35. Valerio
THIRTY-FIVE
VALERIO
Valerio groaned. His entire body ached, and the slightest bit of movement sent a stab of pain throughout his body from his back. The lights were dimmed, and the constant beeping from the different machines was beginning to annoy him.
He was in the hospital. And he wasn’t dead.
There were voices coming from outside the room—a mix of feminine and masculine. Valerio tried to listen in, but the voices were far too muffled. He attempted to sit up, but the pain was unbearable once again. He found the IV connected to his arm, tracing his fingers up to find it was connected to an IV bag with morphine mixed inside of it. He turned the clamp, increasing the flow of the fluid to medicate him quicker.
The door opened, letting in only a sliver of the bright white hospital light before it was closed quickly once again. Valerio’s eyes snapped up, connecting with a familiar pair of green eyes he had come to fall in love with.
Her eyes widened and she stood in shock.
“Hi baby,” he said, his voice hardly more than a whisper. His heart swelled with happiness at the prospect of being reunited with her once again.
Luna walked closer to him, as if she was unsure if it was real or not. “You’re awake?” she asked. Her hand hovered over his arm, scared to touch him. Valerio reached for it, feeling the same sparks when his hand touched hers.
“I’m awake,” he said.
The sob that escaped her was unexpected. Luna grabbed his face, feeling the warmth of his skin under cold hands. She pressed messy kisses around his face.
“I thought I lost you,” she whispered, leaning her forehead against his.
“You will never lose me,” he promised her.
Maybe that was the only promise Luna needed to hear at the moment because she wasted no time in pressing their lips together.
He wiped the tears from under her eyes before pulling her onto the bed beside him. She refused, trying to get back up. “You’re hurt,” she told him. “I don’t want to make it worse.”
“Hush,” he muttered, making space for her to lay down. He held back the groan of pain that threatened to escape. “I need this and so do you.”
That seemed to muffle any of the fight from her as she finally settled in beside him. She brushed a piece of his wavy hair away, running her other hand against the stubble that had begun growing on his face.
“You don’t know how happy I feel right now,” she told him. “There was a time when I thought I wouldn’t have this moment.”
“Don’t say that. I told you I was strong, remember?” he asked, trying to lighten the mood.
She nodded with a small smile. “I do remember.”
He grabbed her hand, pressing a kiss to the back of it. “How long was I out for?”
“Six days. They operated on you for almost nineteen hours. They assumed the comatose state was because of the trauma your body had gone through, but they weren’t sure when you’d wake up.” She sniffled, squeezing his hand. “But you did wake up.”
He tried to move his head for a kiss but wasn’t able to without his back killing him. “Give me a kiss,” Valerio said. “I need to show you that I’m never leaving you.”
She shook her head with a small laugh but still kissed him. “You have a lot of kisses to make up for, but I’ll excuse it for now.”
“I’ll spend the rest of my life making up for it,” he said. “What happened with everything? What’s been going on?”
Someone had tried to kill her, and kill him. As much as he wanted to lay in bed to recover, he couldn’t. There were lives that needed to be taken care of and he needed to get on it. The sooner he could find out he missed and begin working on everything, the sooner he could fucking annihilate everyone involved.
“Don’t think about any of that for now,” Luna told him. “Your body needs rest. And besides, I’ve been taking care of everything.”
His brows shot up his forehead. “What does that mean?”
She sighed, sitting up. “It means that not a single person knows you’ve been in the hospital. Not even your father.”
“Why would it matter if he knew or not?” Valerio asked. “What do you know, my little moon?”
Luna stood, walking to the end of the bed. “Can you feel your feet, wiggle your toes?”
Valerio did just that. They felt sore, but he felt every little movement. “Yes, why?”
She ignored him, grabbing her phone out of her pocket and typing something out before she put it back in her pocket. “I swear I will answer all of your questions once we get you home.”
The door opened again, and this time it was Dante and Allister pushing their way into the room. Luna took her spot beside him once again, grabbing his hand.
“Good to see you again, brother,” Dante muttered, pulling him in a small hug. Allister did the same, and it was clear there was balance brought back to the group with all of them reunited once again.
But it was also clear that they were keeping something from Valerio, and it was driving him insane to be kept out of the loop. He wasn’t ever kept out of the loop. Usually, he was the one who was doing the planning and scheming of everything.
“Everything is ready for us to go,” Allister told Luna. “I have the discharge paperwork, and all of the hospital staff have signed NDAs. A nurse will come in here to get him unwrapped and the doctor is waiting at home.”
Luna nodded. She opened her mouth to say something, but a nurse coming in with gauze and other equipment had her shutting up. Valerio took it as his cue to also not ask any questions until they were alone. He picked up on the stiffness in the room. Something had definitely changed, and he wasn’t just talking about the dynamic in the three people he trusted more than anything in the world.
The nurse moved quickly, taking out the IV and making sure the wound on his back was properly wrapped. Sitting up caused another sharp stab of pain to travel throughout his back, forcing out a groan.
Luna squeezed his hand tightly and it gave him comfort. Being around her always did.
The nurse left without a word, not looking at anyone as she left. Probably smart not to remember any of their faces.
“Do I get any answers now?” Valerio asked, throwing the blanket off himself. Luna helped him sit up, pulling his legs so they hung over the edge of the bed.
“It’s just safer if we get you home first,” Dante told him. “You were shot, remember?”
“Of course I remember, dumbass, but you guys aren’t telling me something,” he said. He slid the hospital gown off his shoulders, lifting his arms so that Luna could help him slide a T-shirt on.
When he let out a particularly painful groan, she stopped completely. “Maybe we should just leave him at the hospital to heal? We’ll secure it and have guards standing at every entrance.”
