Page 103 of Pomegranate Seeds

I didn’t feel like that right now, though. I didn’t want to be like that right now. “I need to be like him!” I roared. And then both cans fell from my hands. My body went limp on my brother’s arms. “He hurt her,” I breathed.

Alessio hugged me close, and as my body fell, he went on his knees with me. He held me the way I have always done for others. He cared for me the way I did for him.

“I can’t take this pain,” I admitted. For the first time, I let loose because I really couldn’t take it. I was not used to pain like this. It was horrible.

“It is going to be okay,” Alessio assured me. “We will kill him.”

“I cannot breathe without her.”

His arms tightened like he could strangle my pain that way. “She will be okay. I promise she will be okay.” Then he pulled back and held my face with his hand. He looked at me with so much concern and a hint of surprise. No one ever saw me like this. I have never been like this. “You are lost, brother. We are a family. We have to be together when one of us is lost. Go to your wife, and we will hunt that asshole for you. Priscilla needs you more than us.”

I knew everything he said was true. Those were the words I lived by. The family was always my top priority. But that never occurred to me because I was never the one who got lost. I was always the big brother. I always helped them. I always fixed things.

I didn’t know how I could let them fix me. I never learned it.

Yet I knew Priscilla needed me more than them. And I wanted to be at her side more than anything. So, I nodded and let Alessio pull me to my feet so I could go to my wife.

Chapter 27

Priscilla

I didn’t know where I was. I didn’t know the time. For a second, I didn’t even know who I was. My brain was lost in a deep fog.

I wanted to clear my head. I wanted to gain my consciousness, but another part of me refused. My soul was begging me to go back to sleep. My heart was pushing me to forget. They were all fighting with my brain. They didn’t want to know. They didn’t want to remember.

It was like they knew I was not going to like the reality. The fog was safe. It was neutral.

Despite the war, I didn’t have a chance to decide. My eyes opened, and even though my body felt too heavy, my brain filled with all the memories. I remembered how that guy tried to kill me. I remembered Apollo’s bloodied fur and how Antonio saved me. And I remembered all the blood on my thighs.

My baby.

No.

I wanted strong arms wrapped around me. I wanted to cry into that warm, hard chest. I wanted him to cry into my hair. I needed to know I was not alone. My husband was with me. Our pain was going to lessen when we came together.

Be here, I prayed internally. Despite all the pain in my body, finding an empty room would hurt me more. I needed Antonio.

Slowly, I managed to open my eyes. The room was darker. It was not like night but more like cloudy weather. I heard rain outside. The sky was crying for my baby.

In the dim room, I saw someone sitting at the edge of the bed, his face turned towards the window. His back was straight, and his features were hard. He looked like a statue. The perfect man I have known since the first moment we met.

“Antonio,” I murmured, and even that hurt my body.

His head whipped towards me immediately, and he got closer. Nothing changed in his body. Still strong as a rock. “Priscilla,” he pressed his palm to my cheek. A hint of worry filled his beautiful golden eyes. “Are you hurt?

He meant physically. I could tell from the way his eyes moved over my body. The answer was yes. My body ached all the places, but the pain in my abdomen exceeded all of them. The pain of my loss exceeded everything else. So, when I nodded and answered, “Yes,” my eyes didn’t fill up with tears because of my cuts or bruises. My tears were for my baby. The baby who I failed to protect.

Antonio touched my hand delicately. “I can give you more morphine if you want.” He looked down at my body like he was at a loss of words. He didn’t know how to act around me. “The doctor treated your wounds. You have some stitches, so you have to be careful. Your nose was bleeding, so there is no internal bleeding. I cleaned and changed you as well. You should be well soon with the right care. Nothing big to worry about.”

A sob escaped me at his words. “Nothing big to worry about,” I murmured. He swallowed and stayed silent. He looked uncomfortable. I always made him uncomfortable with my emotions. Probably now more than ever.

“I can bring Mia or Bella,” he said, squeezing my hand. “I’ll even fly Kira here if that’s what you want.”

I couldn’t help it; my tears slid down my cheeks. How was he so careless? I wanted to cry with him, and he was here so strong. The death of our baby didn’t even have an effect on him. He was the same man he always was. He was taking care of me like a good husband should do. Nothing more.

“I don’t need Mia, Bella, or Kira,” I said in tears. “I need my husband. I need someone who shares my pain.”

Antonio swallowed again. “I am here, Priscilla.” I couldn’t see his expression, but I knew nothing had changed. I was broken, and he was just fine. Nothing could break him.

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