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Alessandro
Everyone insisted Dario’s burns weren’t fatal. The fireball that had engulfed them both as Dario had launched himself at Amato hadn’t ignited the pool of accelerant I was standing in. Everything had been noise and panic until I was in an ambulance and on my own.
By the time I was taken to the ER, I was desperate. Everyone was asking stupid questions when all I wanted to do was get to Dario.
Was he blaming me? Was that why? Did he blame me for getting hurt?
I glanced over at the three cops all insisting they speak to me when the nurse had finished but I refused and said I was waiting for my lawyer.
I was going to take Tomasso away. Run. Could I still do that? I had no idea what time it was. Was it morning yet? I couldn’t see a clock or a window.
Was I still married?
Did I want to be?
I closed my eyes. Yes. Of course, yes. If I had any doubt before the moment when Dario flung himself at Amato, effectively saving me but sparking a blaze to engulf them both, would have made the decision easy, except in my soul I knew I’d already made it.
He was bossy, domineering, and did legally questionable things all the time, but he was gentle, fiercely protective of his family, and at one time he might have included me in that. But now?
Barely hours ago, I would have taken my brother and run because I had no choice. Run, even though I knew I was leaving my heart behind.
I looked up as Lucio walked right past the cops and into my room. “Where’s Dario? Is he okay? No-one will tell me anything.” The nurse stood and walked to the end of the cubicle to throw her gloves in the trash. “I need to see him now,” I said, and as a demand it was pathetic. Even I could hear the pleading in my voice. Lucio leaned forward. “Don’t say anything to anyone, we’ll sort a lawyer out.” He straightened up and almost looked apologetic. “He’s fine. Don’t worry.” He beckoned to me, and I shot after him, ignoring the doctor who had just turned up to talk to me.
An hour later, I was sitting on an uncomfortable chair in a sterile room clutching Dario’s hand. His hands and feet were bandaged, and he’d been sedated before they started and was still sleeping. Lucio, who seemed to be battery-powered, had refused all the cops’ attempts to coax me from the room to speak to me. Which was a good thing, as I had no idea what to say.
Gabriel was dead.
Tomasso was alive, sound asleep, Terry had said. And safe. Apparently Nonna was watching him like a hawk until he woke. I knew I had to be there, and the instant I knew Dario was awake I would go home. I remembered Lucio throwing his jacket over Dario to put the flames out and dragging him away from Gabriel and then I’d closed my eyes against the horror of Gabriel being burned alive.
Alvize had gotten me down and carried me out just as the ambulances arrived.
Lucio tried to make me lie down but gave up. I was desperate for Dario to wake but I had no idea what I would say to him when he did.
He moved restlessly and I felt the pressure on my fingers, and my eyes met the dark brown ones that I had fallen in love with. “Dario,” I whispered, clutching his wrist above the bandages with my other hand like it was a lifeline.
He stared at me as if he couldn’t believe his eyes. “Tomasso?”
“Asleep at home, but no one would dare get through Nonna.” I said, thinking of the torrent of promises that had come from her in regards to his care, and how anyone that thought to lay a finger on him would have to get through a very overprotective nonna.
Dario stared at me for a moment, didn’t say another word, then simply closed his eyes.
I stayed silent, but then the doctor insisted he speak to me about Dario's care, so I stepped out, knowing that both George and Marcus were outside his room, and Lucio was inside. Gia had just left because apparently Sofia was being held somewhere and there was the whole mess with Elisabetta still to sort out. It took longer than I thought to deal with what the doctor wanted, but then another doctor arrived, accompanied by the grim-faced lawyer I’d seen Dario with at the divorce hearing. The doctor stepped into the office and introduced himself as Daniel McGinty, Signor Banetti’s personal physician and informed him Dario was being collected by a private ambulance and being transferred.
I gaped, as shocked as the hospital doctor, but the lawyer produced the paperwork and I told myself that this was normal. Dario would hardly lie still and be a target for his enemies. I had so much to learn about the life I had married into. I trailed after the doctor back into to Dario’s room and frowned when I saw him sitting up, George trying to help him put on a shirt. He had a multitude of burns, none life-threatening, but he was in a lot of pain, which was why he had been sedated originally.
“Dario—” I started and took a step inside, ready to help when Lucio put a hand on my chest, effectively stopping me from entering. I looked up at him in confusion. “Lucio?”
Lucio met my puzzled gaze with a completely blank one. “My regrets, but Signor Banetti is being moved.” He gestured to Alvize, who had appeared behind me. “Alvize will drive you home to see your brother.”
“Dario,” I repeated more forcefully and tried to move Lucio, but it was like trying to move a wall. “I want to know where my husband is going,” I spat out, furious he was stopping me.
Dario didn’t even look up, but Lucio met my gaze. “The lawyer just informed us the divorce will be finalized this morning. Dario is no longer your husband.”
32
Alessandro
One Week later
