Page 97 of Heir of Darkness

“Yes,” Luna answered before anyone else could. “It’s getting late. You guys can go. I’ll help him back into bed.”

She ignored the way Valerio rolled his eyes and instead focused on scheduling a time for them to come back tomorrow. She turned to him, grabbing his arm.

“I love when you play nurse, but I’m seriously fine,” he said. With careful steps, they made their way back into the bedroom. He let out a loud sigh when he finally sat back down on the bed.

Luna narrowed her eyes. “That doesn’t sound fine.”

“What can I say, you take my breath away,” he said with a small smirk.

This time Luna was rolling her eyes. “Very smooth.”

He grabbed her hands, pulling her down to sit on his lap. She immediately fell into his warmth, finding peace in his heartbeat against her back. “I know you’re worried,” he said, surrounding her with his arms. “You have every right to feel that way. But remember, I’m not going anywhere.”

She shut her eyes. She wanted to tell him he almost did go somewhere, that she was worried because she believed that at any moment he would be ripped from her arms again. Instead, she nodded. “I know.”

He pressed a kiss to her forehead, allowing it to linger. “Let’s go downstairs to eat. I’m starving,” he told her.

“I can bring it up,” she suggested, standing.

He shook his head. “It should be me bringing you food in bed, not the other way around.”

“You’ll have your entire life to do it,” she said, helping him off the bed.

Despite Luna’s protests, Valerio made his way down the stairs. She could see the improvements, but something in her mind refused to believe it was real. She kept her arms on him the entire time, providing the support she knew he needed but was too stubborn to admit to.

They hadn’t even approached the kitchen yet when loud laughs rang through the halls, reminding them of the full house at the moment. They walked to the kitchen table, ignoring the arguing going on between Augustus and Cecilia. It happened far more often than Luna would have liked.

“Look who decided to join us,” Gianna mused from the kitchen counter.

Valerio pulled out a chair for Luna, forcing her to sit down first. She sent him a glare, but he pretended not to see it. Instead, he approached the stove to grab whatever food had been made.

“He refuses to rest,” Luna told her, rubbing at her eyes. They burned and ached with exhaustion.

“You look like you haven’t slept in weeks,” Blair said, a frown on her face as she took the seat beside Luna. “Are you okay?”

She nodded. “Yeah, I just haven’t been sleeping well. Why are they going at it again?” It was an easy way to move the conversation away from herself.

Blair snorted. “You know how they are. This is their foreplay.”

Luna’s eyes drifted back to Valerio, who was nodding his head at something Allister was telling him. He shifted slightly on his legs. Not noticeable to anyone else, but Luna wasn’t anyone else. She knew he should be sitting down instead of moving around like he wasn’t shot in the back two weeks ago.

She moved to stand up, but Valerio was already turning around to walk back to her. He set two bowls on the table, some kind of pasta with marinara sauce. “Apparently Dante made it. Not sure how good it’ll taste,” he told her, taking the seat to her right.

“Hey, fuck you. I know how to cook.” Dante grinned, slapping Valerio on the shoulder. Luna flinched as if it had impacted her.

Cecilia stormed over to the table. “God, I can’t stand men,” she said with a huff.

“Trust me, I know,” Gianna said, taking a seat. “There’s too much testosterone around here. I’m suffocating.”

“I thought this was your dream scenario,” Dante said, cackling at his own joke.

“It would be if the people I’m related to weren’t here as well,” she said, rolling her eyes.

Luna watched Valerio eat his food, holding the hand he’d placed on her thigh tightly. She grabbed a bite herself, forcing it past her lips. The pasta could have been delicious, but anything going into her stomach tasted like acid these days.

The feeling only got worse when Finn walked over to them, a somber look on his face. “Father called,” he said, taking the seat directly across from Luna.

She dropped the fork on the table. “What did he say?”

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