“Dante!” Behind Tori, Theo came down the hall towards us. Tori moved to my side. “Lydia said she’ll keep Link and has requested to keep her posted. Gabriel.” Theo paused looking unsure of himself. He didn’t know if it was safe to speak openly in front of Vittoria.
“Gabe took care of Dad,” Tori said quietly, finishing Theo’s thoughts. “He’s not going to want the family under a microscope any more than the rest of us.”
Regardless of the number of disputes within the family walls, we’d all rather die than have someone outside take us down. In the middle of all this madness there would be some unity, even if it was only temporary, while we stamped out all suspicions and accusations.
“Everything keeps running. All the business. Nothing stops and everyone keeps going like nothing happened,” I told him. We’d look guilty if everything came to a grinding halt. Unless ordered otherwise, our lives would continue. “Lydia’s not left alone at any point in the day.” I wasn’t risking Link. “You keep a close eye on Gabe and Emilia. I don’t trust them, and I want to know if anything seems out of the usual.” Tori could be mad at me for that if she wanted but I couldn’t take any more risks.
He nodded at me. “Of course, boss.”
The word made me cringe. “Don’t,” I snapped.
Theo flushed red. “Sorry. It’s just, Luc’s usually the one giving orders.”
“And he will, again.” Even I didn’t sound like I believed that.
“Thank you, Theo,” Tori said to him, stopping a full-blown argument before it could happen. He looked between us both before leaving without another word.
“Theo,” I called as he reached the end of the corridor. He stopped to receive the order.
There was a moment of panic, but this would be for the best. I didn’t know what would happen with Luc. I had no idea if his injuries were fatal and I couldn’t bear to speculate but I had to put plans into place. I’d seen Mia. She was alive and kicking and so I had greater hopes of seeing her when she came out of surgery. I pinned everything on Mia waking up and taking her crown. She’d cleared the way for them, and people needed to know that there was no opening. We had to reap something from this. Had to make it all worth it.
“You make sure that everyone knows that Mia did it. That she killed Xavier.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Mia
My eyelids felt too heavy to open and I didn’t battle against them. Why would I when it felt so good to keep them closed? Exhaustion weighed me down and I succumbed to it, letting my mind drift aimlessly.
In the darkness, I envisioned Luc dressed in a black suit. He stood at the altar waiting for me, the smile on his face giving me butterflies as he turned to greet me. The bouquet of flowers I had in my hands dropped to the floor as I picked up the skirts of my white dress and ran towards him, desperate to join him for our ceremony. Something caught on the train of my gown and stopped my momentum, sending me crashing to the floor. When I glanced up, I saw Xavier grinning wildly. “Not so fast, Mia,” he told me. “This is my church, in my world; and in my world, I am God.” I scrambled away from him, looking back to Luc but panic erupted. The front of the church was engulfed in bright red flames, and Luc didn’t move. I screamed for him to run but he stared back at me with empty eyes before they devoured him.
Luc.
The memories flooded my mind, and my eyes struggled to open. My body didn’t feel as though it belonged to me. Too heavy and slow for what I wanted to do, and the movement made me cry out in pain.
“Woah!” Dante hovered over me, hands on my shoulders, pushing me back down against the bed. Something hard was wrapped around his hand and rubbed against the thin material of the hospital gown and was likely to leave a bruise.
There was a deep ache in my left shoulder blade that made me cry out, but I continued to struggle ineffectively against his hold. “Let me go!” Even the words sounded thick in my mouth. “I need to find Luc. I need to get Link.”
He pushed more forcefully until I was flat against the bed, staring up at him and I felt the sting of tears in my eyes. “You need to stop,” Dante told me firmly, taking his hands from me. I caught sight of the rosary that was wrapped around his left palm and felt a stab of jealousy that Dante could seek comfort in a God who did nothing to draw me to him. He remained firm in his faith when I was untethered and unravelling with no one to turn to.
“Luc—”
“Is okay. Luc is okay. I promise you.” And I believed him because Dante had yet to lie to me. “He’s alive,” Dante said, knowing my fear. “Should be out of surgery soon, so you need to keep your ass from bouncing off the walls so you can see him when he gets out. Lydia has Link. He’s at her place. She’ll stay with him until we can get you home.”
Wet warmth ran down my face at the relief I felt at the fact that both of them were okay. I turned my head, taking in my surroundings and the clinical setting of the hospital room sank in.
Dante sat on the edge of the bed and ran a hand over my hair. “He’s never going to let you out of his sight again, you know that, right?” Dante told me with a weak smile.
I nodded silently. Luc could have me watched twenty-four-seven for the rest of my life and I would never complain again.
“Xavier?” My voice warbled saying the name. His body had been limp against mine and then motionless on the floor. The thought of it made my throat close up.
Dante’s expression hardened. “Gone.” He dropped his voice and said, “You shoot to kill, boss.” His comment made me heave as I thought of the blood everywhere. “You don’t need to worry about anything,” Dante pushed on quickly. “We’re dealing with it.”
“You mean...”
“We don’t need anyone digging into our business.”
