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Seb stiffens. "What are you implying Luca?" he asks.
"Just stating a fact, is all." Luca tilts his head. "Better not let your emotions get the better of you."
"You done?" Seb says in a hard voice. The tension between the two stretches. Anger leaps off of Seb's big body, but his face doesn't change expression.
The two men glare at each other, then Luca jerks his chin. "I'd watch your back if I were you." He walks past us, and Seb's shoulders relax a little.
"What was that? What was he talking about?" I ask.
"Nothing you need to concern your pretty little head about."
I firm my lips. "You're a sadistic asshat, you know that?"
He raises a shoulder. "I’ll drop you at home."
"I can see myself home, thank you very much."
"You’re not going anywhere without me." He closes the distance between us.
Suddenly, someone screams behind us.
4
Seb
I glance over her shoulder just in time to see Nonna swaying on her feet. Cassandra, our housekeeper, has her arm around Nonna. She staggers under the weight of the other woman. In two quick steps, Adrian reaches her and steadies the both of them. Nonna presses a hand to the side of her chest and her fingers come away bloody.
"Fuck," I race toward Nonna, Elsa right behind me.
Adrian and Cass lower her gently to the settee and she leans her head back against it.
Aurora reaches her at the same time as me. She places her medical bag on the floor and sits down next to Nonna. She takes Nonna’s pulse and her features shutter. "Call an ambulance," she tells Christian, who grabs his phone and walks a few feet away as he dials.
"Here," Elsa shrugs off the scarf she’s wearing and gives it to Aurora, who uses it to staunch the flow of blood.
Nonna’s eyelids flutter. She glances over the faces of all those assembled.
"It’s good that everyone is here." She coughs.
"Don’t try to talk, Nonna." I sink down to my knees next to her and take her hand in mine. "Save your strength."
"Don’t stop me, Seb." Her lips kick up at the edges. "You’ve always been the most stubborn of all my boys. Once you get an idea into your head, you won’t stop until you’ve found a way to make it happen. I wish I could have been around long enough to see you get married."
"The air-ambulance is on its way; it should be here within four minutes. I’m going to alert the guards so they can come right in when they arrive." Christian walks off.
Nonna coughs again. My heart hammers in my chest.
"You’re going to be okay," I say the words aloud, not only to convince her but also myself. "You will be around long enough to see me get married."
"You promise?" She squeezes my hand. "Promise you’ll get married. Promise you won’t let what your father did to you get in the way of finding true happiness."
"Why are you talking like this?" I bring up my other hand and envelop her thinner, more fragile one between both of mine. "You’ll be around to see the rest of us boys get married."
She smiles sadly. "I had hoped so, but I don’t think I’ll be alive that long."
"Nonna," I protest as the sound of an approaching chopper reaches us.
She tilts up her chin in my direction. "Promise me you’ll get married within the next month."
