Page 171 of Sin & Sapphire

“She said yes to the coffee, but no to additional visitors,” I murmured, immune to Oscuro’s wrath.

Luca’s face fell, and I wanted to gather him in my arms and comfort him. If any of us had a shot, it was him. Which was probably why Ana was keeping him at arm’s length.

He nodded, then hobbled back to the vinyl covered chairs in the hallway outside the room. “I’ll wait.”

Dante rolled his eyes. “She doesn’t want you to be here.”

I held my hand out for the tray of coffee and pastries, saying nothing, then reentered the room to find a nurse bustling around the bed.

She helped Ana to her side before bringing her up to sit with her legs dangling over the edge of the bed. This was an exercise they’d obviously been through before. I set the coffee on the counter at the edge of the room, then approached the two, intending to help.

My eyes swept over the bandages on Ana’s back. “Ana,” I rasped. “What did he do to you?”

Ana snorted. “Nothing that you didn’t do too.”

My heart dropped to the floor and shattered at her feet. Was that what she thought of me?

Carefully, Ana placed her feet on the floor and stood. She stumbled, and I reached for her, only to be physically blocked by the nurse, who had the situation well in hand.

“Are you sure you want him here for this?” she asked.

“I’m not sure at all,” she said softly. Step by shaking step, she moved toward the bathroom. “But he won’t leave, and I have to pee.”

After long moments, my princess emerged from the bathroom, her face damp, her hair slicked back off her face, and despite her pallor, looking like she owned everything in her path, that delicious Costa arrogance that I’d hated in Gio and adored in Angelo was attractive in Ana.

“They’re going to change my bandages now,” she announced. “And I’d like you to leave.”

“Let me prove to you that I can take care of you as well as I can hurt you,” I said softly. “That I’m not like him.”

Ana tilted her head, contemplating me with fathomless eyes that I could no longer read. She hummed, and then nodded once.

The nurse cocked her head and looked at me. “I’m not sure you should be in here.”

“I’d like him to stay,” Ana said.

This was my penance, my punishment, for being such a coldhearted bastard to her.

The nurse helped her sit on the edge of the bed then swung her legs up. Wincing, Ana wiggled to the middle of the bed before laying on her side. When she finally rolled to her stomach, she dropped her face to the sheets and sighed with relief.

My gut clenched.

“Go wash your hands,” the nurse said. “And put on gloves.”

Determined to get this right, I did as instructed, then returned to stand by the nurse at Ana’s side.

“Mon amour,” I whispered, stroking her hair. “I’m so sorry.”

“For what?” she asked, a trace of bitterness in her voice.

For everything.“For how much this is going to hurt.”

Ana gasped as the nurse peeled up the bandages. Her back was a mess of deep cuts from a whip, over a dozen, all oozing, some stitched, as her body struggled to heal.

“Ana,” I whispered as I moved around the nurse so I could hold her hand. “I’m so sorry,” I said again.

She scoffed. “For what, Valentin?”

Sorry I didn’t tell you I loved you. Sorry that I didn’t give you a reason to trust me. Sorry that you thought your only worth to me was as an indulgence for my love of pain.But I couldn’t force the words out.

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