His words hovered in the cold air, swirling with the clouds of smoke from his mouth, and silence slipped in between us as we both stared ahead at nothing but bare branches.
I couldn’t help but feel pity for that lion. This had been his view—coming from such a warm environment full of his kind, his land, to this reduction. Chains in a strange land, all the greenery strangled by the cold hand of winter.
Mitch said something else, almost to himself. When I looked at him, he repeated the word. “Leave.”
He met my stare straight on. “Take your family and go, man. Then look in from the outside. Reevaluate. Get reacquainted. Find out what’s best for you and yours. Scarlett knows this isn’t about her, or you and her. This is about you. Whatyouneed to do.”
I was on my feet before the conscious thought even came to mind—the bike coming at us tore out of the trees like a bat out of hell. The bikes were meant for speed, but in this area, the trees were spaced close together, and they made it more difficult to reach full speed.
Once the copse had opened into the field, this rider had gone full throttle. Romeo, by the looks of his build.
Mitch was right behind me as we made our way toward him.
Romeo idled on the bike, not bothering to turn it off, and as soon as his helmet was off, shouted, “Fratello maggiore!” Older brother!
He didn’t bother to tell me to rush because it would have been wasted breath.
I was running.
My heart pounded in my ears, my blood raced, and my stomach tilted.
I knew,knewsomething was fucking wrong.
Romeo was wired so tightly that he vibrated with suppressed urgency.
“Tell me,” I said when I was close enough for him to hear. The helmet was already on, and I’d mounted the bike.
Romeo nodded once, his usual tan complexion splotched with red patches. “Your wife.”
The sound of my bike drowned out further conversation as I raced toward the villa.
* * *
Unaccountable hours later, I hovered in the shadows of our room at the villa, watching my wife sleep in our bed, Mia snuggled close to her.
The nightmare continued to grow, spurting new thorns to make me hemorrhage.
“Your wife is fine, but she might lose the baby. Bleeding can be normal, yes, but at this point, we cannot be sure. She has experienced extreme trauma.”
Tito had explained the situation to the doctor who was on call. He’d taken her aside, whispering in her ear—briefing her on what had happened.
Scarlett’s doctor had left earlier, already back in Rome. Tito assured me he knew this woman, though, and that what she told us was the truth—there was nothing they could do.
If she were to miscarry, it was nature’s way.
The baby’s heartbeat was strong, though, and Scarlett’s test results were normal, so all we could do was wait. The doctor had ordered strict bed rest.
Scarlett was quiet during the entire ordeal, explaining to me that the blood was minimal and that I shouldn’t worry. I expected her to be afraid, to come apart, but she did none of these things. She held my hand, nodding at the doctor’s words but not taking them to heart, except for the order for bed rest.
I took them straight there. The screaming inside of my head was so intense it almost cracked my skull in two. My skin felt like it had been stretched beyond its means, and everything internal had been exposed to the outside world.
Extreme trauma. Unfamiliar doctor. Waiting. Uncertainty.
The last time she’d experienced extreme trauma was at Nemours hands. I almost lost her then.We had lost our son, Matteo. Who this baby would be named afterif—one simple word that was as deadly as a bullet.
If. If. Fucking if.
I made two fists, feeling tension shoot straight up my arm, making my muscles quiver and the veins swell.
