“I am.” She gives me a small smile that doesn’t quite reach her eyes. “But I’m doing okay.”
I take her hand, wrapping both of mine around them.
Though it may take a few days, I know undoubtedly, she will call the number on that card. But until that happens, I’ll take every hour she gives me. I’ll spend every one of them proving that no matter what, my love for her will never change.
Once she walks out that door with a new name and a plane ticket, I won’t stop her. But God help me, I’ll spend the rest of my life wishing I could have been the reason she stayed.
24
ELENA
The villa smells the same as it always has—orange blossoms and salt from the sea below, freshly polished wood, and old stone floors warmed by the sun.
I breathe it in deeply the moment Luca and I step foot past the villa doors, my eyes wandering around the foyer space as they’re shut behind us. But everything feels different now since that night I ran with Luca.
It all looks the same but… there is something off about this place now.
MaybeI’mdifferent.
After spending the last week recovering at the hospital, Dante had been able to take us home. To my surprise, I’m not led to the master bedroom when we move upstairs. I’m brought to a suite right across from Luca’s room with French doors that open onto a private terrace overlooking the cliffside.
Medical equipment has already been set up inside the room and hums quietly when I enter. Near the bed, an IV stand, monitor,and rolling cart of bandages and painkillers are all perfectly set up as a little makeshift clinic.
The bed is enormous and piled with pillows that look softer than clouds. Running my hand over the crisp white linens, it almost feels obscene compared to the thin hospital sheets I’ve been used to.
“Wow, Mama. New room!” Luca says, tugging on my hand with an excitement that feels wildly out of place after everything we’ve survived.
The medical suite smells faintly of disinfectant and fresh laundry, a strange hybrid of hospital and home. I squeeze his hand back automatically, managing a small smile as I turn to glance over my shoulder.
Dante stands just inside the doorway.
He’s been quiet since I woke up, but I suppose that’s to be expected. I, too, would be shaken after watching someone nearly die in my arms. I can’t imagine what it did to him, almost losing me in nearly the same way he lost Matteo—covered in blood, using frantic pressure against a wound, feeling the same helplessness as he had back then while life threatened to slip through his fingers.
Guilt tugs at me.
He didn’t deserve to relive that.
Least of all because of me.
“Let’s get you set up,” he says quietly before finally brushing past me.
Luca immediately lets go of my hand and darts forward to inspect everything, climbing up onto the mattress to bounce on it a few times before Dante scoops him up into his arms.
Every shift of movement pulls at my stitches, a hot line of fire that reminds me exactly how close I came to leaving Luca motherless. But exhaustion eventually wins the way it always does and by the time the afternoon sun slants golden across the floor, I’ve been tucked under the covers and given up every ounce of control to be taken care of. Luca curls against my good side and for a few blessed hours, I let myself relax.
The rest of the day passes in a haze as nurses, privately hired by Dante, come and go. A tray of food arrives every few hours filled with broth dishes, soft buttered bread, and fruit cut into perfectly bite-sized pieces. Someone eventually brings Luca crayons and paper to occupy him while I rest and watch as he draws boats sailing on blue waves.
Night falls quickly after that.
The terrace doors are open to let in the breeze. I fight the urge to ask for them to be closed, memories of the Bellantis almost kidnapping us flashing through my mind rapidly as I lie on my back staring up at the ceiling.
I remind myself that they wouldn’t be that stupid. Not so soon after failing the last time. Even if they are opportunists like Dante describes them as, they wouldn’t risk another attempt with Dante’s men already on high alert.
They had gotten lucky scooping up Luca and me when they did.
Though no matter how hard I try to calm myself down, listening to both Luca’s soft breathing and the distant sound of wavescrashing against the cliffside, Nicolo’s voice keeps circling in my head.
I can get you out.
