Chapter 37
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Siobhán
“T hanks, Paulie,” I said.
Marco’s tight-lipped driver gave me a terse nod. “I’ll be in the foyer if you or Signora DeVita need anything.”
I gave him a wan smile. “I’m sure that’s not necessary.”
“Signor DeVita’s orders are always necessary,” he said and clasped his hands in front of him.
I sighed and knocked on the door.
“Coming!” Anna’s muffled voice and frantic footsteps echoed through the thick mahogany. Moments later, locks clicked, and the door swung open. “Siobhan!” Anna said, breathless and flustered.
She ushered me into the austere penthouse and hurriedly shut the door. Sophie appeared as if on cue. Her purrs and headbutts to my calves made my throat burn and tears well, this time with relief. But I refused to let go. If I let go, I’d devolve into a complete mess, and I wasn’t about to let that happen. I was the strong one. I was always the strong one.
I took a deep breath, swallowed the burn, and blinked away the tears. “Hi, Anna.”
She laid a hand on my arm and looked me up and down. “Oh, honey.”
I could only imagine what I looked like. Rumpled. Covered in Luca’s blood. Makeup smudged from crying. Hair askew. “Yeah, it’s…” I took another deep breath. “It’s been a day.”
“You—you need Sophie snuggles.” She reached for my purse, and I absently handed it to her. “But let’s get you cleaned up first.”
“Yes, please. I feel like every inch of me that isn’t covered in dried blood is covered in dried sweat.”
She grimaced. “Come on.”
I followed Anna to the back of the penthouse, behind the partition that separated the open living space from the dressing area and kitchen.
“Everything I own is going to be too big and too short on you.” She stopped in front of a walk-in closet the size of my bedroom and rifled through a dresser. “Here’s a pair of shorts and my comfiest sweater.”
That’s what did it—the little goose’s sweater. The floodgates opened, and I doubled over sobbing.
“Oh, honey.” Anna rubbed my back in circles between my shoulders. “Let it out. Just let it out.”
Did I ever. The pent-up shock and fear and worry poured out in tears, a runny nose, and high-pitched wails. And through it all, Anna stood by my side, hand on my back in quiet, unwavering support. Like a friend. Like family.
Eventually, my uncontrolled crying slowed. I allowed myself two final, stilted sobs, then straightened myself out. Anna darted into the bathroom and came back with a handful of tissues.
“I—I can’t imagine how you’re feeling right now.”
I blew my nose and waved a hand through the air. “It’s fine. I’m fine. I just needed to get that out. I feel better now, honestly. I’ll feel even better once I get cleaned up.”
She led me into a spacious marble bathroom complete with a jacuzzi tub. She filled it with steaming water and bubbles scented with a hint of rose. I sank into the bath and soaked away the remaining tension and stress. I washed off the blood, sweat, tears, and emotions until all that was left were the memories of the day’s events and the conclusion that I had to deal with a new reality. A reality in which Luca and my baby were blood demons.
I emerged from the bathroom a new woman, one who had to accept that another world existed, one she knew very little about. A world that belonged to the man she loved, and a world that belonged to her unborn child. I wanted to learn everything I could about blood demons, so I could be the kind of mother my baby deserved. Luckily, I was about to spend the night with the best possible teacher.
Anna sat on top of her and Marco’s bed propped up against the headboard. Glasses covered nearly half her face. She dropped the paperback she’d been reading into her lap and patted the bed next to her. Sophie lifted her furry head and glared at the source of her disruption.
“You’re in here with me and Sophie tonight,” she said.
“What about Marco?”
“He’ll be out all night given”—she swallowed—“given everything.”
I climbed onto the bed. It was soft and the sheets were cool, like being cradled by a luxuriant cloud. Anna put her book and glasses on the nightstand and scooted down to rest her head on a pillow facing me. I did the same.
She stroked Sophie’s fur, and the little gray-and-white attention whore started purring like nobody’s business.
“Is Luca really forty-two?” I asked.
“Yes, he’s really forty-two.”
“And Marco?”
Anna’s lips twitched. “Marco’s… a little older.”
“And by a little you mean…”
“He’s, uh, ninety-four.”
My head jerked up off the pillow. “Ninety-four?”
She smiled an uncomfortable smile and nodded into her pillow. I laid my head back down and started petting Sophie along with her. I’d worked out that Marco had to be older, but to hear it out loud, so plainly…
“Honestly,” I said, “that explains a lot.”
“I know, right? The timelines never added up for me either.”
I sighed. “Is it messed up I think that’s hot?”
She chuckled. “No. It’s incredibly hot. And, for the record, you’re handling this a lot better than I did.”
I raised an eyebrow.
“Remember when I passed out after the charity gala dinner? That wasn’t from too much champagne. Marco showed me he was a blood demon, and I fainted.”
I huffed. “At least you didn’t throw up.”
She laughed. “Either way, it’s not exactly the type of news you can brush off and say, ‘Good to know! Thanks for sharing!’”
I laughed along with her. “No, it’s not.” I stopped petting Sophie and laid my hand on my belly. “Especially when you’re about to have a baby with one.”
Anna’s expression turned empathetic.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you,” I said.
