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“We’d run into each other on occasion over the years at casinos. He was a fan. I happened to bump into him in Monaco, and I asked him for help. He wouldn’t give me the money, but I said I knew a way to get it myself, and I’d pay him a hundred K if he could help me out.”
“Fucking A, Anthony.” I cursed again. The harsh breaths as I tried to tame my temper hurt my lungs, reminding me yet again of all the damage Anthony had caused. I clutched my chest, but this time I knew the pain there was emotional, not physical. “You fake abducted yourself and used me to get you the cash. And what, you thought an even million didn’t sound believable, so you went with nine fifty?”
He was lucky I was bedridden when he shrugged, because so help me . . .
“I figured you’d find a way to help me if you were motivated enough.”
I trained my attention on the ceiling, unable to look at him anymore.
“But then Hugo showed up in Monaco looking for another fling with Bianca. Apparently, he still had feelings for her. Talk about shit timing. When he asked about her jewelry, she confessed what I’d done.”
“And he found you.” I thought my luck was bad. My brother’s was top-shelf variety.
“You got there just in time.”
“You never anticipated your plan would fail?”
“Not with you at the helm,” he bluntly admitted. “I mean, that’s what you do. You save people, right?”
“I failed you.” My stomach twisted as I looked toward the window again. The memories that sprang to my mind were as dark as the night beyond it. The long deployments and infrequent calls when I was younger. “Time and time again from the looks of it.”
Anthony rounded the bed and narrowed his gaze on me. “You have to stop with that shit. Dad died. It wasn’t your fault, and it wasn’t your responsibility to take over for him.” He stabbed a finger at his chest. “My decisions, my fuckups, are on me. Not you.” He sighed heavily. “When I saw that friend of yours take off for the burning building, and I thought you were going to die . . .” He swiped a hand over his face. “I knew it was time I step up. Save you the way you always saved me.” Tears slipped down his cheeks. “And you were always there for me. Whether you believe that or not, it’s true.”
Mom had made a similar apology an hour earlier—for the pressure to “take care” of everyone all the time, especially looking out for Anthony. She said she’d been terrified when I almost died the way Dad had, and then she broke down and sobbed.
I couldn’t handle seeing her sad like that. And I didn’t blame her for anything.
But Anthony? He just pissed me off.
I was too angry to deal with his apology. My friends could’ve died. I could have left Natalia before we’d had a chance to even be together.
I hated him right now. I knew I’d find a way to forgive him eventually, because that was who I was, but today wasn’t the day.
“I need you to leave.” I was struggling to put a cap on my emotions.
“About Natalia—”
“I know what you did. The fake engagement,” I snapped, my anger only further fueled by that memory. “That will definitely take me time to forgive.”
“I’ll talk to her. Grovel if I have to, to make things right.” His gaze shot to the monitors at my side, and I realized my heart rate had shot up when he mentioned Natalia. “What’s wrong?”
“The idea of you on your knees for her just pisses me off, I guess.” Because they’d once dated and . . . yeah, that thought had me wanting to puke.
“Wow. You really like her, don’t you? It’s not fake.” His brows snapped together. “I’m, um, happy for you, then.” Anthony nodded. “I’ll change.” He turned toward the door. “For you. For Dad. I promise I’ll change.”
* * *
“You and that hard head of yours.” Samantha simultaneously kissed my cheek and squeezed my hand. “Thank you for protecting my guy, though.” When she pulled back, there were tears in her eyes. It was the following morning, and Owen’s wife’s flight had arrived an hour ago.
“We’ll always have each other’s backs, you know that.” I looked over at Natalia on the other side of the bed, grateful she was there, too.
As for my brother, I’d asked Enzo to fly him and my mom to Charlotte a few hours ago. I’d convinced my mother having Anthony around wasn’t great for my heart, and she’d reluctantly left with him. Enzo promised not to toss him off the jet mid-flight since I’d worked so hard to save him.
I’d also forced Noah to go home to his family as well. He didn’t need to hang around. His part of the mission was complete, and I had no plans to code again, or whatever the hell happened to me that’d terrified Natalia. I would be forever grateful to him for being there when everything went to hell, but his family needed him more than I did.
“I wanted to meet your friends,” Natalia spoke up, pulling me from my thoughts, “just not like this.” She peered over at Owen hanging back by the door.
“Well, I have a feeling we’ll all see each other again for another reason.” Owen winked at Natalia, and I knew what he was implying. A wedding. God, I could only hope.
