Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 101101 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 506(@200wpm)___ 404(@250wpm)___ 337(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101101 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 506(@200wpm)___ 404(@250wpm)___ 337(@300wpm)
“Oh, Brielle, please call me Silvia. We’re family.”
She envelops me in a warm, comforting embrace, reminding me so much of her son. Kane gives the best hugs. He must get it from his mom.
“Thank you for calling me,” she murmurs.
“Of course. He’s in surgery, so we don’t know anything.”
“Do you know who did this to him?” she asks, pulling back and looking at me with tears in her eyes.
“No,” I tell her honestly. “My brother was there but …”
“We’ll discuss it later,” Matteo tells us both. “But I can assure you, it’s been handled.”
Silvia sighs in relief. “Thank you.”
She turns her attention back to me. “How are you doing?” She shakes her head. “That’s a stupid question. Of course you’re not doing okay. But you need to stay calm … for the baby. Do you need anything? Water? Juice? Are you hungry?”
I choke out a watery laugh. “You remind me of Kane … well, I guess he reminds me of you.”
Silvia smiles. “Enrique was ruthless, like his father.” She frowns. “Lacked compassion and all sense of right and wrong. But Kane … he’s always been a nurturer, like me. He wears his heart on his sleeve.”
I nod in agreement, and when I reach up to my face to wipe my tears from my eyes, Silvia’s gaze lands on my hand.
“You’re wearing the new ring,” she breathes. “Does this mean …”
“I want to be with Kane.” I sniffle back another sob. “But I didn’t have a chance to tell him, and now—”
“You will get to tell him,” she says. “He’s so in love with you. There’s no way he’ll give up without a fight.”
“I hope you’re right,” I whisper. “Because I’m so in love with him too.”
Hours go by before the doctor finally walks out and tells us that Kane made it through surgery. They had to put him into a medically induced coma, but now that he’s stable, they’ll start waking him up. The next forty-eight hours are crucial. Since he’s no longer in ICU, he can have visitors.
“You guys go,” Matteo says. “I have some shit to handle.” He kisses my temple. “I love you, sis.”
“I love you too. Thank you for saving my husband.”
Silvia and I arrive at Kane’s room, and it’s dark and quiet. The nurse tells us they keep the lights low so that it’s not too blinding when a patient wakes up.
I pull a seat up to the side of his bed, and it’s where I stay for the next two days while he sleeps and I pray he gets through this.
“So, is that all it took to get my ring on your finger?” Kane rasps, startling me awake. “Getting shot? If I had known, I’d have gotten shot sooner.”
I blink several times and then glare at Kane. “Don’t say stupid shit like that, or I’ll remove the damn ring from my finger.”
Silvia chuckles from in the corner. “I’m so happy you’re awake,” she says, walking over and giving Kane a kiss on his forehead. “I’m going to give you both a few minutes.” She kisses the crown of my head. “Go easy on him.”
Once she’s gone, I release a relieved sob. “You’re alive.”
“I’m alive.” He takes my hand in his and kisses the top of my ring. “And you’re wearing my ring.”
“I put it on before you got shot. I texted that I wanted to take you out so I could tell you that I’d made my decision, but you never read it.”
I hand him his phone that Matteo gave me to hold on to and open it up to the text thread between us.
“Damn, it’s been two days?”
“Yeah, you were shot in the chest, but you’re going to be okay.”
“And Theo?”
“What about Theo?” I hiss.
“He’s the person who shot me,” he says, confused. “Wait, how did I get here?”
“Matteo found you and called for help, and you were brought in by ambulance. He didn’t tell me what happened, but he said that everything was taken care of.”
Kane exhales heavily. “I owe your brother big time. Jim was working with Theo to steal from me. Apparently, Theo had wanted in on the waterfront expansion, but your brothers said no, and then you told him you wouldn’t date anyone working with your brothers. So, when I showed up and claimed you and got in on the waterfront expansion, he was pissed. Blackmailed Jim into stealing from me. Theo shot Jim and then me.”
“Ugh, and to think I thought Theo was a green flag.” I shake my head. “I guess looks can be deceiving. What a freaking psycho.”
“Enough about him,” Kane says. “I want to hear about this decision you made.”
“I made it days ago, but I was afraid to say anything. I kind of felt stupid since I’d told you I needed time, and then not even a week later, I knew I wanted to be with you.”