63. Luca
63
LUCA
“Luca!” my mother exclaimed, rushing over to embrace me through the miles of tubing and monitors.
I could have told the nurses I was fine, except for a few broken bones. My head was hard, and I’d had a lifetime of accidents and injuries to prove it.
“Mamma,” I murmured, letting her fuss over me, enjoying her unusual physical affection when she pushed my hair out of my face.
“Luca,” my father said, standing at my other side, stiff and uncomfortable. “Are you okay?”
I stared at him flatly, then cast around for the remote that would allow me to raise the back of the bed to a sitting position.
Oh fuck, that hurt. I gasped as pain flared in my ribs.
The nurse raised an eyebrow. “Do you want to hear your diagnosis with them in the room?”
“Give it to me,” I said, putting all my charm into my smile.
“A couple of broken ribs, two broken fingers, bruises to hell and back, and a concussion. No permanent damage, but you’ll need to take it easy for several weeks while you heal.”
“And Ana?”
The nurse shrugged. “I don’t have any information on her.”
“Can you get it?”
“Nope,” the nurse said, popping the P as she injected a drug into my IV.
“What’s that?”
“Painkiller.” She eyed my parents and leaned over to murmur in my ear. “You look like you’ll need it.”
My answering laugh hurt so fucking much, and I didn’t care. I grabbed her wrist as she stood back up. “Please, just let me know if she’s okay.”
The nurse eyed me for a long moment, then nodded and turned to my parents. “He’ll be ready to go home tomorrow.”
I wasn’t going anywhere. Not until I laid eyes on my girl.
“Come home, Luca,” my father said. “Where you belong.” His eyes, so fucking familiar, a mirror image of my own, were haunted. “I’ve already lost Ginevra and Sofia. I can’t lose you too.”
My mother took my hand. “Come back to us, come run your father’s empire by his side.”
“ Our empire,” my father corrected, looking at my mother with more softness than I’d ever seen before. “I could never have done it without you, mia cara .”
“No,” I refused. My father’s gaze snapped to mine, his anger only sharpening my resolve. “I don’t want the empire if Ana’s not part of it.”