Ana
Pulsing pain throbs in my temples, pulling me out of a deep and unsatisfactory sleep. Feeling disoriented and sleepy, I untuck my knees from their curled up state, stretching out slowly. Pointing my toes causes my ankles to crack, and I whine softly into my pillow, feeling soreness creep in. My whole body aches, worse than it ever does after a grueling day at the gym.
Reluctantly, I allow my eyes to crack open and immediately frown. I’m not in my bedroom, I’m in Jade’s. Yesterday wasn’t the worst nightmare I’ve ever experienced, it was all real. Every single horrible second of it.
The realization should send me into a depressive panic, but whatever drug Doc gave me must still be in effect. I still see flashes of Cole and Killian being shot, the images are impossible to ward off, but their effect on me seems to be dulled. I’m not sure if I could cry if I tried.
Sitting up on the bed, I rub my eyes before looking around the room. I’m alone, and from the small crack in the curtains, it looks like it’s dark outside. Frowning, I walk on unsteady legs to take a closer peek. Sure enough, the sun has set almost entirely and the sky is a deep blue, slowly turning black. I knew I must have slept for hours, but I didn’t think it was long enough for this.
My bladder suddenly screams to be relieved, another sign that I was unconscious for far too long. Padding over to Jade’s ensuite, I quickly do my business and wash my hands. In the mirror, my gaze looks hollow and haunted. Dark circles shadow the skin beneath my eyes, and streaks of red cloud the whites.
You’ve looked better, I comment silently.
Splashing some cold water on my dry skin, I take a few deep breaths before leaving the bathroom. There’s nothing else I can do to make myself look more alive, and if there was, I wouldn’t have the energy to actually execute any of it.
My stomach grumbles as I head for the bedroom’s exit. I need a glass of water and maybe something to eat if I can manage it. As soon as the door creaks open, I wince from the brightness of the hall. A hall that isn’t empty.
Sitting in an out-of-place chair right across from Jade’s door, Remo Moretti looks up from his laptop. His blue eyes widen at the sight of me, like he didn’t expect me to wake any time soon.
“Hello,” he says, slightly dazed. “You’re awake. Are you all right?”
As soon as he asks it, he grimaces.
“Stupid question, sorry. Jade’s been in and out of the room, checking on you all day. My brothers and I have been taking shifts in the hall, making sure nothing is wrong. My turn just started.”
His explanation makes me feel tender and warm. “You have?”
“Of course,” Remo replies assuredly. “Jade probably would have stayed in there all day with you if not for the twins. Cesar tried to cling to her to be carried in a few different times, but she knew he’d wake you up in a second flat with all his screeching.”
My mouth quivers, like it’s trying to form a smile but can’t quite figure out the mechanics to make it happen.
“Oh,” Remo blurts abruptly. “I almost forgot.”
Reaching into his pocket, he pulls out a pink smart phone and extends the device. “Apollo found your phone. It was crushed and unsalvageable, but I found your data and transferred everything to this. It should be the same make and model. It’s charged too.”
My hand shakes as I move to accept the thoughtful gift. The screen flashes on at my touch, and my heart beats painfully hard. Cole’s smiling face with my lips attached to his cheek stares at me in picture form. Remo even got my original lock screen correct.
The time also catches my eye; it’s almost seven in the evening.
“Thank you,” I husk, watching the image fade back to black. “You didn’t have to go to so much trouble for me.”
“It was easy, I didn’t mind,” he replies softly.
“Still.”
I can’t stop staring at the offering, wondering what I could have possibly done to deserve it. Remo and I have hardly spoken before. But I guess this is just how the Moretti men are. Jade has told me time and time again how kind her brothers act toward her, and I always believed her. Though, being on the receiving end of her family’s thoughtfulness feels entirely different than hearing about it.
Remo’s voice stirs me out of my musing. “Jade is downstairs if you’re looking for her. She’s been waiting to see you.”
“Right,” I mutter, stashing the new phone into my sweatpants pocket. I look down the hall toward the stairs and frown. My brain still feels foggy, and I’m not certain that I won’t lose my way trying to navigate the Moretti Mansion. I’ve strolled these halls many times, and still I’m unsure.
