The door opens softly behind me. I don't turn around, but I know it's Lochlan. He doesn't say anything, just stands there, giving me space.
“Vincenzo's been amazing,” I continue. “He’s really supportive. He's always there when I need him, always backing me up. And Lochlan...” I glance back at him near the door, shivering under his heated stare. “He's not what I expected. He's actually... good. For me. I think.”
I turn back to my dad and sit in silence for a few more minutes, holding his hand, listening to the machines that keep him breathing.
“Look, Dad, you need to wake up,” I say finally. “I can hold things together for a while, but this is your world. I'm just borrowing it.”
I press a kiss to his forehead and stand up.
Lochlan waits for me to walk out of the room. His hand finds the small of my back, steadying me.
“You okay?” he asks in a soft voice.
“Yeah.” I take one last look back at my father. “I think I am.”
We walk down the hallway together. His hand stays on my back the whole way to the elevator.
And somewhere in the middle of all this chaos with the Russians, the capos, my father in a coma, and a marriage I never asked for, something finally clicks in my mind.
I can do this.
Iamdoing this.
And for the first time in weeks, I actually believe it.
CHAPTER 21
LOCHLAN
Something'sdifferent about her tonight.
I noticed it in the car on the way back from the hospital. The way she sat in the seat with her shoulders back and her chin up. There was zero evidence of the tension that usually lives in her spine. She just stared out the window and smiled. Not the polished, professional smile she uses in meetings. A real one. A happy one. One that made my heart jump in my chest at the sight.
She won today. She knows it. And it changed something in her.
Back in the penthouse, she stands by the windows, staring down at the world below. The city lights cast shadows across her face. Reaper is asleep on his bed in the corner, breathing softly. I stretch out on the couch, relaxing against the cushions.
It’s nice. Cozy. And for the first time since I moved in, this place actually feels like home.
A real home.
And it’s all because of Adriana.
She turns to look at me.
“Thank you,” she says. “For today. For being there.”
“I didn't do anything. That was all you.”
“Yeah, but you stood behind me. You didn't try to take over. You let me handle it.” She walks toward me, her movements slow and deliberate. “Do you know how rare that is? A man who doesn't need to be the one in charge?”
“I know exactly what you're capable of. Why would I get in the way of that?”
She stops in front of me and puts her hands on my shoulders. Her perfume wafts into the air, teasing me, taunting me. Fuck, she’s driving me crazy.
“You really mean that,” she says, and it’s not a question.
“I really mean that.”