“We can’t. He’s already been here far longer than he should have been,” Allister said, rolling a wheelchair over by the bed.
Luna’s face was drawn into a look of worry and frustration. Valerio grabbed her hands, placing tender kisses on the backs of them. “Do you think it’s dangerous for me to stay here?” he asked.
She slowly nodded her head. “I know it is.”
“Then let’s get me home and you can be my personal nurse in the comfort of our bedroom,” he said, giving her a small smile. “I can push through a little bit of pain.”
That seemed to give her the confidence she needed. It also raised every single alarm in his body. How much did Luna know that now she was able to weigh in on these types of matters?
With Allister’s and Dante’s help, they were able to get him standing. Luna helped slide the sweatpants up his legs.
Walking to the wheelchair was hell. His legs were like lead, heavy and unwilling to move after being stuck in bed for the past week. Sitting back down was even worse, putting more pressure on his back than was necessary. His body heated up from the pain.
“We have pain meds at home,” Luna said quickly. “As soon as we’re there we’ll get another IV started.”
“I’ll be okay,” he groaned, taking deep breaths. He had a higher pain tolerance than most, which meant he could handle being beat and bruised with no problem. But this was worse than anything he had experienced before.
The worry on her face was enough for him to pretend that he wasn’t in pain. He hated seeing her so concerned and distraught. He could only imagine the hell she had been in the past week, so if he could ease her mind now, he would do so.
After checking the room to make sure nothing else was left behind, they forced him into a pair of sunglasses and a hat that managed to cover his face enough.
“Now no one will know who I am,” he said sarcastically. “Great distraction.”
“It’s just a precaution. This wing of the hospital should be empty by now, so we’ll be able to get into the utility elevators without being seen,” Allister told him. “Camera feed has been cut as well, and all documents have been seized. Your stay here no longer exists.”
Luna pushed him out of the room, moving quickly so they weren’t seen. Luckily, they were right. The floor seemed deserted as well as the elevator.
But once they got to the ground floor, everyone seemed to be on high alert all over again. They traveled through the hospital staff-only halls, following Allister out to one of the back entrances.
To his surprise, Finn was out back waiting for them with a cigarette hanging from his lips.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” Valerio asked, his eyes narrowed in confusion. He was out for six days. What happened in that time that Finn was suddenly his personal chauffeur?
“Glad to see that you’re alive and well,” Finn said, his voice full of sarcasm. He threw the cigarette on the ground, opening the car door for them. “Get in.”
Luna and Dante helped him up, trying to get him into the car with the least amount of damage they could manage. Only once he was situated were they driving home. Valerio barked out curse words whenever Finn hit every single pothole that existed.
“They should really invest in fixing these roads.” Finn smirked.
Luna slapped his shoulder. “Knock it off.”
Valerio didn’t want to admit it, but it was satisfying to see her sticking up for him.
When they pulled up to the house, he was shocked to see how much of it was a ghost town. The usual guards were gone; no one stood by the gates to let them in. What the hell happened?
Allister opened the fence for them through his phone.
They drove up the paved pathway, parking in front of the entrance to the house. Instead of any of his usual house staff greeting him like they usually would, Augustus came out with a machine gun strapped to his back, looking like someone who was going to war.
“What the hell are you wearing?” Allister asked.
“Just staying protected,” he answered, a cocky smile on his face. “I got my girl in there; I’m not risking shit.”
When they managed to get Valerio out of the car and into the house, they came across another hurdle.
“How did we not remember there were fucking stairs in this house?” Dante asked, throwing his arms up.
“I can set up a spot on the couch for you?” Luna asked Valerio.
“No, I want our bed,” he told them. “Just help me up. I’ll manage.”
“That’s a lot of steps.”
“I can carry you up,” Dante suggested.
“I can fucking kill you,” he rebutted.
She and Dante helped him out of the wheelchair, supporting both sides of him while they slowly walked up the stairs. With every step, he could feel his back stretching and pulling uncomfortably. The medicine had to be completely out of his system because it did nothing to ease the pain. Instead, everything felt intensified. From his toes to his head, he felt like his body was on fire. By the time they reached the top, Valerio thought he was going to pass out from the dangerously intense pressure in his back.
Allister brought the wheelchair up with him, letting Valerio throw himself onto it. He gasped for air, desperately trying to soothe the pain away but there was no use. The only thing that brought some relief was seeing the doctor waiting in their bedroom.
“Give me a fucking IV,” he growled, forcing the doctor into action. That seemed to have done it because soon the needle was going through his vein, sending the morphine into his body and soothing the pain immediately.
He finally laid on the bed, breathing in deeply. They talked about some pills for him to take for additional pain relief and to help avoid infection, but he didn’t listen to any of it. He could care less. He wanted everyone out of his room and Luna in the bed right beside him.
Luna kicked everyone out, finally giving him the peace he craved. “Thank you,” he said, opening his eyes. The bed dipped beside him when Luna curled up at his side.
“Anything you need, just let me know,” she told him, pressing a kiss to his jaw.
“I want to know what you’re all keeping secret from me,” Valerio said, but his voice was far too groggy. “What happened while I was out?”
She took a deep breath, running her fingers through his hair. It only lulled him further into peace, forcing his eyes closed once more. Her entire presence always did that. The softness in her voice, her gentle touch, her smell, just her. It made him feel like going to sleep again was okay.
“While you were out, we decided on a couple of things. We’re tired of the violence, of the uncertainty and the control our parents hold in our lives,” Luna said. “I don’t know if you’ll agree with this or not, but we’re taking down my father and yours.”
And then Valerio fell asleep.