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Family meant everything to Nicco. But asking her to leave Verona…
I couldn’t wrap my head around that.
Didn’t want to.
“I should let you rest.” He stood. “Thank you, for everything.”
I wanted to argue, to tell him he couldn’t possibly send Alessia away, not when I—
Fuck.
I couldn’t even say the words.
Because saying them wouldn’t change anything.
She was young, she had her entire life ahead of her. Nicco was right, she could do anything, be anything. Maybe this life was a shackle she shouldn’t have to bear.
I gave him a small nod, not trusting myself to reply, and closed my eyes.
At least in my dreams, I could allow myself to think about her.
* * *
Ten days.
That’s how long it took until the doctors finally relented and agreed to discharge me.
The bullet wounds in my shoulder and thigh were mostly superficial and just needed time to heal. But the bullet that had hit me in the back had almost perforated my left kidney, and the doctors wanted to monitor me closely. But after a week, I was climbing the walls.
Arianne stopped by as much as she could. She even brought Lucia a couple of times. Jay and Luis came by too. Thankfully Bella had been unharmed in the attack but Jay had taken a bullet to arm and managed to knock himself out when he smashed his head against the asphalt. Thankfully Michele and Marcella were also unharmed. Enzo and Matteo even stopped by with Antonio.
The only person who didn’t come was Alessia.
Not that I truly expected her to. Not after how things had ended between us. But maybe it was better this way. She needed to move on, to prepare for college, figure out what she wanted to do with life, and date guys her own age.
Yet, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was missing something. Fragments of a hazy dream where Alessia was crying over my dying body, whispering three little words I didn’t deserve to hear, lingered in my mind, taunting me.
I love you.
But it wasn’t real. It was just my pain-addled brain playing tricks on me.
Alessia didn’t love me.
How could she?
“You look like you’ve seen better days.” Enzo walked into the room, pushing a wheelchair.
“Nice to see you too.”
“The boss sent me. He and Ari are having some kind of teething drama. Lucia hasn’t stopped crying all morning. You know Nicco, he’s one tear away from taking her to the ER. Ready to get out of here?”
“Fuck yes.” I pushed up off the bed, wincing as a dull pain shot through me.
“You good?”
“Hurts like a bitch, but I’ll live.”
“If it’s any consolation, we made Mahoney suffer.” Enzo didn’t miss a beat as he said the words, his blood lust obvious.
