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“Hey.” He catches my chin between his fingers, lifting my face to his. “You and I, we’re in this together. We are going to see this through, and we’re going to come out stronger.” He presses his lips gently against mine, and I close my eyes, letting myself be consumed by the love between us. At that moment, nothing else exists except for Nicoli’s touch and the overwhelming emotions he brings out in me. It’s all I have—he’sall I have and all I’ll ever want. If my need for blood ruins this and takes him from me, I will never forgive myself.
I wrap my arms around him tightly, deepening our kiss and pouring all my fears and hopes into it. I want to believe we can make it through this together, but a part of me is terrified. What if everything falls apart? What if I’m not as strong as I think I am? What if ending this war with Nunzio costs me everything?
Nicoli pulls away slightly, resting his forehead against mine as he breathes heavily. “I promise you that no matter what happens, no one will ever come between us.”
“I hope so.”
“Trust me,” he murmurs against the corner of my lips before kissing them again briefly. “I let you down once. I won’t do it again.”
“You have never let me down.” My heart flutters with renewed hope. “And I trust you,” I say, and he kisses me once more, his lips warm and familiar, anchoring me in the present and making the fear and doubts recede. Slowly, we pull away from each other, and Nicoli takes my hand again, leading me back into the house.
As we pass the foyer, one of the staff members is placing a glass vase with white gardenias on the side table. “Mrs. Del Rossa, these just came for you.”
“Thank you,” I say, then glance at Nicoli. “Is this you?”
“No.” It’s the tone of his voice that spurs a violent shiver down my spine. I lift the card attached to the vase, and when I see the name written on the front, my stomach drops to the soles of my feet.
‘Birdie…’
The card slips through my fingers, a sheet of ice running through my veins. I take an instinctive step back from the flowers like they might ignite into a violent explosion at any moment. Nicoli swipes the envelope off the floor with a vicious snarl, cursing as he rips open the card. His face contorts with rage as he reads it, and my whole body trembles with a sickening anticipation that echoes off my bones.
“Motherfucker!” Nicoli drops the card on the table, and I force myself to glance at the note, each word written in elegant script, the letters piercing me like shards of glass.
‘What a beautiful mother you’ll be.’
Dark waves of dread crash over me as if an unseen hand ripped away my courage and replaced it with a fear so intense it twists its way into my chest, clawing at my lungs.
Nicoli snatches his phone with a trembling hand, and his voice is sharp and desperate as he yells out orders to the security team. At the same time, an invisible force wraps itself around me, squeezing my throat until I can barely draw a single breath. The rest of the world disappears around me, fading away like smoke in the air until all that remains are the flowers in front of me and Nunzio’s voice ringing clear in my ear as he calls me Birdie over and over again. It’s like a mantra, each syllable a vise tightening its grip around my spine.
But then Nicoli is in front of me, his hands cupping my face and forcing me to look into his eyes. “Mira,” he says firmly. “Are you okay?”
Inhaling a deep breath, I can feel the air slowly filling my lungs, Nicoli’s touch grounding me and his voice breaking through every other sound around us. I bite down hard on my lip as I nod, barely managing to keep tears from spilling down my face.
He leans in closer, brushing his thumb along my cheek. “We got this, Hummingbird. Okay? We got this.”
His eyes pierce mine like daggers, seeking out any shred of weakness or fear, and I steel myself against his probing gaze. My heart pounds furiously in my chest, but I force myself to take a deep breath and look him in the eye, unwilling to let him see that I’m afraid. The last thing I want is for my husband to think I’m not strong enough to see this through.
I refuse to be weak.
“Really. I’m fine,” I reassure him, stepping back and glancing around him at the flowers. “White gardenias,” I murmur. “A symbol of secret love.”
“Jesus Christ,” Nicoli murmurs. “This fucker and his goddamn mindfucks.”
Maximo bursts through the front door, gripping the security guard by his collar with a rage-fueled strength. His eyes blaze with anger as he snarls through gritted teeth, “He didn’t check the note!” Maximo shoves the guard with such force that he stumbles forward and falls face-first onto the floor. He bellows in fury, “You were supposed to check everything that gets delivered here! Every-motherfucking-thing!”
“I thought it was Mr. Del Rossa.” The guard gets back up on his feet. “I thought it was him who sent her the flowers.”
“What the fuck made you think it was Nicoli?”
“The name on the card. Birdie.” He shrugs. “That’s what he calls her.”
Nicoli rakes his fingers across his face in frustration. “Not Birdie, you dumb fuck. Hummingbird. I call my wife Hummingbird.”
Maximo is furious, his face twisted into a scowl of rage. The palpable anger radiates off him in waves, his muscles rippled with tension. I know what’s coming next; my brother’s going to make an example out of this guard so no one will ever forget the consequences of neglecting their duties. And it’s going to be a hundred times worse because of the rage he’s been silently carrying around since I made it clear that this war with Nunzio will be handled my way.
Before Maximo can take a step forward, I place myself between him and the guard. “Beating the shit out of him won’t change anything.”
“It’ll make me feel better.”
