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“What the hell happened tonight?”
“I-I don’t…” I swallow hard. “I don’t know.”
“He had a meeting at the docks,” Avery speaks up grimly. Her eyes are red, and she looks like she’s been crying—not that she’d ever show weakness in front of this crowd. “Something about a lead, to the mole.”
“It was an ambush then,” Chase announces.
“Fucking Feds,” someone mutters.
“Or the Kovacks,” Chase agrees. “Either way, whoever’s behind this won’t live to see another day, I’ll make fucking sure of it.”
Vance.
I remember his betrayal and look around. But there’s no sign of him. He’s probably long gone by now.
“Lily?” Avery studies me. “What is it?”
I hesitate, then shake my head. “Nothing.”
I’m not ready to share what I know. And besides, how can I prove it? I only know Vance is connected to the FBI because I was in that hotel meeting them myself. I didn’t go through with selling out Nero, but I’m not about to incriminate myself in a room full of his men, ready to go to war with any traitors.
I feel a chill, remembering my precarious position here. I’m Nero’s wife—by law, if not by choice. But it’s only his protection that’s kept me alive so far. He told me himself: Without him, there are plenty of Barretti guys who would happily make me pay for my father’s betrayal of the organization, ten years ago.
I need him. Alive.
But as if in response to my fevered prayer, the doctor emerges into the kitchen. I’m taking a sip of water, but when I see the blood on his shirt and the grave expression on his face, I lose my grip.
SMASH.
The glass shatters on the floor, and everyone shuts up, turning to see me. And the doctor.
“No…” I whisper, my voice trembling.
The doctor exhales. “I’m afraid there was nothing I could do,” he says, refusing to meet my eyes. “His injuries were too severe.”
My legs give way and I grab the counter for balance. “Are you saying…”
I can’t even utter the words.
“Nero didn’t make it.”
The world spins as I hear the shocked reactions around me.
No.
I can’t believe it. I can’t. I would know. I would feel it. Because without him…
Before I know what I’m doing, I lunge for the hallway. “Wait!” the doctor calls, but I ignore him, charging past, straight for the den. I fling open the door, not even thinking about what I might find on the other side.
But whatever I could imagine, it’s not this.
Nero’s body is sprawled on the couch. He’s got bandages and bruises on his naked chest, bloody towels crumpled on the floor. And his eyes… are open.
He raises his head to look at me and offers a weak glare. “Miss me, Princess?”
And I just about stop breathing.
He’s alive.
