Page 97 of The Thief

I was abandoned, butshe chose me.

“Hang on. What’s going on here?” a woman says. “His vitals are picking up. Blood pressure stabilizing. . . I don’t know what just happened, but thank God it did. Let’s get him into surgerynow.”

52

LUCIA

“What happened?” I whisper through nerveless lips.

“Antonio collapsed,” Dante replies soberly. “A bone chip from his shoulder blocked a blood vessel. He’s in surgery right now, but it’s. . .” He takes a deep breath. “His vitals aren’t stable. The doctors aren’t optimistic.”

I stare at them in shock, my brain refusing to process those words. It can’t be. He was fine when I left. Standing on his feet, ordering his bodyguards to stop fussing. Just a few hours ago, I was in the middle of a fairy tale, and now I’m in a nightmare that I can’t wake up from.

How can everything have changed so quickly?

“It’s serious, Lucia,” Valentina says gently.

My brain finally starts working again. “Which hospital?” I demand. “What are we waiting for? Let’s go.”

“Not yet.” Dante puts his body between me and the door. He glances at Valentina, and something in her expression makes him continue. “I need to know what your intentions are.”

“What?”

“Antonio is more than my padrino,” he replies. “He’s my friend. My family. And you don’t stick around. When the going gets tough, you run away. Right now, you’re interviewing for a job in Florence.”

I gape at him, then glance at Valentina in shock. Dante interprets my expression correctly. She didn’t tell me,” he says. “You had your email open on your laptop screen a few days ago.”

He’s not done. “But it’s not just Florence. After your parents died, you didn’t talk to Valentina for two years. If you had. . .” His voice trails off.

Guilt lacerates my insides, the same guilt I’m seeing on Dante’s face. Had I kept in touch with Valentina, I would have recognized the signs of an abusive relationship. I could have helped. I don’t know how, but I would have done something.

“I missed everything.” I don’t address my reply to Dante. I appreciate his concern, but he’s not my best friend. Valentina is, and it’s to her that I need to say these words. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t there when you needed me. But I promise you things will change. I promise you?—”

“They already have.” Valentina’s eyes are suspiciously bright. “The fault isn’t yours alone. I could have called you, too. But I was ashamed of the situation I was in, so ashamed that I hid the truth from everyone.” She draws in a deep breath. “But that’s not important now. What’s important is Antonio.”

Antonio.

Who is in a hospital, fighting for his life.

Who could be dying while we stand here and bicker.

“He’s your friend, and you care for him.” I face Dante squarely. “You deserve to know that I’m not running away. I’m not going to leave.” I take another step forward. “But the man I love is in surgery right now, and you’re preventing me from being at his side.” My voice turns hard, and what he sees in my face makes him move. “So, tell me what hospital he’s in, and get the hell out of my way.”

53

LUCIA

The wait. . . the less said about the wait, the better. It’s agonizing.

But I’m not alone.

Enzo is here. Tatiana, too, huddled in a corner of the hospital waiting room, looking young and very vulnerable. Valentina had to stay behind with Angelica, but Dante stays all night, eyes grim and shoulders tense. Antonio’s lieutenants, Joao and Tomas, arrive at some point during that long night. Agnese arrives as well, with freshly baked bread and containers of warming soup that she insists we eat.

Right after Agnese’s arrival, I call Rocco Cacciola’s work phone. He doesn’t answer—it’s four in the morning—but I leave him a message withdrawing my application. I expect to feel a twinge of regret—it really is a great job—but I don’t. If tonight’s events have done one thing, they’ve brought clarity about what’s truly important in my life.

The only person who’s missing from that hospital waiting room is Leo. “He blames himself for what happened,” Dante replies when I rouse myself enough to ask. “He’s questioning Marco. Uncovering the plot, putting a team together to take Verratti out.”

Enzo lifts his head. “That won’t be necessary,” he says wearily. “Verratti is in custody. The DIA took him in an hour ago.”

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