CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
LUCA
After giving our statements to the FBI, we were allowed to leave Fabian’s cordoned property, but instead of going home, Eden insisted we follow Enzo to St. Anthony’s where he was receiving emergency surgery.
Admittedly, I didn’t fight her too much.
It’s funny… I’ve been intent on revenge against my dad for decades, ever since he abandoned me at Blackchapel Manor after my mother died. But experiencing the threat of his actual death has shifted my perspective.
When I saw Enzo go down from Fabian’s bullet, a slew of emotions bulldozed the walls I’d built. Cracked the ice-cold barrier I kept between us. Allowing good childhood memories I’d long forgotten to emerge.
As hungry as I am to bring down The Syndicate, I don’t want to kill Enzo anymore.
He’s a cog in the giant machine, and maybe it makes me weak, but I can’t have his death on my conscience.
I’m not sure I want to repair our relationship to what it could have been pre-Conrad and his murder lessons; I’m not sure that’s even possible.
But I’m open to something… more . A compromise on what I’ve always planned.
Eden will probably rejoice at the news, especially since she’s the one who planted the seed of reconciliation in the first place.
I pace empty hallways with Eden, who shadows my footsteps, too wired to rest in the waiting room with everyone else. My brain buzzes with how our date night turned into this dragged-out nightmare.
“I don’t think you need any caffeine. You’ve got too much energy as it is,” Eden says as she blocks me from putting a dollar in the crappy coffee vending machine.
Sighing, I nod and put the bill back into my wallet. “You’re probably right.”
She covers a yawn as we continue our trek around the sterile halls, the metallic smell of medical machines and cleaning products burning my nose. Every once in a while, a nurse will appear, but for the most part, we’re left alone.
“I may not be tired, but you are,” I say, noting the purplish shadows under her eyes. “Why don’t you let Mathias and Allie take you home? Who knows how long I’ll be here?”
“I’m not leaving you, Luca.”
“Butterfly…”
“No, don’t Butterfly me.” She draws me into a darkened room with an empty bed and dormant machines. “I’m not leaving you. I… I had an epiphany tonight at Fabian’s.” Her head ducks down as a blush colors her round cheeks.
“An epiphany?” Shit, is she about to tell me she wants a divorce? That it’s too dangerous being with me? I already knew that was true. After all, that’s why I held off on claiming Eden for so long, but now that I’ve had her, I can’t let her go.
I won’t.
Even if that’s what she wants.
I’ll give my sweet wife anything… except her freedom .
She taps the toe of her shoe against the tile then peeks up at me. Nerves bounce in the air, zapping me with the possibility of her rejection.
Tonight was a lot. I had her get on her fucking knees to suck my cock in front of strangers and my half-brother. On film. Which reminds me, I need to get a hold of that camera and erase the footage.
“I love you,” Eden blurts out, and I freeze at the unexpected declaration. “Oh my gosh, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean for it to spill out like that. I—”
I steal a quick kiss from her rambling lips. Pleasure seeps into my bones. “You love me?”
“Um…” Confusion knits her brows as I claim another sip of her lips. “Yeah, I do. I know this isn’t the most romantic place to tell you, but I need you to know I’m not going anywhere. You’re stuck with—W-What are you doing?”
My foot knocks the door closed, so we’re cloaked in privacy. “Kissing my wife. Who loves me.” My hands sneak under her dress to squeeze her juicy ass as I grind my erection into the sweet heat between her thighs.
A bit of tension release sounds perfect right about now.
Especially when my woman just admitted to loving me.
“Luca… We can’t have sex here. This is a hospital. Your father is in critical condition.”
“That’s not going to change whether we’re haunting the halls or waiting in that room with everyone else or fucking right here, right now.
” I unbutton my slacks for the second time tonight and free my hard cock, notching it at the entrance of Eden’s pussy.
“We survived my crazy brother, an FBI raid, and you just told me you loved me. I’m not letting another moment pass without feeling you wrapped around me. ”
“I don’t know,” she wavers, her fingers digging into my shoulders as I circle her clit, preparing her for my swift entry.
“I love you, Eden. I’ve loved you for months. From afar when I watched you. From the end of that bed at Blackchapel Manor while you recovered from being beaten. You’re my resilient little Butterfly, and nothing is going to change how I feel.”
I seal the promise with a flex of my hips, sinking deep into her wet cunt. Eden gasps but doesn’t push me away. Her body wants this, too, even if her mind is trying to catch up.
I’ve barely gotten started when a tear drips down the side of her cheek to dampen mine, and I immediately stop. “Fuck, did I hurt you?”
“No, these are happy tears. Because you love me, too.” She shudders in my arms and wraps her legs around my waist as I pin her to the wall.
Emergency exit posters have never looked so sexy as they do with my wife braced against them.
“You see me. All my life I’ve been in the background.
I’ve never been important to The Family , never been noticed. Until you . Why can you see me, Luca?”
“Because you’re mine,” I growl.
Eden whimpers, and the sound is enough consent to re-energize me. Our bodies push and pull with each labored breath. Love twining in the air to tie us closer together.
I spread hot kisses over her face and neck, down to the deep cleavage created by her heavy breasts. Eden scratches at my scalp, my shoulders, wherever she can reach as she covers me with the most beautiful three words in the English language.
I love you. I love you. I love you.
Together, we find release.
Together, we find peace.
