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I shuddered. I couldn’t think of Valentino being suspended somewhere between life and death. I couldn’t lose him, not now. He was too vital, too magnetic and invincible. Except he clearly wasn’t the latter, he was as human as I was.
The closest soldier yanked open the driver’s door and grunted for me to get out. I nodded, my hands still in the air as I awkwardly alighted.
“Why are you here?” he asked, his boyish face far more intimidating once I locked eyes with his hard stare.
I resisted gulping. “I’m here to see Valentino.”
The other soldier snorted from his beaked nose that almost touched the top of his long, dark beard. “Have you got a death wish?” he asked gruffly.
I shook my head, glancing his way and conceding, “I’m risking everything to be here.”
The boyish-faced soldier narrowed his glacial blue eyes as he looked me up and down. “Valentino isn’t…cognizant. I’d suggest you leave while you still can.”
“Luca, what is going on?”
I turned at the sound of Ethan’s voice. His nostrils flared, his cheekbones appearing stark against the sudden pallor of his skin. “You,” he said hoarsely.
The blue-eyed soldier—Luca—nodded toward me. “Boss, this woman claims she wants to see Valentino.”
“I do.” I dropped my hands and walked away from the soldiers who waited for whatever command Ethan issued. Gravel crunched underfoot the moment I left the concrete driveway and stepped toward the slate pathway where Ethan stood. I slowed. “You probably weren’t expecting me.”
“No, I can’t say that I was.” He inclined his head at the soldiers and they moved back into position, returning to guard the mansion from anymore intruders.
I stopped, looking up at the man who could so easily kill me on the spot. Ignoring the fluttery sensation inside my chest, I said, “I would have been here sooner, but I only just heard about Valentino.”
Ethan’s eyes narrowed. “He’s not doing well. But he’s getting the best care money can buy.” His jaw set. “We can’t lose him.”
I realized then why Valentino was here. Ethan didn’t trust someone from the Irish mafia—any of the rival mafias—from infiltrating a hospital to finish Valentino off.
My eyes stung at the thought and I blinked back tears as a rush of emotion almost overwhelmed me. “I can’t lose him, either.”
Ethan’s lips thinned. “You’d better mean that,” he said gruffly.
“I do mean it,” I croaked. “I just want to see him and tell him how I feel.”
“So you’re not leaving him again?”
Wait. He thought I’d left Valentino? I touched my high ponytail, self-conscious now under his faintly accusing and astute gaze. “He asked me to leave,” I admitted softly. “He wanted to keep me safe.”
Ethan barked out a disbelieving laugh. “Until recently, nowhere could have been safer than with Valentino.” He shook his head, his voice softening. “It was almost as if he’d had a death wish.”
My heartbeat accelerated. Was it possible Valentino had gone off the rails after he’d forced me to leave? Was it possible his feelings really were as deep as mine and he hadn’t wanted to live without me?
I pushed the ridiculous notion away. He was as likely to push me away yet again and tell me to never darken his doorstep a second time. It wasn’t as though he didn’t have a plentiful supply of women and whores at hand, and I’d already admitted to myself men like him didn’t know how to love.
Sex was as close to loving someone as Valentino would likely get.
“I don’t believe that,” I answered. I inhaled sharply. “I can’t believe it.” I bit my bottom lip and added, “I just want to know one way or the other how he feels about me.”
Ethan arched a brow. “Isn’t it obvious?”
The door swung open before I could think deeper about the don’s reply, Sabrina popping her head out. “Ethan, what’s taking you so long, I—“
She gaped. “Chantilly! You’re here. We’d lost all hope you’d call around.” She rolled her beautiful, silvery-blue eyes. “And didn’t that make Carlo crow.” She pressed a hand to her mouth. “Sorry, I don’t mean to be bitchy, Carlo does everything in his power to help this family. Just…don’t get on the wrong side of him.”
“It’s okay, I understand.” I managed a shaky smile. “But I’m not here to see him. I’m here to see Valentino.”
She flinched, glancing at her husband before she said, “You do know he’s not yet conscious?”
