Page 102 of Ties That Bind Us

“Like I could run a marathon.” Nick smirked at the doctor.

Gio chuckled and rolled his eyes.

“I’m glad to hear that but I would advise against it. At least for six to eight weeks.” The doctor smiled. “I want to keep you through the night for observation, but if all goes well, you’ll be able to go home tomorrow.”

“Thanks, doctor.” Nick shook the man’s hand, and his doctor headed out of the room.

“You look like hell.” Leo chuckled, giving Nick a big hug.

“Thanks, asshole.” Nick shook his head, laughing. “I feel like a million bucks!”

Gio rolled his eyes. “Don’t even start. I’m still in charge around here, and you’re on mandatory leave for at least twelve weeks. It’s not even remotely open for discussion.”

“Twelve weeks?” Nick looked at his dad like he had handed down a death sentence.

“Babe, you just had major, life-saving surgery,” I reminded him.

“And still have one bullet inside of you,” Gio echoed. “We can talk about modified duty once we see how your recovery goes.”

“You guys act like I almost died or something.” Nick smirked. It was so good to see him strong enough to joke with his dad and brother.

“I know I don’t generally agree with Dad on this kind of thing, but he’s right. Everything else can wait. And since we obliterated Asnikov and Alessandro is in the wind, you need to take it easy,” Leo chided, arching his eyebrow at Nick.

A darkness came over Nick’s face. “Alessandro isn’t exactly in the wind.” He sighed. “Can you guys give Ava and me a minute? We need to talk.”

Gio and Leo shared a concerned glance, but obliged. “We’ll be back later,” Gio said.

My mind started to wander with possibilities. Obviously, Nick and I had a lot to discuss, but it didn’t feel like the appropriate time when he’d just gotten out of surgery and was still pretty groggy. He needed rest and recovery.

I sat down next to Nick on the bed. “Are you really feeling okay?”

He put his hand on my knee, gently rubbing with his thumb. “I’m fine, Ava, I promise. This isn’t even the first time I’ve been shot.” He gave me a placating smile. “I’d much rather talk about you. How are you feeling?”

“I’m much better now that I’m with you.” I kissed his cheek.

Nick wasted no time getting to his point. “Ava, when you left that night—”

“We don’t have to talk about any of this right now, Nick. I’m not going anywhere, I swear. I’m going to be right here next to you forever. Let’s just focus on getting you healthy and then we can talk about all of this.”

“I promise, I am feeling fantastic,” he insisted, brushing a piece of hair off of my cheek. “And what I have to tell you can’t wait, Avs.”

“Okay,” I said apprehensively.

“When you left that night, I was in a bad place. I was enraged about not being able to fix this, and the thought of losing you, and so Leo and I went to the bar.”

I gulped, wondering where this was going.

“My dad met us there. He had gotten the logistics back about the accident and found the car that hit us. It belonged to one of the men who works for your father, and it turned out your father had put a hit out on Leo, and you and I were caught in the cross fire. He was the one who caused the accident, the accident that made you lose our baby.”

I lowered my eyes. It was just one thing after another with my dad, and honestly, nothing surprised me anymore. He was nothing like the man I’d thought he was, and all I felt for him was disgust.

“Hearing that pushed me over the edge, and I went to find him.” Nick propped himself up a little bit and squeezed my hand. “Ava, I couldn’t stop myself once I got my hands on him. I’m sorry. He’s . . .”

I swallowed the lump growing my throat, considering everything he was saying. Nick was trying to tell me that my dad was dead. That Nick had killed him. Tears fell from my eyes but I wasn’t sure why exactly I was crying. I wanted to feel upset, to mourn my father’s death, but all I felt was relief. I felt proud of Nick, and so grateful to have someone in my life who loved me enough to fight for me, and to defend me, and to do everything he possibly could to protect me.

Nick stared back at me, waiting for my reaction. I reached out and gently rubbed his cheek. “I’m so sorry you had to do that.”

Nick gave me a strange look and let out a sharp laugh. “Did you get checked out by a doctor? Are you concussed?”

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