Page 77 of Heir of Darkness

Valerio nodded, taking in the instructions as if they were for him. He wouldn’t forget a single detail for Luna.

“So she shouldn’t talk at all?” he asked.

“Only if she wants her voice to recover quicker,” the doctor said. “Emergencies and anything urgent should be fine.”

He turned to her. “I’ll get you a whiteboard and a marker so you can communicate.”

She huffed, crossing her arms. He knew it sucked for her, but nothing was worse than her voice being permanently damaged. If there was a way to avoid it, then he would do it.

Valerio texted Dante, waiting a moment before he appeared, obnoxiously cracking his fingers. “Alright Doc, time to walk you out.”

The doctor nodded, offering Luna a small smile. He dropped the prescription on the counter beside them, packing up his things. Going to an actual doctor’s office would have beensimpler, but they didn’t want any other mafia families to find out there was a hit against Luna. Until Valerio was sure who was behind the attack, he couldn’t trust anyone outside the walls of his home.

So Valerio called—or more like forced—his doctor to do a house visit. He was able to watch over him with a harsh eye, keeping his promise not to leave Luna alone.

“If you need anything else, you know where to reach me,” the doctor said. He held out his hand, waiting for Valerio to set the check in it.

“Not a single word,” he told him with a warning. Expensive fucking doctor, but he was the only one he could find that was willing to keep his mouth shut under the right price.

“I respect my patient’s privacy,” the doctor said. With that, Dante guided him out of the kitchen. Luna flopped down on the counter with a huff. Valerio knew there were a million things she wanted to say, and yet, she wasn’t allowed to say any of them.

He wrapped his arms around her, resting his head on her shoulder. “I know this is going to be hard, but it’s better if you're healed completely. If you want, I’ll be your voice for you.”

Luna gave him an unserious look.

His smirk widened. “Was that a yes?”

She let out a frustrated sigh, smacking his arm.

“Are you hungry?” he asked, walking toward the fridge. “I can make you something quick before I put you to bed.”

She nodded her head.

Dante entered the room again, this time carrying a whiteboard and a pack of markers with him. “I know I kind of owe you right now, but being your assistant wasn’t what I anticipated,” he said, setting them in front of Luna.

She immediately ripped the pack open, scribbling something down.

“The only reason I didn’t put a bullet in you was because Luna begged me not to with the last remaining voice she had,” Valerio spit out. “So stop bitching and make sure you pick up her eye drops and pain meds.”

Dante turned toward Luna, grabbing the prescription off the counter. “I’ll apologize for the rest of my life if I have to.”

Luna waved him off and even that simple action pissed him off. Maybe Valerio wanted her to be more pissed off and unforgiving because if Finn was even a second too late, she wouldn’t be sitting in front of him right now. It was more serious than she acted like it was. More serious than she was allowing Dante to be let off the hook for. He should have checked on her, but he decided that partying and swallowing his fucking sorrows in alcohol and whatever dick he could find was more worth it than protecting Luna. So yes, he should apologize for the rest of his life, but instead Luna emphasized that if they wanted to find who did this to her, they needed to work together, not throw accusations down each other's throats.

Dante walked off, leaving the kitchen in silence again. Besides the night before, this was the only time they had been truly alone since everyone moved in. The household was chaotic and busy with Augustus’s and Cecilia’s arguing, Blair’s and Allister’s bickering, and Gianna throwing herself into the chaos just because she wanted to. It had been one night and it was already too much.

He prepared a pesto panini, putting it on the panini press to heat up. He turned toward her, reading the white board she held up.

Are you going somewhere tonight?

He nodded. “I’m going to the warehouse so I can see what I can find out about the asshole who tried to kill you. He might be dead, but people always leave some kind of clue about who they are on their bodies.”

She frowned, erasing the white board with her hand and scribbling something else on it quickly. He handed her a paper towel to use as an eraser when she turned it back around.

So I’ll be here alone?

“No, you’ll have the girls with you. I’ll only be an hour, which is entirely too long, but I assumed you wouldn’t want to deal with looking at a dead body like that,” he said. “If you want to come, I won’t mind.”

She shook her head quickly.

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