to leave. You can talk about all your murderous plans when he’s better.”
Enzo glares down at her. “Do you know who I am?” he asks, even as she shoos him backwards towards the door.
Cassie sighs impatiently. “I know exactly who you are,” I hear her answer as the door starts to close behind them. “But if you’re having trouble remembering, I can get you a wheelchair and roll you over to our neurological department.”
And then Valentina and I are alone.
She climbs onto the bed and lays on her side facing me. Her hand comes up and her fingers play through my hair. The touch is familiar, sending echoes of memories through my nerves. She did this when I was in a coma.
She did it every day.
“I love you, Phantom,” she breathes.
I don’t need to understand the machinations of fate to know she and I were meant to be. We’ve faced it all together—kidnappings, betrayals, exterior forces trying to keep us apart. Death.
Against insurmountable odds, we’ve come out of the other side stronger together.
Only two things remain.
Finding Adriana.
I blow out a slow, happy exhale as my hand finds Valentina’s waist.
“I love you, Leni. My heart is at home with you, in every mundane moment as in the extraordinary ones. Every single one of them, with you.”
And living .
Together.
The End