But she’s here. Still here.
“Come here.”
28
CASSIA
“Come here.”
Two words. His voice scraped thin. And my whole body responds before my mind catches up.
I rise from the chair. Cross the space between us. Sit on the edge of his bed, close enough that our knees touch through the blanket.
The door is closed. His family is gone. Just us now.
My pulse won’t steady. I press my palms flat against my thighs and hold them there until my hands stop shaking.
He’s pale. IV still in his arm. Nothing like the Don I married in his study. Nothing like the man who pinned me against walls and made me forget my own name.
But his eyes are the same. Dark. Intense. Seeing me.
“You saved my family.”
I shake my head. “I saved you. The family was incidental.”
The corner of his mouth twitches. Close to a smile. Not quite.
He reaches for my hand. His grip is weak, fingers trembling, but he holds on like he’ll never let go.
I brace myself. Wait for the walls to rebuild. Crisis is over. He’s alive. Now he’ll remember all the reasons he was supposed to keep me at arm’s length.
Instead, he says:
“I was going to survive you, you know.”
I go still.
“That was the plan.” His thumb traces across my knuckles. “You ruined it.”
The words should hurt. They don’t. Because I already knew.
“I know.”
His free hand lifts to my face. Cups my jaw. His palm is warm, fingers unsteady against my skin.
“Papa.” His voice drops. Catches. “I watched him after Mama died. Eleven years. He just. Stopped.”
His hand trembles against my cheek. He swallows hard.
“I thought that’s what love. That it.” He shakes his head. His jaw works. Like the words are being pulled out of him by a hook. “I thought it killed him.”
His thumb traces my cheekbone.
“But that was a lie.” Rough. Wrecked. “Romano poisoned him.Cazzo.Eleven years I used a dead man’s murder as a reason to never let anyone in.”
I don’t move. Don’t breathe.
“And then you.” He stops. His throat works. “You walked into my study and I.”
