Ava covered her hand with her mouth and yawned.
I tugged on her hair. "Tired?"
She nodded.
I rolled onto my side of the bed. Stefan was on his knees, panting and staring at us. My brother was so used to me issuing orders. He looked like he didn't know what to do or where to go. Like a lost puppy.
Ava laid her head back on the pillows. She grabbed my hand, then Stefan's, and held our hands against the mattress at her sides.
"Stay with us," she whispered to Stefan.
Stefan glanced at me to confirm.
I nodded.
Why the fuck not?
The twins slept with me when they were kids and had nightmares. This wasn't the same. But it wouldn't kill me to let Stefan stay the night if it made our queen happy.
I was exhausted from the day's events and rolled onto my back, staring at the ceiling. A pain shot down my side, and I bit the inside of my cheek. Ava curled up beside me, her head on my chest.
Stefan lay on the other side, his head on the pillow and his hand on Ava's thigh.
She glanced at me and covered my hand with hers. "I can't wait to be your wife."
I hooked my good arm around her, brushing my fingers down her arm. "Get some sleep, Mrs. Luciano."
Her eyes lit up. "I like the sound of that."
Me too.
ChapterSeventeen
NICO
It was hard to say goodbye to the man who gave me life. Dad never made me feel like I was his bastard. But because of everyone else's stupid opinions, I tried to live up to the Luciano name.
I wanted to prove them wrong.
To make my dad proud.
I clutched my mother's hand, standing in front of my father's casket. The funeral home did an excellent job with his makeup and made him look like the man I had admired my entire life.
He was gone.
My dad was the one person in this family that made me feel welcome. I never felt out of place with him. Until recently, Dante and the twins made me feel like I didn't belong. Because of that, I tried to spend as much time away from home as possible. I intentionally chose a college away from home to give me some distance from them.
I wondered if my dad brought Ava into our lives because he knew she would unite us. That we would need each other once he was gone. He had a sixth sense with that kind of stuff. Salvatore Luciano was successful in business and life because he could read people. He always seemed to know what people needed.
"Nico," Mom whimpered, her body shaking as I held her in my arms. "I can't do this."
I smoothed my hand down her back. "Yes, you can, Ma. You're strong. Never needed a man to make your life better."
"I needed your father." Tears streaked down her pale cheeks, staining her skin with black mascara. "He was my rock. And now…"
"Ma, you still have me. You've done just fine on your own all these years."
"Oh, Sal." She placed her hand over her heart, gazing at my father's lifeless face. With her other hand, she touched my father's folded hands. "I knew I shouldn't have left this time. I could see that he needed me. But I had to…" Her voice trailed off from crying so hard, the words muffled.
