A light knock came at the door. Mamma peeked her head in. Stella looked at her and gave a small smile. I motioned for her to come in. She quietly shut the door behind her, and I stood for her to take my seat.
“It’s okay,” she whispered, rubbing a delicate hand down my arm. “I’m fine on my feet right now. Everything okay?” She knew Stella wasn’t ready to talk, so she asked me while looking at her.
I nodded. “All’s good here.”
“Bene,” she said, still whispering. “Saverio is out in the hall. If Stella doesn’t mind, he’d like to talk to you.”
Stella’s eyes widened for a second, and then she seemed to force herself to relax. I fucking hated to leave her, but we had unfinished business to discuss. I made my way around the bed and took her hand.
“I’ll be right out in the hall. I need to talk to my sister’s husband.”
Mia had been in to see Stella, and so had mamma and Magpie, but we didn’t want to overwhelm her with more people. As soon as she was out of this place, there would be plenty of introductions, and an entirely new world to get used to.
Mamma took my seat and Stella’s other hand. When Stella looked at her, mamma nodded and smiled, trying to encourage her. It took a second, but Stella finally nodded.
I took a deep breath and stepped outside. Saverio was waiting with his back against the wall, arms crossed. He scanned me from head to toe and shook his head. “You look like you belong here too.”
“I do.”
He nodded and said in Italian, “Love makes a mirror out of you, doesn’t it? You reflect whatever she’s feeling.”
“Yeah,” I said, my voice gruff.
He squeezed my shoulder. “I am happy for you, my brother. She is yours.”
I squeezed his shoulder back. “You helped me save her. You did things that I would have forced myself to do, but I did not have to. For that, I owe you.”
“You owe me nothing. You are one of my brothers. My blood.” He hit his heart.
We squeezed hands at the same time and then broke apart.
“I will not waste your time,” he continued in Italian. “I will make this brief. Régine’s mansion has been on lockdown since the night we went in and brought Stella home. Lev is ready to move on, says there isn’t a reason to keep his men there. Nonno agrees, unless you have use for it. Lev is waiting for my word to call his men. However. You should see a few things before we move on.”
It took me a second to make the decision. If Saverio thought I should see this place, I knew I needed to. “A second,” I said.
Stella was still holding mamma’s hand. The scene warmed my heart. I looked at mamma and she seemed to know what I was about to do. She didn’t nod or shake her head. This was up to me. Mamma might have been able to feel things most people didn’t, but that didn’t stop her, most of the time, from allowing us to make our own mistakes. If it was something that would get us killed, then yeah, she’d step in. But it wasn’t unlike what any parent would do.
“Magpie is on her way,” mamma said, her voice softer than usual. “We can stay with Stella. If that’s all right with Stella?” She looked over at her.
Stella looked at me, the set of her eyes narrowed, almost out of suspicion.
“I have some business,” I said as gently as I could. “It won’t take too long.”
“Trust me,” mamma said to Stella, a playful tone to her voice. “Magpie will keep you entertained.”
I gave mamma a look. Magpie would keep Stella entertained, but who the fuck, besides mamma and Magpie, knew how Magpie would do it. She might hide inside of a cake and jump out of it as a surprise. Mamma wiggled her eyebrows and grinned at me. Mamma had told me before that she felt Stella would connect with Magpie more than anyone else besides me. Something about Magpie’s spirit would remind Stella of her mamma, she had told me.
Mamma gracefully stood from her chair, like a swan, and moved toward me. She gave me a peck on the cheek before she left the room, giving us some privacy.
Sitting on the side of Stella’s bed, I sighed. “I won’t ever leave you and not come back, Stella.” I picked up her hand, bringing it to my mouth. I turned it over and spoke to her pulse. “As long as life allows it, I’ll always come back to you. I vow this to you.”
“How long?” she barely whispered. It was more of a rasp.
I blinked at her a few times, containing my excitement over her talking to me. The sound of her sweet voice made my heart almost burst in my chest. I smiled at her, and this time, she was the one who blinked.
“A few hours.”
She looked away from me, and I used my bent pointer finger to turn her face back to mine. Inching as slowly as I could, keeping eye contact, I pressed my lips to hers. My stomach filled up with heat. My veins rushed with it. And the down shirt I was wearing felt like it had shrunk, the shoulders suddenly too tight. Her lips were soft, and her mouth tasted like sweet peppermint candy.
