I’m still a monster. Blood will never wash clean of my hands.
I’ve killed. I’ve controlled men with fear of my wrath. I’ve silenced men with a simple look. But none of that power means anything here.
Here, I’m just a husband begging death to spare my wife.
“All right.” He grips the back of my neck. “Do you know what you’re going to tell her when she wakes up?”
I swallow hard.
“Yeah.”
“She’s going to have a lot of healing to do. Vee’s a good person to talk to, she already said she’s available if Sienna needs her,” Alexander says.
“Anything she needs. Anything she wants is hers.”
“I’ll go track down that doctor you’re waiting for,” Alexander says.
“Yeah.” I kiss her palm.
The door shuts behind my brother, leaving me with soft beeping of the machines. My chest expands, like it’s going to explode.
“Sienna, sweetheart, you have to get better,” I whisper, my voice ragged. “I can’t do this life without you. I don’t want to do it without you.”
Lost in my fear and grief, I almost don’t feel it at first. But then the sensation registers.
Her fingers wrap around mine, and she squeezes.
“Are you being serious? Is this a joke?” My mouth is slack. I can’t help but stare at Gerald, sitting across from me in Kaz’s office.
“No. It’s not a joke.” Gerald looks to Kaz who stands in the corner of the room, his hands stuffed into his pockets.
I’ve been home from the hospital for two days, and in those two days Kaz has turned into my shadow. Always present and quiet.
Once the doctor authorized my release, he just shut down on me. After driving the nurses and doctors up the wall with his constant second guessing and demands to check me repeatedly to be certain no infection lingered, he exhausted himself.
“You’re telling me that it’s all mine?” I turn to look at Kaz.
His expression is…well, there is none. He’s turned to stone while everything has been laid out for me.
“Yes. The two wineries in Italy. The vineyards, along with a large estate. The family home in New York, the three homes your brothers had here. And all of their assets. Along with full custody of Tommy.” Gerald repeats for me.
“How did this happen?”
“Your uncle lied to you. All of this was yours after your brothers died. He had his attorney cook up fake paperwork. You gave him power of attorney, which gave him access to everything he wanted.”
“I signed a document, but it was about the estate. Just that I’d been explained everything and wasn’t going to contest.”
“Did he let you read it?” Gerald questions.
I pause a beat. He hadn’t. He’d stuffed a pen in my hand and ordered me to sign.
“No. And I didn’t fight him on it.” It was better, safer, to go along with what I was told.
“Tony had all the documentation for his estate and the custody paperwork in that safe you found.” Gerald frowns. “I suspect your cousin was unaware it was there, otherwise he would have gotten rid of it all.”
Numb, I nod. Everything is mine.
“Those vineyards are part of businesses that I know nothing about.” I swallow. “My family worked with and for other people. If I just take them it could be a problem.”
