Chapter Sixty-Two Ella
Chapter Sixty-Two
Ella
Istare at my love’s face. He’s so pale, as if his skin hasn’t seen the sun in months.
Despite the lack of color, his expression is peaceful. It’s not something people get to see on him often.
I’m the only one with that privilege, because he wears this same look after he’s climaxed, when we’re tangled together with my head on his chest, my limbs draped over him while his arms hold me close.
The rhythm of his heartbeat is what usually soothes me in those moments. I wish I could rest my head on his chest now and reassure myself that his heart is still beating for us.
But with all the tubes and Tiero’s injuries, that’s not an option.
So I do the next best thing and find the pulse point on his wrist. The gentle thud beneath my fingertips is the assurance I need, perfectly in time with the steady beeping of the heart monitor.
The door opens and Lex sticks his head in.
“Antonio is here. He’s got Mateo on the phone. He’d like to speak to you.”
Mateo?
Crap. I’ve completely forgotten about him. He’d be in the dark about how his brother is doing.
I reluctantly get up and step out of the room, closing the door quietly behind me. Antonio hands me his phone while he lowers himself into a chair in the narrow space just outside Tiero’s room.
“Mateo,” I say, my voice hoarse, like I haven’t spoken in days.
“Ella, how is he?” The weight of his worry comes through immediately.
“I’m sorry I didn’t call,” I say. “Everything happened so fast. It slipped my mind.”
“It’s okay. Antonio kept me updated as best as he could. I know Tiero made it through surgery and is in intensive care.”
I want to tell him Tiero nearly didn’t make it, that we almost lost him twice. But what good would that do? It would only feed Mateo’s fear, and those two are close in a way that runs bone-deep.
The guilt settles anyway. I should have called him. I should have thought of him sooner.
Sticking to the facts, I give him the doctor’s update. Clean. Clinical. Anything more would only make him feel more helpless than he already is.
“If anything changes, I’ll call you straight away,” I tell him. “Tiero is strong. He’ll pull through this.”
The words feel thin. I’m saying them for my own sake as much as his.
“He will,” Mateo says.
Is he holding himself together the same way I am?
“He’s got you and the baby to live for.”
He goes quiet for a moment, and I hear muffled voices in the background.
“Ella, I’ll try to get there as soon as I can,” he says a second later. “I just need to sort a few things here first. Until I get there, be careful. Never go anywhere alone. It’s not safe.”
I want to ask if he’s figured out who’s trying to kill us. If he’s any closer to stopping it. But Antonio is only a few feet away, listening to every word. That conversation will have to wait.
“How are you holding up, Ella?” Mateo asks.
I let out a slow breath. “Hanging in there,” I say, my voice already starting to crack.
Don’t ask me that. Don’t ask me how I’m doing.
It only makes everything feel closer to breaking.
“Do you know what happened to Tiero’s necklace?” he asks, catching me off guard.
“His necklace?”
“The piece of the broken clay coin. Have the nurses given it to you? They would have removed his jewelry.”
“They didn’t give me anything,” I say, glancing up just as Antonio approaches.
“I was handed Don De Marco’s belongings,” he says smoothly.
Why him and not me? He must have intercepted them.
“I’ll return them to the boss when he’s better.”
“Did you catch that?” I ask Mateo, my gaze still fixed on Antonio.
“I did,” Mateo growls. He doesn’t sound happy about it either. “Thanks, Ella.”
“I’ll talk to you soon,” I whisper. “And Mateo… please be careful. It would destroy Tiero if anything happened to you.”
“I will,” he promises.
I end the call and hand the phone back to Antonio with a curt nod. He doesn’t move far, keeping watch through the window into Tiero’s room, close enough that I feel the weight of his presence even when his eyes aren’t on me.
I pull my friends into a long, one-armed hug, drawing strength from their unwavering support, before returning to Tiero.
Standing beside the bed, I watch his chest rise and fall. Each breath feels like a small mercy. I brush his hair back from his forehead, the strands soft beneath my fingertips. Only the other night I was clawing at it while he went down on me.
The memory tightens my throat until it hurts. It might as well belong to a different lifetime.
I sink back into the chair and lift Tiero’s hand into mine, threading our fingers together and pressing a kiss to each one.
“Come back to me, my love. Please.”
Talking to Mateo has reminded me of what matters most.
Tiero is my family now.
Leaving his side is not an option, consequences be damned.
I know what Lex wants me to do, but I can’t just leave, not while Tiero’s enemies are closing in.
Will that put me in danger? Yes. But if I have to die, then so be it.
At least I’d die by his side.
God, that’s depressing. I force the thought away before it can take root.
Tiero is alive. There’s hope.
“Claudette says everything will work out in the end,” I murmur to him, my voice low. “She also said it wouldn’t be a walk in the park.”
This certainly isn’t.
“So we’ll get through it,” I tell him. “Even if she’s only right eighty percent of the time. We won’t fall into the other twenty.”
My eyelids grow heavy. Exhaustion is settling in. The events of the day have drained me of all energy.
Still clutching Tiero’s hand, I rest my forehead against the edge of the mattress beside him, careful not to bump my injured arm.
Beep… beep… beep.
The steady rhythm of the heart monitor fills the room. I find his pulse again and let its familiar beat lull me to sleep.
Until…