Page 90 of The Viper's Wife

The second the restaurant disappears from view, Alessia yells in French at someone on the phone.

I glance at Mamma through the rearview mirror. She’s staring out the window, eyes rimmed with tears.

Valeria clutches my hand tightly in both of hers. She’s pale.

Adrenaline rockets through my body.

Police cars scream past us.

A hit. That was an intentional hit.

A message.

I need to process what happened, and I need to figure out my next steps. But I can barely think, knowing everyone in this car had just been at risk.

I tightened my hand over Valeria’s. If I had lost her—it’s the only thought tearing through my mind. What if I had lost her?

What if I had lost her?

Nausea roils through me.

At Mamma and Alessia’s hotel, I take the rear to make sure no one follows us.

The moment their hotel door closes shut, Alessia goes to a kitchen table and sits down, folding her hands on top of the lacquered wood.

“Okay, let’s debrief,” she says.

“Alessia, not now,” I snap. I turn toward Valeria and rub along her arms, casting an eye for injuries.

She winces, cringing away from my left hand.

Blood.

Blood on her shoulder.

“Mamma, do you have a first-aid kit?” I call out.

“Nico, I’m fine,” Valeria protests as I twist her around to inspect her more fully. The cut is barely longer than an inch, but purple swirls over her skin, hinting at more bruising to come.

That was the shoulder I dropped her onto when the shooting started. It was my fault.

She’s pale as a ghost. When our gazes touch, her pupils dilating, all I can see is her fear.

I swallow acid.

“Nico,cazzo, you’re smothering her,” Alessia complains from behind.

Mamma appears at my side with a washcloth, antibiotic cream, and a single band-aid. “Darling, get a drink. She’s okay.”

“I am,” Valeria says. “Really, Nico.”

I step back so Mamma can attend to her. My fingers are shaking. I shove them into my pockets.

Valeria holds perfectly still for Mamma to doctor her up.

I roll my jaw, my hands forming fists in my pants. A need for violence shudders through me in suffocating waves, butthere’s no enemy to fight here, only myself and the women I love.

Valeria doesn’t meet my eye. I wish she’d look at me, even if I don’t want to see that wide-eyed expression again.