Page 61 of These Sinful Kingdoms

Chapter thirty-three

Aurora

Iopenedmyeyesto the sound of beeping; the brightness was blinding. Panic set in when I felt the tube down my throat as I yanked it out, coughing and choking on it.

“Aurora!” I turned to see Caleb rush to my side, concern in his eyes as he reached for me. I sat up in the bed, wincing a little as I struggled to move.

“Hey. Take it easy. You’re okay. You’re safe.” He said softly before pressing a button to call for help. A nurse came rushing in, pushing me back onto the bed as I tried to get up. I looked at Caleb with panic as he reached for my hand and squeezed.

“It’s okay. You are in the hospital. Everyone is fine.” he said softly as the nurse tried to talk calmly to me, checking my vitals.

“What happened?” My voice was harsh and raspy as I spoke, and Caleb winced.

“You were shot. It was touch and go for a while, they didn’t think you would pull through. You died on the table once. But they brought you back.” Caleb said as the nurse moved away with a kind smile.

“You have someone watching over you. Everything looks good, you need to take it slow. I will be back shortly with the doctor to go over everything with you. Be kind to yourself. You have been out for a month.” She said as she pat my leg and left the room.

I stared at Caleb in shock.

“A month? It’s been a month?” I said, feeling the panic rise as Fabian came into the room with Kenji by his side. They had coffee and some food in their hands, smiling and talking softly before they saw me awake.

“Mama!” Fabian said as he rushed over to me, barely putting the coffee and food down on the little table before he hugged me.

“Hey, kiddo.” I said, trying not to laugh at his enthusiasm. He squeezed me so hard that it felt like he was going to snap me in two.

“I thought you would never wake up. I was so worried.” he said softly, pulling away with tears in his eyes.

“It will take more than that to get rid of me.” I said with a smile before looking at Kenji. He looked away and I knew he was blaming himself again.

“Kenji. Come here.” I said as Fabian stepped aside but didn’t take his hand from my shoulder.

“If you have been blaming yourself for this, I am going to have to shake you until you see reason. I am a big girl, I made my own choices.” I said and Fabian snorted.

“I have been trying to tell him that this whole time. So have the others. Luca has literally tried to beat it into him during training.” Fabian said with a grin.

I looked at my son, noticing the slight muscle definition in his own arms, the way he stood tall and confident, and the protective look in his eyes.

He was no longer a boy. This last month had aged him, and it was due to the men in my life. They had stepped in, and guided him when I couldn’t.

“It was my fault.” Kenji started and before I could object Caleb let out a snarl of frustration.

“It was no more your fault than it was mine. Stop with this nonsense, Kenji. You cannot continue to punish yourself.” Kenji flinched but nodded as I reached for his hand.

“Hey. I am still here. I don’t blame you so you shouldn’t either. Come back to me. I need the man that sees the world in a positive way.” I saw the tears in his eyes before he reached down to hug me, his touch careful like I would break.

“Where are Kingston and Luca?” I asked Caleb who grinned.

“I would expect they are on their way right now. Luca has been running things for you while you are away. Kingston was handling some business paperwork on your behalf.” I noticed that Caleb was wearing his priest robes.

“I hope this means that you are not going to neglect your faith and you see you can have both worlds.” I said as I pointed to his clothes. Kenji and Fabian covered their laughs with coughs as Caleb glared at them.

“Well. In the beginning, I thought it meant I was not meant to have you, so I went back, repentant and determined to let you go for your own safety. Then I had these knuckleheads showing up at the church every day until I released the error of my ways.” He rolled his eyes and part of me wanted to push for more details, though I felt as though whatever had happened in the month I was out, wasn’t for me to know. It was between the men.

“And Rocco? The Russians?” I asked and Kenji sat on the bed next to me with a sigh.

“They took Rocco. Disappeared pretty quickly after they had him. A week later we were sent a package. In the package was Rocco’s head with a note to say that all the business situations had been sorted, transferred into your name with Luca and Kingston as co-partners for legality purposes.” He glanced at Caleb who nodded.

“We also heard from Evelyn. The case against you was dropped and Jasper was found dead. Overdose apparently which meant the custody case was dropped too.” Fabian nudged Kenji on the shoulder with a grin.

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