Reaching for the gun, I offer it to her.
“This is the safety. There’s a round in the chamber. If you flick the safety off, it’ll be live and will fire a bullet when you pull the trigger.”
She hesitates before taking it, but the gesture seems to calm her a little.
She sets the gun gently down on the ground next to her as though it’s made of glass. Then she returns to the bandages. “And my father?” she asks quietly, handing me three painkillers. I swallow them without water.
“Your father knew about it all. He knew the place he was working was run by the mafia. He knew the work he was doing was illegal. He knows the places he hangs out and gambles, and the people he takes loans from are all part of the mafia.”
“Does he take loans from or gamble with you?”
“No. I don’t gamble. Those are the lower-level families that run the small casinos in those areas.”
“But he knew…” she whispers, sticking down the last bandage and leaning back to look up at me with soft, gentle eyes. Her expression is touched by betrayal and heartbreak.
Kneeling in front of me like this, she looks so fragile.
“Yes,” I say, unable to take my eyes off her.
“And you… You’re a criminal. A very powerful one?”
“Yes,” I say quietly.
My head spins again, and I groan.
“I need to lie down, Athena. Will you help me to the guest bed?”
She nods, standing up and pushing the medical bag aside with her foot to clear a space for me to stand too. “Can you walk?” she asks nervously as I sway and hold onto the basin.
“Just let me lean on you. I’ll be ok once I’m lying down.”
“Are you sure I can’t take you to the hospital?”
“No, the bullet is out, the bleeding has stopped. It’s not a deep wound; the blood loss has exhausted me. And the adrenaline,” I explain, but my words are coming out in a tired mumble.
She manages to get me to the side of the bed, and I fall onto it. Rolling onto my side, I’m so fucking grateful that most of the pain is gone. Now it’s just rest I need.
“Keep the gun with you,” I mumble.
“Why?” she asks.
“In case…” I want to say, in case the security system fails. But it never has. It never will. And this is the first time I’ve everworried about such a thing. I realize that the worry isn’t even for me. It’s for her. I want her safe. I want to stay awake to keep her safe, but I can’t.
“In case what?”
I hear her saying something, but I’m already drifting into sleep. I can’t fight it anymore.
I feel her hand on my forehead, and she whispers something else. Then darkness swallows me whole.
Chapter 8 - Athena
Standing next to the bed, I stare down at him.
His face is relaxed, his lips slightly parted as he breathes deep and slow.
Adrian is fast asleep. I’m still shocked at the amount of blood he lost, and at how he hardly moved at all while I removed the bullet. I’m shocked at myself, too—that I was able to remove a bullet even though my hands were shaking so badly.
I stare down at my hands. They’re covered in blood. So are my clothes. So are his.
