She caressed his cheek, touching him as though he was made of glass. “I’m right here, Dante. You’re okay. The doctor says you’re going to make a full recovery. Just rest for as long as you need to. I’m not going anywhere.”
“Your sister…”
She shushed him gently. “Giana is fine. She’s safe, thanks to you and Luca.”
“Luca?” He grunted my name and jerked. “Giuseppe was aiming at him. The gun went off, and I tried?—”
“Hush,” she admonished softly, applying the barest pressure to his shoulder to guide him back down. “Luca is fine too. You saved his life.” Her tone firmed. “We’re going to have a discussion about that when you’re better.”
He blinked again, intense gaze finally fixing on her. “Of course I saved him,” he said, his voice regaining its usual strength and clarity. “I did it for you. And for him,” he admitted. “For everything I put him through.”
“If you’d died, Nora never would’ve forgiven you,” I informed him.
“We don’t have to talk about that right now,” she said, placating. “You just focus on getting better.”
Dante eyed me warily, then turned his gaze back on her. “Go ahead,” he prompted. “I’d rather hear it now than agonize over it for days.”
She grasped his hand, holding him so gently. “You tried to die on me,” she admonished. “You thought you could sacrifice yourself and that would somehow make me happy. You tried to take my choice away from me because you thought you could decide what’s best for me.”
His dark brows drew together. “Luca is what’s best for you. You can share a life with him. You love him.”
“But I love you, too, Dante.” She held his hand to her chest, pressing his palm over her heart. Even as she made her fierce declaration, she eyed me hesitantly. “I love you both; I won’t choose between you.” She reached for me with her free hand, and I grasped it in both of mine. “I know you once said that you couldn’t share my heart with him. Do you still?—?”
“No, Nora,” I reassured her before worry could consume her happiness at Dante’s recovery. “I don’t hate him anymore.” I met him squarely in the eye, addressing him man-to-man. “I don’t hate you. I thought it would be impossible to share Nora with you after everything you put us through, but you took a bullet for me. You were ready to sacrifice your life for her happiness. I’ll never be able to forget what you did, but we’re not enemies anymore, Dante.”
“You forgive me?” he challenged quietly. “As easily as that?”
“There’s nothing easy about it,” I replied evenly. “I’ve had a lot of time to think about what I want out of life while you’ve been unconscious.” I took a breath, bracing myself to surrender everything I’d worked so hard to achieve for my entire life. “You should be the Boss, Dante. I will be your consigliere, if you’ll have me.”
His features went slack as though I’d sucker punched him.
“You’re willing to give up your birthright?” His jaw firmed, and his eyes narrowed at me. “You don’t owe me a debt, if that’s why you’re doing this. And I won’t accept if this is a decision made from misguided guilt.”
I squeezed Nora’s hand, anchoring myself to her. “Ever since Nora confessed that she loves you, too, I’ve known that she wouldn’t choose between us. I’ve thought of a way that we might be able to make this work: whatever you call what this is between us.”
It definitely wasn’t love. Not between Dante and me. We didn’t even like each other.
But I was willing to work on that. I no longer loathed his guts, and that was a start.
“I was raised to be the heir,” I continued, standing firm in my decision. “No one ever asked what I wanted.”
I’d never even dared to ask myself what I wanted. I’d been so desperate to meet my father’s expectations that I’d never taken time to think about what I really wanted in life, what mattered most to me.
Seeing the depth of Giuseppe’s callousness in his treatment of his daughters had stirred old, dark memories of my mother’s death. I’d failed her, but I would never fail to protect my family again. I would never fail Nora.
“All I want is to make Nora safe and happy,” I confessed. “She is my only priority.” I kept my attention on Dante, letting him see the resolve behind my words. “You’re clever and ruthless. You’ll make a strong leader and restore order after all the chaos. You will stabilize the organization, and Nora will have your full power protecting her. If you and I are a united front, the bloodshed stops. We need all the strength we can muster. The Bratva was crippled in their misguided assault on your estate, but there are still more of those bastards for us to kill together.”
Dante regarded me silently for a long moment, expression enigmatic. I had no idea what he might be thinking, but I’d just offered to hand him the position of power he’d tried to steal through treachery and torment. He should be thanking me and promising his love to Nora.
“I’m humbled by your offer,” he finally said. “Considering everything I put you through, I can’t say that I deserve it. I will work every day to prove to you and to Nora that I will make things right with you.”
“You’ve already proven yourself to me, Dante,” Nora interjected softly, hope shining in her hazel eyes. “Would you really be able to work together for my sake? To put your old wounds aside and be partners?”
“I would be honored to have you as my consigliere,” Dante told me. “And if we’re going to make this work, Nora has to remain legally married to you, not me.”
“What? No!” Nora vehemently refused. “I won’t favor one of you over the other. That’s not how this is going to work.”
“No one will accept that the three of us are in some sort of unconventional relationship,” Dante said firmly. “Publicly, you will be Luca’s wife. He’ll be spending more time with you while I consolidate power and secure my position. It will look more natural for the two of you to be together. Everyone will see our relationship as a close alliance after a period of instability, and nothing more. This is the way it has to be. It’s to protect our family, Nora.”
