They pumped painkillers into me at a remarkable speed. Apparently, breaking your skull was no joke. Lila might have been a little gentle when relaying what happened to me. Because even though the bullet didn’t reach the brain, it left one heck of a dent in the back of my head and created some balance and vertigo issues I was going to have to work on.
The doctors who treated me spoke directly to either Tiernan or Lila. I had zero agency. For the first time in my life, I didn’t fight my own war, and even though I trusted Tiernan and Lila, I didn’t like being in this position at all.
Two Irish soldiers stood on guard in front of my room at all times.
When I asked Tiernan about Vello, he vaguely assured me the don wouldn’t be a problem anymore, but neither he nor Lila told me exactly what convinced him to drop his grudge. It worried me. Vello wasn’t the kind of man to simply give up a vendetta and move on to other ventures.
“All you need to know is that you’re safe,” my brother assured me. “I should’ve never let that eejit Achilles run after you. Should’ve put a bullet in his head when I had the chance.”
I took this as confirmation he was the one who pulled the trigger.
The gaps in my memory were consistently narrowing as more information trickled into my conscience.
Achilles had sent me off with maps, a fake passport, and a strategy for Prague.
I followed his meticulous plan, believing he’d tried to help me. It was the first time I’d put my trust in someone else, and it backfired spectacularly.
He cornered me in the apartment he’d instructed me to rent in Prague and tried to kill me.
“Where is he now?” I asked.
“Achilles?” Tiernan twisted his wrist to glance at his watch. “Here in New York.”
I was a little surprised Tiernan had let him live after what he’d done to me. Then again, Achilleswashis brother-in-law.
Still…It wasn’t like Tiernan to forgive about something so egregious. He wasn’t exactly the merciful type.
“I see.” I was too exhausted to dig into the subject, so I changed it altogether. “And Tyrone?” I asked. “Why hasn’t he visited me yet?”
My father was usually first in line to put on the saint act. I didn’t buy his charade but respected the hustle. Almost everyone believed he was a levelheaded, good-intentioned man. Only I knew he didn’t give half a shit about any of his children. Case in point—when Fintan disappeared out of the blue, he didn’t so much as shed a tear. Tyrone cared about nothing and no one but his own reputation and image.
That he hadn’t bothered visiting me once while I was in the hospital was puzzling to say the least.
“Tyrone…” Tiernan trailed off. “He’s…away.”
“Away where?” My eyes narrowed. “You make it sound like he’s an elderly hamster Mommy and Daddy sent to the farm.”
“Close enough. He’s chained in the Ferrantes’ basement.”
At first, I just blinked, processing the information. I’d wager Tiernan was joking, but I happened to know my brother did not possess a sense of humor or any trait that could be interpreted as such.
“What?”
“He’s in the basement of torture,” Tiernan clipped out, jaw twitching in irritation. “And will remain so for the foreseeable future.”
That made me sit upright. Andthatmade me pass out from pain. It wasn’t a figure of speech. I did, in fact, faint right onto the pillow.
Only to wake up a few hours later to the most terrifying surprise of my life.
____________
My eyes fluttered open to a quiet, ominous presence in the room.
It wasn’t one of the doctors or nurses. They always moved noisily and carelessly, bumping into stuff, causing a ruckus to see if I’d wake up.
I was still fuming at my body for fainting from just sitting upright. Apparently, I had some balance issues to deal with. Physical therapy was going to be a real challenge. I was bad at working out and even worse at following instructions.
Lila already assured me they had a room ready for me at their house. She’d been interviewing physical therapists aroundthe area and ordered special equipment for occupational therapy in her backyard. I absolutelyloathedthe idea of unloading onto them. Of being the second baby, next to Nero. I hadn’t needed anyone since my days as an orphan in Siberia.