“I’ll walk with you,” Remo suggests, sensing my hesitation.
Closing his computer, he stands up, reminding me just how tall all of the Moretti siblings tend to be. Jade is the only one shorter than me, a trait I’m sure she must have inherited from her mother.
Awkwardly shifting a step ahead of me, Remo leads the way and we walk together in silence. Descending the grand staircase, I breathe easier as the sounds of my friend and her children grace my ears. It feels safe, absorbing the sense of normalcy—a reminder that everything has not fallen apart. There’s still good in the world, even while I’m smothered under the weight of foggy grief and anguish.
Following the muffled sounds and voices, Remo leads me to one of the main sitting rooms. Cozy sofas surround a large flatscreen television that plays relaxing music, several bodies occupying space on the various couches and chairs, while others lounge on the soft carpet.
My gaze locks on my beautiful friend first. Jade is blowing raspberries on Cesar’s bare tummy, eliciting the most precious giggles from the small boy. Dmitri is watching her too, sitting in a large leather chair while holding their daughter who looks sleepy but content. The father-daughter pair are observing mother and son with happy gazes.
Matteo, on the other hand, is sprawled out on one of the sofas, missing a shirt as he typically tends to be. He’s absently scrolling on his phone when he notices us enter.
Narrowing his eyes at Remo, he releases his phone to throw his hands up in exasperation. “Bro, I just left. What’d you do to wake her up?”
Jade’s head whips around at Matteo’s question, and her smile radiates warmth right to me. Scooping Cesar up from the floor, she secures her son on her hip and begins maneuvering around the room in our direction.
“I didn’t do shit,” Remo grumbles, lifting a finger to his younger brother.
“He didn’t,” I confirm just as Jade makes it to us. She doesn’t hesitate to pull me into a hug, her soft and sweet-smelling hair brushing into my face. I exhale, carefully returning the gesture while trying not to squeeze Cesar. The little guy giggles and wiggles on her hip, reaching forward to try and grab my shirt.
“You slept for ages,” she tells me, pulling back. “You must be starving. Do you want to try and eat?”
Cesar’s eyes go wide at the word eat and he swings his head to look at his mother’s chest. Before I can answer the question, he buries his face in Jade’s cleavage, trying to latch through her shirt.
Face going red with embarrassment, Jade laughs and pulls him back. “Not you, you greedy little beast. You already ate.”
“He’s smart,” I comment, watching them fondly. “Knowing what the word means.”
“It’s one of his trigger words,” she admits sheepishly. “E A T for food, and B E D for sleep, but that one wakes him right up. I’ll never understand his aversion to getting some shut eye. It’s like he thinks he’s going to miss something incredible if he actually takes a nap.”
“It’s hilarious when he’s too tired to fight it,” Matteo pipes up, chuckling. “He can hardly keep his eyes open but he refuses to lie down.”
“Yes, soooo funny,” Jade drawls sarcastically. “Why don’t you entertain your hysterical nephew while we find a bite, hmm?”
“Don’t have to ask me twice,” Matteo says with a grin, sitting up and holding out his hands. Jade huffs at him but her lips can’t hide her wry smile as she passes him her baby.
Cesar wastes no time slapping his hands on either side of Matteo’s face, babbling happily. “That’s right,” he says with a boastful grin. “Uncle Matteo is your favorite, isn’t he? Stinky Uncle Apollo can’t even compete, can he? No, he can’t.”
Even with the lingering effects of the medicine in my system, watching the exchange tugs at my heartstrings. Before meeting Jade, the only thing I knew about Matteo Moretti was that he was a chaotic mobster, not to be underestimated by his playful demeanor. Now he’s this infectiously goofy but protective figure in Jade’s life, baby-talking to her son like it’s second nature. He lights up every room, all the while remaining an effective killing machine.
“Come,” Jade insists, taking me by the hand. “Martha made some soup that should be nice and easy on your stomach. We have leftover pasta too, if you’re feeling up to it.”
