“I’m glad.”
My eyes flutter shut, but darkness can’t steal me yet. Not when, for the first time in twenty-four hours, I feelgood. Having Lev by my side, even in a hospital bed, means we’ve won.
“Once, roles were reversed. Funny how life goes.”
“I recall,” he drawls, enough affection in his tone to make its own proclamation about his feelings. “You changed my life that day.”
“You keep saving me, you know.”
“You’ve saved me in ways you don’t even realize. Go to sleep, Fina. That’s an order.”
This time, I head into the darkness willingly.
At some point, a nurse wakes me to administer more medication. Lev’s passed out on the chair beside me, actually sleeping for once in his life. His head is pillowed on his arms, the same way I once slept on his bedside.
Myringlesshand rests beside him. I wonder who removed the jewellery. I hadn’t even noticed if I still had it or not.
“Is he bothering you?” the nurse asks.
“He’s right where he needs to be.”
The next time I wake, Lev calls Zeno. Within the hour, my room is filled with my brother, Vanessa, Anastasia, and Nero.
While everyone fusses and Nero messes up my hair, Zeno simply watches. About an hour after everyone arrived, he asks for alone time and kicks the rest out. Lev leaves last, with a lingering smile that deeply resonates.
Once the door’s shut, he claims the chair Lev slept in, replacing the joy from earlier with the cool tendrils of dread that have me tugging the blanket up higher. “How do you feel?”
“Ready to go home.”
“Doctor said by this afternoon, you should be all cleared. All in all, your injuries aren’t extensive. You’re lucky; the accident could have been a lot worse.”
“The cause of it was my doing,” I admit, in case Lev didn’t inform him.
He leans back and crosses his arms to regard me with the stern older brother stare he’s perfected since I was ten. “I’m aware. It wasn’t smart, but it did the job, and you’re alive, so I can’t stay mad for long.”
First Lev, and now he’s not mad aboutthis?
“Whoareyou? Not my brother, that’s for certain.”
He shrugs one shoulder, winking. “Vanessa changed me. What else is there to say? Speaking of…” His arms drop as he leans back forward, lowering clenched hands between his legs. “Lev’s certainly a surprise. You’re happy with him?”
“Happier than ever.”
He regards me in that way only he can before grunting his concession. “You seem it. You’ve been different these past couple months. Do you realize what dating a Bratva Elite member will mean for your future?”
“Yes, and I want it. Z, I love you so much, I do. I appreciate all you did to ensure I had a regular childhood and wasn’t bound to the same kinds of rules you were, that Madre was. I was free to choose my own path, and there’s still a lot of that world I’ll be following. But mob life kinda caught up with us,didn’t it?” My gaze floats to my bare left hand. “Lev isn’t like the others—like Alessio. He’s right for me. He doesn’t expect anything extra, so I’d say your goal is still being met. With Lev, there is no strict engagement, no expectation of an heir. There’s no political alliance. We’re just…us. Sure, his job may require some bloody acts of violence, but that’s not whoheis. He’s a normal guy within the Bratva, the same way you’ve allowed me to be a normal girl, technically within the Cosa Nostra.” I pause, studying my brother for a crack in his tough exterior that’ll hint towards him arguing my points. Just in case, I tack on, “Besides, you’re going to marry your enemy’s daughter, so this isn’t worse.”
His grin is fleeting, seriousness returning his stoicism. “Like I told Lev, I’m not angry. He took a bullet for you before he even knew you, moved here so you could attend school with someone trusted, then continued to give up his time in Moscow. He sat by while you wed another man and then drove after you himself. From a brother’s perspective, he’s everything I could ever want for you.”
I stare at him, waiting for the punch line.
Nothing…
Nothing…
“Damn, Z! Vanessa really has changed you.” My laughter fizzles into a smaller smile before I reach for his hand to squeeze it. “Grazie. I mean it. Thank you for everything, for understanding what Lev means to me.”
“I’ll be sure to let him know, Vanessa aside, that I’ll rain terror on his ass if he hurts you.” Zeno winks, teasing what we both know Lev wouldn’t do—but he’s serious too. “Alright, moving on… The Commission is obviously aware of Alessio’s death, and it’s been ruled an accident. No one’s asking questions about how it all happened or why you were no longer at the scene, because it seems he had quite a few enemies within theCosa Nostra. One of his cousins will be taking up the Capo position. By law, you’re Vitale’s widow, which gives you power within his family. You have claims to his fortune, which I’ve told the Commission and the new Vitale Capo you have no desire to keep—nor do you care about being recognized as his widow. They’ve agreed, in exchange for you signing over all rights to his fortune, to let you go without any questions. The marriage will be annulled, and that’ll be it. Essentially, it never took place.”
