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“Do whatever you feel is best, Doc. You have my permission.”
“Very well,” he nodded. “I’ll go scrounge up the equipment I need. Expect me back in let’s say an hour, two at the most.”
We bid the vet farewell and as I pulled up an extra seat, planting it beside Val and sitting, she turned to me and asked, “What’s going on, Niccolò?”
I sighed, making the wiser decision to not beat around the bush. “Samara knows who I am. So do the boys.”
Val whistled sharply at first but opted to remain verbally silent.
“That’s not the worst of it. The night I found Griffin on my doorstep, there was a note attached to his body, instructing me to meet Damien Reyez at Fishnets. Samara assumed it was a trap, so she volunteered to go by herself, and I foolishly agreed. It turned out the meeting wasn’t intended for me. It was meant for Samara. Damien…” I sucked in a breath, failing to hide the crack in my voice. “He raped her, Val. He raped my baby girl.”
Val remained quiet for a long moment, her hands gripping the armrests so tight her knuckles were pale white.
“I know what he’s done to Griffin. I grieve for him just as you do. But Samara, she was never supposed to be part of this. Everything I’ve done, leaving her and Lily behind and faking my death…” I swallowed hard, my breath trembling. “I did that to protect them, Val. You know that. None of that matters now because it was all for nothing.Fucking. Nothing.”
“It wasn’t for nothing,” she said after a moment, sighing as she reached over and grabbed my hand, squeezing it. “I know it may not feel like it, but you did the right thing. However, getting involved with Rhett’s mother and adopting a new family, nowthatwas foolish. It’s too little too late to be saying this now, but you should have gone back for them, Niccolò.”
“It wouldn’t have done any good. Even with Father out of the way, Lily and Samara would’ve remained in danger if I’d gone back to retrieve them.” Aside from maybe Val, what nobody seemed to grasp or had bothered to cogitate was that I’d already considered all of the possibilities beforehand. Our father hada lot of enemies back then, dangerous criminals who wanted nothing fucking more than to burn all of the Antolini empire and anyone linked to our family down to the fucking ground. It was part of the reason I faked my death, changed my identity, my face,everything.And it was also the core reason why I made the decision not to go back for my family. Times were destructively different back then and Storm Ridge Valley wasnota safe and suitable place to raise a child. Lily knew that too and yet she still fucking chose to come back. She’d signed not only her death certificate, but now possibly Samara’s too.
“I suppose that’s true,” Val agreed, nodding as she considered it. “Our father did have a lot of blood on his hands at the time. But even so, I still can’t help but feel like there was more you could’ve done for them.”
I snorted at her. “I made the ultimate fucking sacrifice forthem, Valerie. All Lily had to do was take care of our daughter and keep her safe. Tell Samara that I’d passed away in a car accident and had left them with more than enough money to help make all of their dreams come true. I just don’t under—”
“Forgive me, Niccolò, but I think you need to take a minute and acknowledge your own wrongdoing here. Not all of this is on Lily. This is on you too. If you hadn’t gotten so comfortable in your new life and decided to stop tracking their location, then you’d have known she came back. None of this had to happen, Niccolò, and I’m sorry, okay, I am. But this is just as much your fault as it is Lily’s.”
“I’m well aware of what I did and didn’t do, Val,” my voice angrily shook. “Thank you for reminding me.”
She rolled her eyes at me then and shook her head. “Listen to me. What’s done is done, and there isn’t a damn thing anyone can do about it. The boys will forgive you eventually. Samara, however, should be your top priority right now. Just talk to her, Niccolò. Tell her the truth and try to help her understand thatit was never your intention to hurt her. She’ll forgive you when she’s ready.”
That was easier said than done, but I nodded anyway and got to my feet, exhaling a trembling breath as I approached Griffin, my eyes burning.
“If he makes it out of this, Damien can’t find out—”
“He won’t,” I fiercely promised, my chest aching as I leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to the top of Griffin’s bandaged head.
“Don’t die on me, kid,”I whispered to him, praying he could hear me.“We still need you.”
A tear slipped out my eye and landed against Griffin’s pale cheek.
“Ginger needs you.”
Samara
16
Iawoke the next morning in Jace’s bed to the smell of something burning, and Jace swearing loudly as the smoke detectors began wailing like a police siren.
“You fuckingidiot,” he sneered again, talking to himself. “Of all goddamn things, how the fuck did I manage to burn the toast?”
Beyond my control, I giggled, the sound morphing into a painful hiss thanks to the soreness spreading through my body. After giving myself a proper minute to brace myself, I eased up and out of bed, blowing out a fumbled, excruciating breath when my feet touched the carpet.
The alarms finally seized when I made it inside the bathroom and sat down on the toilet, frowning down at the bloody pad stuck to my underwear, whimpering as I pushed to empty my bladder. Bracing myself again as I grabbed the toilet paper, I shut my eyes and gently wiped. Relief swept over me when I opened them and found little to no blood streaked across the damp tissue.
Thank fucking GOD.
After wrapping the nasty pad in tissue and tossing it in the trash, I called out to Jace for help. Something fell to the floor, and then the next thing I heard were his footsteps stampeding down the hall.
“Kitten?” He stepped across the threshold, his dark eyes filled with concern. “Are you okay? I didn’t know you were up.”
