Page 98 of Fierce Hearts

The last thing I remembered before consciousness slipped away completely was a promise I made to myself: I would survive this. For Sofia. For our child. For the family I never knew I wanted until her.

* * *

Beeping. Steady, rhythmic beeping pulled me back to consciousness. My eyelids felt weighted down, but I forced them open. White ceiling tiles came into focus, then blurred again.

Something warm covered my hand. I turned my head slightly, wincing at the pain that shot through my body with the movement.

Sofia. Her head was resting on the edge of my hospital bed, her hand covering mine. Dark circles shadowed her eyes, and her hair was pulled back in a messy ponytail. She'd never looked more beautiful.

I squeezed her hand weakly. "Hey."

Her head shot up, eyes wide and immediately filling with tears. "Gray? You're awake."

"Seems that way." My voice was rough, throat dry from the breathing tube they must have used during surgery.

She reached for a cup of water with a straw, holding it to my lips. The cool liquid was heaven on my parched throat.

"How long was I out?" I asked after taking a few sips.

"Just the night." Sofia's voice trembled slightly. "The doctors said you were lucky—the knife missed your vital organs by millimeters."

I noticed we weren't alone in the room. Meredith stood from a chair in the corner, relief washing over her face. Leo leaned against the wall, his usual stoic expression softened with concern. Even Gabriella was there, standing near the window.

"He's too stubborn to die," Leo said, moving closer to the bed. "Glad you decided to stick around."

I tried to smile, but it probably looked more like a grimace. "Can't leave you to run things on your own. You'd fuck it all up."

Leo chuckled, but I could see the tension in his shoulders ease slightly.

"How are you feeling?" Meredith asked, coming to stand beside Sofia.

"Like I got stabbed." I attempted to shift positions and immediately regretted it. "Fuck."

Sofia's hand tightened around mine. "Don't try to move. You lost a lot of blood, and they had to repair some tissue damage."

I looked at her closely, noticing the redness around her eyes. She'd been crying. "The baby?"

"The baby's fine," she assured me. "I'm fine. You're the one who decided to play hero and get hurt. And even that stress didn't upend anything."

"What happened after..." I gestured vaguely at my bandaged torso.

Leo's lip quirked. "Daniel shot him dead, we've contained it, trying to find his connection, but no luck so far. It was clearly a hit. Either Ernesto or Juan, but we're still trying to tie it to them. Sofia has set things in motion now."

I raised an eyebrow, which hurt less than trying to sit up. "What things?"

"I contacted Caterina through Mama,” Sofia explained. "She wanted to organize a meeting to discuss how this should be done. Julia is onboard with it all. We should have the right backing for it now."

"When?"

"This evening. In a small town outside the city. Caterina will meet with me, while Julia and Bianca will join via call. Caterina will relay it to the others she has ready to back and support her."

I didn't like the sound of Sofia meeting anyone without me there to protect her, but I was in no condition to argue. Besides, if Julia was involved, it meant our plan to expose Ernesto and then remove him from play was coming to fruition. If she failed, Caterina would step in. This was all coming together.

"You've been here all night. Let's go down to the cafeteria, get some food, stretch your legs. He's okay." Meredith said, touching Sofia's shoulder while offering me a relieved smile.

Sofia hesitated, looking at me.

"Go," I told her. "I'm not going anywhere, not like this. Besides, I've got Leo here. You need to eat, princess."

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