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I think Olivia has them with her,” she said. “They’re safe.”
I took a shuddering breath. Pain moved through me in a wave and my vision flashed. I could feel what little color I had draining from my face. Sienna leaned forward, the backs of her fingers grazing my forehead.
“You’re warm,” she murmured. “Lay back down. I have a round of medication the doctor wanted you to start on as soon as you woke. You’ve been fighting an infection on top of everything else.”
My entire body had gone from feeling cool to prickling with sweat. Sickness washed through me and centered in my stomach. I sank back onto the pillows and weakly watched her go to the hospital cart in the corner and open a pillbox.
“You were very dehydrated on top of the gunshot wound and the infection. And the drowning.” She turned around, a paper pill cup in her palm. “You’re too old to be doing this, Lucien.”
I laughed once and regretted it with every fiber of my body as pain shuddered out like a ripple. She filled a cup with water and returned to the bed, holding out the pills. I reached for them, but my arm wasn’t working. It was heavy and clumsy, knocking against the cup and spilling it onto the bedspread.
“Fuck,” I mumbled.
The corner of her mouth turned up. “Divine punishment,” she said.
“I see you haven’t changed,” I remarked.
Her face sobered as she gathered up the pills. She paused and chewed her lip slowly before glancing up. Her eyes were hesitant.
“I was mad at you for a long time for marrying me off to Viktor,” she said quietly. “I told him I didn’t want to see my family anymore. I chose to be estranged for the last decade.”
“I assumed it was something like that,” I said. “When you disappeared after your marriage.”
She sighed, turning her head away. I swallowed my pride and reached out and tried to take hold of her free hand. She whipped around, frowning.
“I’m sorry,” I said.
Her jaw dropped. “I’m…did you, Lucien Esposito, say you were sorry?”
“Don’t push your luck,” I said wearily. “But I am sorry and I mean that. For using you, for making you get married. If I could do it over again, I’d never do that to you.”
Her face softened. “You’re different, Lucien,” she said. “Olivia’s been really good for you.”
That was the understatement if the century. I nodded once, uncomfortable with the closeness in the room. Sienna and I had never been close and when she’d lived in the Esposito mansion, we’d fought constantly. We were both Espositos, strong-willed, belligerent, and cursed with sour tempers. Perhaps we’d clashed because we were too much alike.
“Do you think…things can be mended?” she asked.
“I think we can try,” I said.
She held out a pill and I managed to get it into my fingers so I could drop it on my tongue. I hated being helpless, especially when I was being taken care of by someone I’d wronged. My pride was a monster I’d never wrestle to the ground.
Sienna held the cup and I got the rest of the pills down. My head spun as she helped ease me back onto the bed and laid an extra blanket over my lap. I worked my jaw grimly as she bustled about the room. This wasn’t an ideal situation. I’d pictured bringing Olivia back to find a new home already under construction and the city set to rights.
Instead, the outfit was scattered and there were bodies in her garden.
I winced, turning to the window.
In the distance, a boat appeared on the horizon.
A small smile touched my mouth. I’d envisioned coming home to her on a boat, guided by the lamp in the window. Triumphant, victorious.
Instead, the hero of my story returned to me with all the burdens I’d placed on her steel shoulders
My poor Olivia.
I wasn’t the hero she deserved. For the first time in our marriage, I was helpless. But I knew her and I knew she would meet me where I was with grace despite my failings. Despite who I was and the never ending trail of bloodshed on my heels.
Perhaps, after all these years, that was all I needed.