Slowly, we come down from our high with soft sighs and nuzzling kisses, content to remain in this cozy bubble for a little while longer.
Except there’s a loud bang on the door.
“Hey, lovebirds! The surgeon is waiting to give you an update. Wrap it up and get out here.” Jonah must have been the lucky one elected to corral us back to reality.
“Fucking asshole,” I mutter with no heat.
Giggling, Eden slides down my body and shuffles to the sink and counter to clean up the mess between her thighs. I’m about to stop her—the thought of my seed dripping down her legs, my scent covering her curvy little body intoxicating—but she spears me with a knowing stare, and I stay silent.
There will be plenty of times in the future when I can live out that particular fantasy.
We leave the room hand in hand minutes later to hear what the doctor has to say about my dad, and a pit forms in my stomach, despite the previous satisfaction I claimed from Eden’s giving body.
“Your father has a long recovery ahead of him, but we’re confident about his prognosis.
Barring any complications, he should make a full recovery.
If you’d like, you can sit with him.” The doctor flips the cover over his tablet and the hospital’s digital file for Enzo, which basically states how he’s lucky to still be alive since Fabian’s bullet nicked a lung.
“Thank you,” I say, glancing down the hall to the post-op room they wheeled Enzo to. The doctor retreats to the nurses’ station and hands over the tablet for charging. I share the good news with everyone in the waiting room then grab Eden’s hand.
It's dim with beeping machine lights and what spills over from the overhead hallway fluorescents as Eden and I step into Enzo’s private room.
His upper body rests at a reclined angle in the hospital bed, tubing and wires a complicated web leading from his supine body to the various medical devices monitoring his health.
Oxygen fills his injured lungs from the nasal cannula.
The wrinkles around his eyes and mouth are more pronounced, and for the first time, it hits me how fragile my father truly is.
He’s always seemed larger than life with his commanding presence and air of authority, but looking at him now—a weathered man in his sixties—the signs of age are more obvious. The evidence of his mortality more alarming.
“Are you alright?” Eden whispers, compassion shining from her eyes. She tugs her hand free from mine to pat my chest.
Clearing my throat, I clench my jaw and nod. “Sorry. I didn’t expect seeing him like this to affect me so much.”
She rubs the spot over my pounding heart. “No need to apologize. He’s your dad, despite the painful history between you two. It’s natural for emotions to rise. You are human, after all,” she lightly teases with a gentle pinch to my pec.
“Still… I didn’t—”
“Luca? Is that you, son?” Enzo’s graveled croak interrupts us, and I stride to his bedside, shocked to see him awake.
“Fighting the anesthesia? You should still be resting, Papà.” It’s been forever since I’ve called him by the more intimate paternal moniker, but somehow, it feels right.
“I heard your voice and had to know what happened.” He struggles to sit more upright. Immediately, my arm braces against his back to help him while Eden rushes to fill a cup with water. Enzo accepts it with a trembling hand, and I keep a watchful eye on each slow sip from a straw.
“The FBI raided the place. Fabian is alive and in custody,” I say. “You’re lucky to be alive and out of surgery. The feds are focused on Fabian’s operation, so The Family is safe for now. I contacted your underboss, Vinny, about shoring up security.”
“Good, good.” Enzo’s eyes close for a moment before opening to pierce me with a proud stare. It’s unsettling to notice how similar our coloring is. I’ve avoided our similarities for so long, wanting nothing of his, yet here’s the proof that I’m his son.
“I always knew you’d make an excellent successor. Your no-good brother recognized it, too. I should have dealt with Fabian’s reckless ways years ago, but I let misplaced fatherly love blind me to the level of hatred he harbored for the both of us.”
“It doesn’t matter now.” I pat his shoulder, the frail bones beneath his hospital gown causing a wave of protectiveness to crash forward. What the hell? I may not want Enzo dead anymore, but it’s difficult experiencing a complete one-eighty in my heart and mind.
This fucking night.
It’s turned my entire world upside down.
“Excuse me.” A nurse briskly enters the room to check his vitals. Her light blue scrubs swish matter-of-factly with every efficient step as Eden and I give her room to work. “Your father needs to rest now. You can visit again later.”
Murmuring our goodbyes, we return to the hall and walk to the waiting room.
My brothers and Allie sit in the uncomfortable plastic chairs, sharing matching curious expressions once they spot us.
They’re here to support me however I need, even if that means Enzo won’t face the wrath of the Blackchapel Bastards.
I haven’t mentioned it outright yet, but the fact that I’m in the hospital checking on Enzo’s health is sign enough that the plans have changed.
“How is he? How are you doing?” Allie asks, the fondness in her eyes magnified by her glasses. She and Mathias stood to greet us the moment we entered the room.
Glancing around at my support system, a small smile of gratitude tugs at my mouth. “Enzo is tired but okay, and I’m good. I’ve got my family and the love of my life.”
“And the entirety of the Boston mafia on your shoulders, I’m guessing,” Mathias interjects as he gives me a hug. The rest of the guys follow.
“We might need to promote someone else to COO of Blackchapel Incorporated with my new responsibilities,” I joke.
Months ago, when Eden asked, I told her we’d disband my father’s legacy, yet now I’m choosing to run the organization in his place until he recovers.
Already barking orders to his underboss.
And after that? Who knows?
Maybe I will become the next D’Amora don.
I already have a queen fit to rule.
***
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