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I do my best to keep my stress levels down, though it’s hard to do when I’m so worried about Zara.
She’s likely to need to stay for a few more weeks as she recovers, and I plan on being by her side as much as I can.
Though according to Alexei, I’m being put on bed rest the moment he takes me back to Forest Hills.
Mikhail is also being kept under observation for a few more days.
I was horrified to learn of his injury, but Alexei assured me that the bullet only grazed his shoulder, and he’ll make a full recovery. If anything he’s a little disappointed that he didn’t have a more dramatic injury, which Alexei says is ‘typical Mikhail’.
I’m packing up my things while Alexei signs my discharge papers when a knock sounds at my hospital room door.
“Come in.” I fold my pajamas.
Poor Alexei sent Danil to the house to get supplies for me and Zara, and I laughed so hard when he came back with enough clothes to last the year.
The door clicks shut, and I glance up and let out a squeal. “Papino?”
“Bambina.” He looks thin, and his blue eyes have dark purple shadows beneath them.
“Papino.” I rush over to him, throwing my arms around his neck. “I thought you were dead! Gilanto… H-he implied…” I can’t even bear to speak the words.
“I’m so sorry, bambina,” my father whispers as he takes me in his arms and holds me close like he did when I was a child. “I had no choice but to disappear.”
“You could’ve told me.” I pull back to look him in the eyes.
“I couldn’t risk you knowing, bambina. Gilanto is…was a dangerous man, and I made an enemy of him the moment I sold information on his family to Alexei. But I had to make sure that you would be taken care of.”
My father’s eyes shine with tears as he takes my face in his hands. “I hope you can understand that I did it for you, Bianca.”
“I never needed protection, Papino.”
My dad lets out a breath and drops his hands from my face.
I shake my head. “Especially not when it came at such a price.”
“I thought there was no other way. I’m sorry for causing you pain, bambina. I will carry the guilt with me for the rest of my life.” His shoulders sag.
“I understand.” I place a hand on my stomach. “I know now what it feels like to want to do everything in your power to protect your child. So, I forgive you, Papino. For all of it.”
My father’s blue eyes shine with tears as they widen. “Bambina…?”
“It all worked out in the end, Papino.” A smile tugs at my lips. “I hope you’ll stick around long enough to meet this piccolino?”
“I wouldn’t miss it for the world, bambina.”
“Are you ready to go?” Alexei asks an hour later.
My father stayed with me as I packed up my things, and we spoke about my new life with Alexei.
I told him about the studio he built and the portrait of Mamma that I had been working on.
By the time he left, there was a brightness in his eyes that hadn’t been there before.
I hope that, despite everything that’s happened, my dad and I can work on having a closer relationship, not just for my sake but for my child’s too.
I look over to Alexei, and my stomach knots.
He must be able to sense a change as a frown appears between his eyebrows.
