Chapter Fourteen

Mattia

B eads of sweat trickle down my forehead, the sterile scent of disinfectant in the air as I struggle to open my eyes. They feel so fucking heavy. My vision blurs before finally focusing on the white ceiling above me.

The steady beeping of a heart monitor fills my ears while the pain surging through my body sends shudders down my spine.

What the fuck happened?

Flickers of memory flash through my mind, hazy and disjointed. None of them make much sense. All I remember is…Aurelia.

Where is she?

I turn my head to the left, and my gaze lands on her. My heart jolts against my ribcage. She's curled up in a chair by my side, fast asleep. Her raven hair cascades around her round face, framing it. Even in her sleep, she looks like an angel.

"Aurelia," I whisper, relief washing over me at the sight of her. She's here and safe.

"It's the first time she's slept in days," Rafe says, his voice hoarse.

I roll my head to the right, following the sound of his voice to find him leaning against the wall by the door, watching me. He looks fucking exhausted, with dark shadows under his eyes and wrinkles creased into his suit.

"How long?" I rasp. The words feel like razor blades inside my raw throat.

Rafe strides toward me, grabbing a cup from the table beside the bed. "Eight days," he says.

Eight days. Dio.

I've been out for eight fucking days?

"What…?" I pause when Rafe holds the cup out to me, allowing me to take a drink. The cool water feels like liquid gold sliding down my throat. Christ, it's good.

I drink until I can't breathe and then lean back, grimacing at the pain that courses through me with every movement.

"What happened?"

Concern flickers through Rafe's dark gaze. "You don't remember?"

I hesitate, trying to pull forward a memory…any memory. Everything is chaotic and jumbled, like shattered glass in my mind. But I sift through them anyway, trying to fit them into place.

"Brio stabbed me," I finally mutter, the fragmented memory surfacing like a phantom pain.

"Yeah," Rafe growls. "He nearly killed you." He swallows hard, as if the words are difficult for him to say. "No. He did kill you. For four minutes, you were dead."

"Jesus." The truth settles over me like a shroud. I almost broke my promise to Aurelia. I nearly left her behind, alone and unprotected.

"Don't ever fucking do that again, Agostino, do you hear me?" Rafe rasps, his eyes bright.

I nod, my chest pulsing with emotion as I glance at his sister. The last thing I intend to do is fucking die and leave her alone.

"I never should have kept the truth from you," I confess to Rafe. "You deserved to know about her from the beginning."

"Yeah, I did," he agrees, his voice steady. "But we're past that now, Mattia." I glance back over at him, his obsidian eyes fixed on mine. "She loves you."

"My heart beats for her," I say simply. It's nothing but the truth. I've spent a lifetime alone, accepted by the Valentino family, welcomed into it, but not really part of it—not entirely, anyway. I've always been an outsider looking in. My family was taken from me when I was seven. I've been on my own ever since, living half a life. Until Aurelia. With her, I feel alive. I have a purpose. My life has meaning. She's my family. She's my purpose. She's the meaning. Without her, my life is just blood and death and black and pain. I've had enough of that bullshit.

Rafe jerks his chin in a nod. "I know. The few times you've said anything over the last eight days, it's been her name. If anything kept you alive, it was her." He sighs, rubbing a hand over his face. "I'm mad as hell that you married her without even fucking telling us that she existed, but I know you did it for the right reasons. You've always put this family above everything. I can respect that."

"It's what I vowed to do, Rafe. Protect your family."

"Our family, Mattia. This is our family." He tilts his head to the side, his expression serious. "You still don't understand, do you?"

"Understand what?"

"I could have chosen anyone to be my consiglieri," he says. "Doesn't matter what my father wanted. I didn't have to choose you, Mattia. I chose you because I wasn't willing to lose another brother after Nico walked away. I was keeping my fucking family together, no matter what."

"Jesus," I whisper, swallowing hard.

"You've always been part of this fucking family." He narrows his eyes on me, the unspoken threat hanging heavy in the air. "But if you make her cry, you answer to me, motherfucker. Not as your Capo, not as your brother, but as her brother."

I smile, a feral, dangerous smile, pleased that she doesn't just have me looking out for her now. She has her brothers, too. She deserves nothing less than their loyalty. And I expect nothing less than to catch hell if I don't treat her like the queen she is.

My gaze drifts back to her, and I can't help but ask the question that's been gnawing at me. "What about her mother? Is she…?"

Rafe shakes his head sadly.

My heart clenches as I look up at the sterile hospital ceiling. "Fuck. That sorry motherfucker."

"Brio didn't kill her," Rafe says quietly. "He actually had a doctor looking after her, trying to keep her alive, but she was seriously ill. We talked to the doctor who was treating her. By the time they found the cancer, it had spread too far. There was nothing they could do."

I glance at Aurelia, my heart aching for her. She tried so fucking hard to save her mother. So hard.

I'm sorry, little mouse.

"How's she handling it?" I ask, fucking worried about her. Fucking hating that she's been grieving alone.

"Surprisingly well. She understands that Brio didn't kill her—the cancer did. She's grieving, but she's going to be okay." His eyes flicker with determination. "We'll make sure of that."

"Yeah, we will," I murmur, my eyes locked on her. I'll spend the rest of my life making sure that she's okay. Even if it takes the rest of my life to ensure it, she will be okay.

"Tell me what happened after I was stabbed," I demand, needing to know the details of the chaos I've missed.

Rafe rubs the back of his neck, weary from the weight of it all. "We rushed you out of there, straight to the hospital. The cops had a lot of questions, but Diego has it handled."

I shoot him a look, knowing damn well it hasn't been as easy as he's making it sound. It never fucking is when the cops get involved.

Rafe smirks. "We lied our asses off. As far as they know, Brio kidnapped you to get us there. When we showed up, it was an ambush, and they tried to kill us all. They're mad as hell that they can't charge us, but the fact that he had the house full of his people and enough weapons to start a fucking war is working in our favor. So far, it looks like self-defense. The fact that Aurelia gave a statement about him kidnapping her and her mother didn't hurt, either." He pauses. "It's looking like he's also responsible for burning down the warehouse."

"Jesus," I mutter, trying to process the ramifications of the situation. "This will be a shitshow."

Rafe chuckles, his eyes gleaming with a hint of dark amusement. "It's always a shitshow, Mattia. But it's one we'll manage. Just like we always do."

"Mattia!" Aurelia gasps suddenly, jolting awake. She sits upright in a panic, the thin blanket falling from around her.

"Easy, cara mia ," I murmur gently, my heart aching at the fear in her voice. "I'm right here."

"Mattia!" Her blue eyes widen, locking with mine. She stares at me for a long moment, almost as if she's staring at a ghost. Her bottom lip quivers, a thousand different emotions running through her eyes.

"Hi, little mouse."

Tears well in her eyes, a soft cry trembling on her lips. "You're awake," she breathes, her voice full of disbelief. "You're really awake."

"Little mouse," I say softly, smiling through the pain. "I told you nothing would keep me from you, didn't I?"

She sobs my name, her emotions spilling over. I hold my arms out for her, desperately needing her in them again. Until she is, nothing else fucking matters.

Without hesitation, she jumps to her feet, scurrying the few steps between her chair and the bed before collapsing against my chest with a broken cry.

I wrap my arms around her, pressing my face into her hair. "Aurelia," I breathe, my heart caught in a vise. My throat burns. So do my eyes. "I've got you."

She clings to me as if she's never going to let me go, sobbing my name over and over. And for the first time since I woke up, I don't feel pain.

All I feel is her.