“You don’t need to apologize. I know it was a surprise.”
“It was.” Sophie stood up, stretched, turned in circle, and lay back down. “And Luca’s reaction didn’t help.”
“I’m sure it didn’t. But you understand why he reacted the way he did, right?”
“I do.”
“And look, the news was a lot for me to wrap my brain around, and I wasn’t even pregnant. Give yourself some grace. It’s been what, a few hours? And you were sh—shot at too.” She blinked slowly and swallowed.
I put my hand atop hers, and we squeezed each other’s fingers. “Thank you. I think I needed the permission.”
“I get that. We all need permission sometimes. That’s what friends are for. I’m here for you. Whatever you need. Right now, and after you have the baby.”
“Thank you. I mean it. I’ve never had that kind of support from my family.”
“Well, you do now. You’re part of our family, Siobhán. You’re not alone.”
The knot in my stomach returned, the one Gina had tied in the bakery and the one that twisted and tightened any time I thought about moving to Ireland. But after what happened today, how could I not? Once again, I’d been caught in the crossfire. Gina was missing—taken. To what end? Only time would tell. How could I continue to put myself and my baby at risk?
We stroked Sophie’s fur in comfortable silence. Some of the remaining tension in my shoulders eased, my stomach settled, and my racing thoughts calmed enough that I could finally ask the litany of questions begging for answers.
“Were you scared?” I asked. “When you found out?”
Her eyes widened. “Terrified. I ran from him right before I fainted. I tried running from him again after I woke up, but…” She scrunched her face.
“But what?”
“I’m not sure I was running from him, really. I think—I think I was running from the unknown. I’d been living in a safe little bubble, and Marco’s world was so different from anything I’d ever known. Then to find out blood demons existed on top of all the Mafia stuff?” She raised her eyebrows and made an O out of her lips like she was whistling. I chuckled. “But looking back, I wasn’t scared of him. Not really. I’ve never felt safer than with Marco. Or more loved.”
“Really?” My face and voice twisted with skepticism. “I find it hard to believe you feel safer married to a Mafia don, Anna.”
“But I do. I have a future filled with adventure and love, and for me, that’s safety. I didn’t want to lose my life by not living it. Marco gave me the security of knowing my life wouldn’t be wasted, that I’d get to live to my full potential.”
“You’re so brave.”
She snorted. “Am I? Or am I just more scared of losing Marco than I am of anything else?”
“Fair.”
“I wasn’t about to give Marco up just because his job puts him in physical danger. A lot of jobs do that. And I wasn’t about to give him up because he’s different than me. Being a blood demon is part of what makes Marco, Marco. I love that part of him. It’s exciting.”
I smiled. “Every time I learn something new about Luca, it makes me love him even more.”
“He loves you too, you know, based on what Gina’s told me.”
Butterflies attacked my stomach. “I know.”
“You’re lucky. I’m lucky. Not everyone gets that in life. Before I met Marco, I thought I’d never experience being in love. It’s like a new world opened up. And”—Anna’s face turned bright red—“and the sex is out of this world amazing.” She covered her eyes, and I couldn’t help but laugh. Little goose.
“You bonded—I think that’s what Luca called it—with Marco?”
“Yes,” she said with red cheeks and a wide smile.
“Which means you drank”—I winced—“his blood?”
“I did. I mean, I do. I drink from him, and he drinks from me. As humans, we have to drink their blood if we want to be with them for life. They’re immortal.”
“Luca said the baby needs his blood. He said that’s how his mother died—she wouldn’t drink.”
Anna’s smile turned sad. “It’s true. Lucia died, because she refused to drink. Marco said that happens with some humans. They can’t handle the truth.”
“But you did.”
“I did. And I’m glad I did. I love drinking from Marco. Sharing each other in that way… It’s so intimate. It makes me feel alive. Not to mention the taste.” I scrunched my nose. “You’re making that face, but that’s not the face you’ll make after you try it.” She raised her eyebrows and fake fanned herself. I chuckled.
“But more than the sex, it’s those quiet moments at night, sitting on the couch with him and Sophie, looking out at the Commons…” Anna’s expression grew wistful. “I wouldn’t give those moments up for anything.”
“Hm.”
She yawned, and it made me yawn too. We continued stroking Sophie’s fur, and soon, Anna’s eyes fluttered closed, and her hand stopped moving.
That day at the bakery, Gina said that she’d rather live in Marco’s world than lose her family. But would she still feel that way after today?
Anna certainly did. Then again, I always told her Marco was a unicorn. He was devoted to her. He’d never betray her or leave her side. Luca loved me, but he’d broken my heart before. Could I count on him to be there for me and our baby? I closed my eyes.
Images from the afternoon flashed across my mind like movie stills. Shattered glass. The “Closed” sign, dented and lying on the floor. Luca diving in front of me.
What if he hadn’t been there? What if I’d been hit? Worse, what if our baby had been hit? I placed my hand on my stomach.
Stills from a much older movie replaced the ones from that afternoon. A car slowly driving by. A hand extended out a window holding a gun. The bloody mess of my stomach spilling onto the chop shop floor.
I was the strong one. Always. But I wasn’t sure I was strong enough to risk my safety or our baby for a chance at love.