“Soup sounds like a good start,” I agree quietly, letting her lead me to the kitchen.
Seconds later, I’m seated at the kitchen counter, watching as Jade heats up a pot of soup on the stove. She insisted on doing it herself, instructing me to sit and sip on a cold glass of lemon water.
“How are you feeling physically?” Jade asks, absently stirring over the stove. “Doc is going to want to check on you again soon.”
“Sore,” I admit, thumb tracing small beads of condensation on my cup. “I don’t remember what he said he gave me, but I feel foggy, too. Like I’m here but I’m not.”
Frowning, she replies, “I’m sorry. I wish I could make it better.”
“You’re already doing so much,” I tell her earnestly. “I don’t know what I would have done if I didn’t have you.”
Her lip trembles and her eyes go glassy, but she sniffs back the impending emotions and tries to smile. “You’ll always have me, Ana.”
I feel the weight of her promise settle in my chest, it battles through my numbed defenses and wraps around my heart in a warm caress.
“Thank you,” I rasp, rubbing my sternum over my shirt, hoping to absorb and spread the sensation. “Taking me in… you and your family didn’t just help me, Jade. Your brothers saved Killian by acting so quickly. I won’t ever forget that. I owe you—”
“Nothing,” she cuts in. “You owe me absolutely nothing because if the roles were reversed, you’d do exactly the same for me.”
She’s entirely right. I would.
Thankfully, nothing like what happened to me will ever happen to Jade. She has an army of a family at her back, and I’m so grateful that she does. Her precious soul has been through enough tragedy, and I hope from the bottom of my heart that she won’t have any more.
Clearing her throat so that she doesn’t cry, she pours the brothy soup into a small blue bowl, puts a spoon into it, and passes it over the counter.
It doesn’t take long for me to finish the offering. Despite knowing that Martha is an excellent cook, and enjoying her food repeatedly in the past, every bite is bland. It’s not her fault, I think. I felt the distinct craving for sustenance in my gut, but I wasn’t quite hungry.
I think anything I would have tried to eat would taste unappetizing. So much so, that when Jade asks if I want some pasta or anything else, I decline. I know I should fit more nutrients in, but I can’t find the strength or the desire to eat another bite.
“Are you okay to see Doc now?” she asks, worrying her bottom lip. “He’ll just want to check your vitals, nothing crazy.”
Mostly, I want to go back to bed and stare at the ceiling until I inevitably pass out, but I agree to see the doctor instead. He’s already here, and I don’t want to worry Jade by refusing.
“I can have him meet us back in my room? Or we can just go back to the living room if you’re comfortable?”
Going back upstairs sounds like a lot of work for my sensitive legs, and the soup didn’t provide me with much energy. But I don’t say any of that, deciding on, “The living room works,” instead.
Dmitri, Matteo, and the twin babies are all still there when we arrive. Remo must have disappeared elsewhere, but Ivan and Anatoly are also present now. Isabella sits peacefully in her Uncle Ivan’s lap, watching some colorful cartoon on the telly. Meanwhile, Cesar is being passed back and forth between Dmitri and Matteo, like it’s a game.
Like they somehow knew we’d be ready for them, Dante strolls into the room, Doc at his side.
“Ana,” Jade’s father greets softly. “If you’re feeling up to it, I’d like to discuss our next steps with you after Doc checks you out.”
“That’s fine,” I say automatically. I want any updates he has and to hear whatever plan he and his sons have thought up. Maybe I’ll be able to think more clearly if I have something concrete to hyper fixate on.
“Next steps?” Jade asks, nose scrunched up like she hasn’t been updated.
“Ana can discuss it with you after, if she wants,” Dante tells her calmly. There’s a subtleness to his authority when he’s speaking to his daughter rather than his sons. He doesn’t leave room for argument, but he isn’t quite stern either.
“Dmitri will be in the room, won’t he?” Jade asks, lifting her chin. “To look out for her best interest?”
Dante gives her a quirk of his lips and a confirming nod. “Dmitri is welcome to join us.”
Jade shares a look with her husband before nodding back. “Good.”
