Page 74 of Deadly Vows

His eyes suddenly roll back as his body violently convulses on the floor.

“Nicolai! Help! Someone help!” I scream as I try to hold him down. He’s dying. And instead of relief, I feel panic. My body is numb as I helplessly hold onto him, silently praying that he makes it through.

I haven’t thought about what I’d do if Luca died. It never seemed possible for him—dying. He is everything his father trained him to be and more. Somehow, he is always one step ahead of his enemies. But not this time. This time, someone was ahead of him. The great and powerful Capo almost lost his life. And now, he remains in a coma for the seventh day in a row.

I pull in a deep breath as I look at his unconscious form. He got very lucky. The shrapnel from the bullet damaged his arterial veins. He was minutes from being declared dead—maybe even seconds. And it elicited emotions in me that I never expected to feel for my husband. As I wait for him to wake up, I can’t leave his side. I gently push his dark hair away from his face, running my fingers along his cheek. His skin is cool, and his expression looks pained. But his breathing is deep, and his heart rate steady, meaning he should be waking up any day now.

“You can go home and get a shower and change of clothes if you’d like, Mrs. Pasquino. I can take over here until you get back.” I don’t look away from Luca as Romelo’s voice enters the room.

“I’m okay. I had some clothes brought to me,” I say.

After a moment, I look away from Luca to Romelo.

“How is my brother?” I ask.

Enzo was much luckier than Luca. The bullet broke his ribs, one puncturing his lung. After two days, he was released from the hospital and into Nicolai’s custody. He’s been keeping an eye on him for Luca while he’s still unconscious.

“He’s doing well,” Romelo says.

“No regrets?” I ask.

Romelo looks hesitant but responds anyway. “…No regrets.”

I bite the inside of my cheek as I think of what that means. All of Luca’s planning paid off, and he was right. In the end, my brother is as wicked as Luca. But I can’t fault him for it. Not anymore. I can’t fault either of them. Enzo is a Pasquino now, and my father’s debt is paid in full at the expense of his bloodline being wiped out.

“Will you be staying the night again?” Romelo asks.

I nod, turning my attention back to Luca. After everything he’s put me through, I could have ended everything while he’s in this vulnerable state. But I can’t. Something inside of me won’t let me. Maybe it’s the guilt of owing my life to him, or even the guilt of this happening because he was sparing my brother’s life.

“Have you figured out who is behind this yet?” I ask.

“No. We’re still looking,” Romelo says too quickly for my taste. I know he is lying to me. He is loyal to Luca, not me. And even when he is unconscious, Romelo knows what my husband would have wanted.

I don’t bother responding.

I’m as helpless as I was in that room when Enzo shot our last living relative in cold blood. And that isn’t going to change anytime soon.

Chapter Thirty-Three

Luca

17YearsAgo

“Listen to me very carefully, Figlio. Today, you will do something very important. Something that no one will ever know about.” I watch my father with wide eyes as he speaks to me. He rarely uses this tone with me, signifying that whatever is about to happen is very serious.

I live to please my father. And now that he has given me something important to do, I will not fail him. I shift my attention away from my father as a figure moves across the street. A woman pulls her young daughter with her, and she is frantic, as the little girl stumbles from the pace her mother drags her.

“We’ve been offered a special opportunity. And I want you to fulfill it,” my father says.

I turn to him with wide eyes.

“You really mean it?” I ask.

Pride swells in my chest as he nods. I’ve been training for something like this my entire life. A moment to prove to my father, and anyone else who doubts me, that I belong. He is finally going to let me be recognized as a man within the ranks.

“Now look. Do you see the woman? She has made some very serious enemies and has kidnapped the daughter of an important man. He wants her dead,” he says.

I look back out the window as the woman huddles with her child near the empty alley. She’s waiting for someone.

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