I'm losing my grip on consciousness, the medication and fatigue pulling me back under.
Their concerned faces blur as darkness creeps in from the edges of my vision. I fight it, but I'm too weak, sinking back into oblivion before I can make them understand.
I close my eyes, suddenly exhausted. "I need to rest."
Just before unconsciousness claims me again, a wave of emotion washes over me.
I'm so fucking close to having everything I want.
My son.
The woman I love.
Even my siblings showing something like respect for once in our lives.
Yet Chicago pulls at me like a tether. My empire. My freedom. The life I built with my own hands when my family cast me out.
I can't abandon what I've created there.
But I won't abandon Katerina and Enzo either.
Not again. Never again.
The drugs blur my thoughts, but one certainty crystallizes through the haze. I need them with me. Both of them. When I leave New York, they're coming with me.
I’ll make Alessandro include her freedom from the Bratva as part of their deal.
Then I'll find a way to convince her to be with me.
Make her see that our future lies together.
I'll show her the life we could build in Chicago. A fresh start. Just the three of us.
That’s my last thought as my eyes grow too heavy to keep open and darkness overtakes me.
32
KATERINA
I splash cold water on my face, trying to wash away the exhaustion.
The bathroom mirror reveals an exhausted woman racked with guilt and fear, exacerbated by too many sleepless nights.
My stomach churns again, and I grip the sink's edge.
I've barely kept anything down for the last week since the showdown at Maksim’s.
The anxiety of almost losing Luca has my body in revolt.
After a few deep breaths, the nausea subsides enough for me to straighten up.
I need to check on Enzo before heading back to Luca's room.
The poor kid hasn’t been allowed to see Luca as I’m afraid it will terrify him more than he is already.
But Enzo isn’t satisfied with hearing his father is simply ill.
He’s been asking questions I don't know how to answer.
