Page 234 of Diego

My arms close around her hard enough that I have to remind myself she is pregnant, that she has spent weeks recovering, that I cannot hold her the way every part of me wants to. I loosen my grip only enough to keep from crushing her and bury my face against her hair instead.

She wraps both arms around me.

That nearly finishes me.

“You’re okay,” I say against her temple.

“Are you?”

I nod and slide one hand up the back of her head and hold her there, needing the warmth of her body against mine more than I have ever needed anything.

For the last hour, I have been functioning on the assumption that Giacomo got her somewhere safe, that the security I put around her worked, that I would get here before anyone reached her. Believing it was the only way to keep moving.

Actually holding her is different.

I pull back enough to look at her face. “Any pain?”

“No.”

“Bleeding?”

“No. Nothing.”

My hand moves to her stomach before I think about it.

Blair covers it with hers. “We’re okay.”

I close my eyes for a second.

Behind us, the rest of the family is pouring into the safe room.

Victoria makes a sound when she sees Mario, and a second later he has one arm around her while the other goes around Leonardo. Matteo and Tomasso crowd in close enough that Leonardo reaches for them too, still sleepy and confused but no longer crying.

Ricardo goes straight to Julia and Cecilia. Dante gets there almost as quickly, bending down beside his sister while Julia reaches for him with her free arm. Edoardo and Alessio stay near the doorway, visibly relieved even though nobody they came for is theirs in the same way.

Giovanni, Antonio, and Nico hang back enough to give the family space.

Blair glances past me at everyone reuniting, then back at me. “What happened?”

“It's a long story. I'll tell you later.”

She studies me for a second and understands.

Then she puts her arms around me again.

This time I hold her more gently, one hand at the back of her neck and the other spread over her lower back.

I thought I knew fear before tonight.

I did not.

Blair presses her cheek against my chest. “You came for us.”

I kiss the top of her head.

“Always, amore.”

Chapter Forty Two