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“Charlotte. Don’t you know? You’re the air I breathe. The ground I worship. I adore you. I’m in over my head with you. I’m so in love with you that I don’t know what's up from down anymore.”
I lift up our joined hands and press a hard kiss to them. Tears spill down my face and down his arms.
“Hey, I’m okay. Don’t cry. The darkest nights always produce the brightest stars, you know that. We’re okay.”
I sniffle as I nod and stammer, “Yes. we’re okay.”
There’s a soft knock on the door, and it swings open. Martha and John rush in. “Ezra! Alex just told us what happened. You’re okay?!” Martha moves to his other side and runs a soft hand through his hair.
“I’m fine, Mom. Why are you carrying flowers, Dad?”
I glance back only just noticing the huge bouquet of blue hydrangeas in his hands. “When we got in, the nurse said someone sent them for you. Here, Charlie.”
I accept the flowers with a small frown. I walk to the bedside table and place it there. I pluck out the card. I gasp as I read the words.
Sincere Condolences on the death of La Fiamma.
I hope you’ll take this opportunity to live your
Life to the fullest with your sweet Charlotte and precious twins.
I’m letting you go this time, Ezra.
But in exchange, you owe me a favor. You’ll know when I’ve collected .
The card isn’t signed. But it doesn’t have to be. I know who it is. I pass it to Ezra wordlessly. The corner of his lips turns up as he reads it. He hands the card back to me.
“There’s a lighter in the pocket of the pants I was wearing when I was brought in. Burn the card,” he instructs with a smile.
“What? Why burn it?” Martha asks, studying the two of us.
“So we can have a fresh start,” Ezra answers cryptically. I squeeze his hand one more time before letting go to burn the fucking card.
“I’m justglad it’s all finally over,” I tell him, three days later as I finish helping Ezra shave in the hospital bathroom. I take out a couple of clean wipes and clean off the residual shaving cream. Then I push his wheelchair back into his room.
“Don’t you agree?” I ask when he still hasn’t said anything. He gives me a side eye as he grunts. I pause.
“Is there anything else I need to know? You’re not keeping another secret from me, are you? Now, while you’re hospitalized, is the right time to tell me. The trauma from almost losing you afew days ago is still fresh, and I might be more inclined to forgive you,” I add to tease him.
He glances up at me, those light blue eyes of his so warm as they gaze upon my face, I smile as I blush.
“Actually, there is one thing you should know. About my family,” he reveals, shifting his gaze to a point over my shoulders.
I wordlessly help him get back into the bed and wait for him to settle in, before asking. “Does it have something to do with what you said to me that night? The night you got shot?”
“What do you mean?”
“You said the Beauforts hold a lot of power in town, that not even Massimo Moratti or his men could come here undetected, so I’m more safe here than I could be anywhere else. Does it have to do with that?”
He hesitates briefly, then nods. “Yes.” He blows out a breath. “Where do I even start? It’s a long story.”
“Start from the very beginning,” I suggest grabbing his hand to give him a soft squeeze. No matter what it is that he’s going to say, I’m confident we can work through it together.
“Okay. So, um…my ancestor was an enforcer forLe Milieu, the French Mafia, before he migrated to the states. Actually, it was kind of the Beaufort family’s thing to be the reigning family’s enforcer, before Ezra left. Not me, Ezra Beaufort I,” he adds. “I was named after him, because Dad said he was really grateful to him for changing the family’s trajectory.”
My heart does a slow thud, and I think I’m starting to see where this is going. Oh God, I try to make my face impassive as I give him a nod to continue.
“Anyway, there were some territory disputes, and a new figure rose to claim the head title ofLe Milieu.Of course, the reigning family wasn’t just going to give it up. They got into along battle, which led to the death of many. The reigning family was completely wiped out.
