Page 157 of Inside the Sun

I blink slowly, struggling to come to. After a moment, I manage to turn my head. Summer’s sitting next to me, and thesecond he sees me move, he jumps up from his chair and perches on the edge of the bed. He leans over, pressing his small, soft hand to my forehead.

"Sun? How are you feeling?" He sounds worried.

"Like shit," I mutter with honesty.

I try to lift my arm, but my body won’t cooperate. It feels unfamiliar, heavy, almost useless.

That’s when I realize we’re not alone. There’s another heartbeat in the room: Eliano. Did Summer ask him for help?

The youngest Ferro steps closer, looking down at me with a sharp, watchful gaze. His delicate, beautiful face looks confused, like he doesn’t know what to do with me.

"Do you have any health conditions that might explain this kind of blackout?" he asks. "You’ve been unconscious for eight hours. We even called Anzo, but he’s out of the city." His jaw tightens. "He… refused to let us call a doctor."

I let out a dry scoff. Figures. I could’ve died and Anzo wouldn’t have cared. Just another reminder that he has no intention of ever letting me leave this place. Not surprising.

Eliano hesitates, then asks cautiously, "Is it possible that Anzo… hurt you? I mean… if there was some kind of internal damage, a perforation, that could lead to sepsis…"

"No," I say without flinching. "He only fucks me with a dildo. But that hasn’t happened in the last few days."

Eliano raises his eyebrows a little, as if my blunt answer caught him off guard. Clearly, Anzo’s sexual preferences seem weird to him too. Definitely not what anyone expects from a mafia capo.

"Can you try sitting up?" Summer asks gently, sliding an arm behind my neck.

With a lot of effort, I finally manage to sit up. My head spins hard. I rub my forehead with both hands. My bladder’s full, and it’s seriously bothering me.

"I want to go back to my room," I mumble, glancing around groggily. In the corner, there’s a training dummy and a punching bag hanging from the ceiling. Obviously, Eliano has to train a lot, in case Anzo ends up having a bad day.

"Sun, focus. This wasn’t normal," Summer says, more firmly now. "Eighteen-year-olds don’t just pass out for that long."

I sigh impatiently. My bladder’s about to burst.

"I don’t know what happened. Maybe we’ll never know. But I’m feeling a little better now. At least I can move," I mutter dismissively, trying to shift toward the edge of the bed.

Summer watches me closely, and then suddenly says, "Is there any other explanation you can think of, Sun? Anything at all?"

My bladder!

"Nothing comes to mind. I’ve never had health issues. Actually, I’ve been healthy my whole life. Until Anzo started electrocuting me," I add with a grimace.

I slide off the bed and try to stand. It’s not easy. I’m swaying, but Summer steadies me with an arm.

Then I hesitate. I glance up at Eliano, who’s watching with furrowed brows, scratching his jaw absently.

"Thanks for letting me… crash here like a corpse," I say. "Sorry for the trouble."

"No trouble," Eliano mutters. "We didn’t really help anyway. We just waited. You came back on your own."

"Yeah, well… even that counts for something. Every tiny bit of kindness means a lot," I mumble, avoiding eye contact and heading toward the door. "Especially now…" I trail off, not wanting to say too much.

As I leave, I catch Eliano still deep in thought, looking like he wants to say something, but, well. We're not exactly friends, he knows not to get too involved. Or the electric shock will come!

Me and Summer step into a hallway I’ve never seen before. This must be a different wing. Do the Ferros live here? I see several doors leading to other rooms, and a wide wooden staircase descending to the first floor. We follow the hall toward the living room, finally, a space I recognize.

Summer helps me walk back to my room, still holding me up, but we don’t talk. I can tell he doesn’t want to push, doesn’t want to hit me with any more dark guesses about what’s going on with my health. I appreciate that.

When we reach my door, I mumble a quick thank-you and slip inside, closing it almost in his face.

After emptying my poor bladder, I throw myself on the bed and let sleep take me. I don’t want to come back from the darkness. At this point, freedom truly feels like the absence of light.

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