Page 170 of Sin & Sapphire

“I’ll go,” I murmured, well aware she’d forbidden us to enter her room.

“Stay,” she said, tightening her fingers around mine.

And god help me, I couldn’t tell this woman no. I didn’t want to.

A rap on the door brought me to consciousness. Sometime during the night, I’d laid my head on the mattress beside Ana, inhaling her citrus scent, muted by the astringent sterility of the hospital but no less addicting.

A nurse bustled in, unsurprised to find me there. Quietly, she checked on Ana, but didn’t wake her up. “She’ll be able to go home tomorrow,” the nurse said, thinking she was reassuring me but instead sending me into a quiet panic. We had one day to convince her to come home with us.

She’d never choose me. But Angelo and Luca? Maybe.

I used my free hand to pull my phone out of my pocket and send a quick text.

Moi

Bring coffee.

Luca Russo

Will she let us in?

Me

We’ll see.

Ten minutes later, it buzzed again.

Luca Russo

I have coffee and pastries.

A drop of drool hung from Ana’s lips, and I brushed it away with my thumb, smiling at the thought of doing the same every morning for the rest of our lives.

“Ana, sweetheart, Luca ordered coffee,” I murmured.

She blinked drowsily, her green eyes cloudy with sleep.

“He won’t come in unless you invite him.”

“Like a vampire,” she muttered.

A startled laugh burst out of me, and her eyes widened.

“You’re beautiful when you smile,” she said. When my expression shuttered, she closed her eyes again, and I regretted the walls I’d thrown up at her praise. I didn’t know what to do with an Ana that wasn’t fighting me with every fiber of her being.

“Let Luca in, sweetheart. Please.”

Her eyes revealed nothing. “Would you please call the nurses and get them to help me up?”

Anything, my love, anything you want. I swear it.

Her gaze cut to mine. “Yes to the coffee, no to him coming in.”

Fuck.

I went to open the door, only to find a furious Dante Oscuro.

“I should have fucking known,” he muttered, holding up the coffee and pastries for Luca, who stood there on crutches, his expression hopeful.

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