Page 59 of Read This Before the Villain falls in Love with You

"Look who finally woke up." Enzo crosses his arms, tapping his watch with a smirk. "Nice to see you made it through the morning workout, boss."

Nora appears behind me in my shirt and nothing else, hair a wreck, arms crossed. "Enzo. Sweetie. I put a planter through a man's skull the previous night. Keep talking and you're fucking next."

Matteo howls. Actually doubles over, hand on the wall. "God, I love her. Can we keep her? She's meaner than you."

I shut the door in their faces. Their laughter carries down the hall anyway. Nora looks at me, one eyebrow up, fighting a smile.

Nora buttons the oversized cuffs of my shirt with deliberate calm. "They are never going to let this go. Not for the next six months."

I loop my fingers around her waist and haul her back between my knees. "They started hours ago. They know you're staying. That means they think they have permission to give you shit 24/7."

She wraps her hands around my nape, resting her forehead against mine. "You sound almost fond of them. Did blood loss damage your brain chemistry?"

I press my mouth hard against the curve of her throat. "I'm hungry, not soft. Get some pants on before Nonna storms in here with meat and starts laying down bedroom rules."

She catches my lower lip with her teeth, biting lightly before stepping back. "Still barking orders while held together with stitches and gauze. What a dictator."

I watch her dig through the drawer for something that fits. Outside the door Matteo and Enzo are already inventing new nicknames at volume. The house feels less like a bunker today. Lighter. Like the bullet bought us a temporary ceasefire and everyone decided to spend it roasting me.

I can live with that.

Nora pulls on a pair of dark sweatpants under the oversized linen shirt, smoothing the waistband over her hips. "Get moving, Moretti. Your idiots are downstairs and I need coffee before I punch someone in the face."

I push off the edge of the door, adjusting my sling while she shakes her head. "Try not to provoke Matteo before noon. He gets dramatic."

She spins on her bare heels toward the hall. "I'm not making any promises. If he starts clapping at me, I'm stealing his breakfast."

We head downstairs to the noise. Her hand finds mine on the stairs and stays there. Matteo spots the joined fingers first and starts a slow clap. Enzo joins in. Nora flips them both off without breaking stride.

Yeah. Lighter.

I could get used to this version of recovery.

Chapter 23

LUCA

The house has gone completely quiet by the time I finally get Nora to stop fussing and climb into bed next to me. Three days of forced bed rest does weird things to people. It turns a stubborn London woman into a bossy nurse who thinks she knows better than my doctors.

She punches two pillows behind her back against the headboard like she owns the place. "I read the doctor's papers. Twice. You are supposed to keep these cuts dry for two more days, you stubborn idiot."

I shift my weight against the mattress with a quiet grunt. "I washed with a wet cloth. I followed your silly rules."

She glares at me over the edge of the blanket. "You tried to hang from the bathroom door frame yesterday morning. Matteo caught you red-handed."

"Matteo talks too much and needs to mind his own business."

I ease my shoulder down until the pull along my ribs stops burning. "And I have dealt with way worse than this. A gunshot shoulder and a few stitches don't bother me."

She jerks the blanket smooth across her knees with sharp, quick tugs. "That is not something to brag about, Luca. It just makes you sound like a stupid kid who thinks hurting makes him tough."

I watch the stubborn tilt of her chin. "Pain keeps you sharp. Being sharp keeps you breathing."

"Coffee keeps you awake. Being smart keeps you breathing. Being an idiot just gets your cuts swollen and leaves me yelling at you at midnight."

I look down at the thick white tape covering my shoulder, then look straight back into her hazel eyes. "You have seen me without a shirt for three whole days. If you wanted to complain about my life, you should have made a list."

"Don't give me ideas. I make lists for men with way fewer problems than you." She leans over the empty space between us and pokes the clean white edge of the bandage. She watches my face to see what happens. "Does that hurt?"