Page 73

‘No worries, mate, now go, take care of your woman,’ Luka said, before leading his squad out.

I didn’t bother to correct him.

After I spoke to the nurses on our floor and scored a few key items for Ana, I strolled back to her bedside with them.

They seemed to cheer her up.

I also FaceTimed her mother.

The screen flickered as Théa’s anxious face filled the frame, her eyes red-rimmed from hours of sleeplessness waiting in Nashville.

I turned the device, angling it so she could see her daughter.

Ana lay propped up on the crisp hospital sheets with her leg in a cast, suspended in the air in a stirrup.

‘Maman, I’m doing well now,’ Ana said, giving her mother a soft smile. ‘My tibia is fractured, but the doctors in Nairobi believe that I’ll be walking normally within a few months after the cast comes off.’

Théa let out a ragged, trembling breath, her hand covering her mouth as she took in the sight of her daughter. ‘Dieu merci, you’re safe, honey. I can’t tell you how grateful I am for Deacon. He dropped everything and flew across the world the second I called him.’

‘I am too,’ Ana whispered, flicking me a warm, almost shy glance from the bed.

Damn. It got me right in the feels.

I shifted, clearing my throat. ‘She’s tenacious, Théa. The rescue team did their job, and the hospital staff here are elite. No need to worry anymore. I’ll also stay with her to make sure she’s well taken care of.’

‘He’s relentless, Maman; he just twisted the arms of the nursing personnel into getting me an extra pillow. Plus a bag of Lindt chocolate and snacks, even shampoo and conditioner,’ Ana added.

A slight grin softened her face as she teased me.

‘I didn’t need violence to get my way, woman; I used my charm,’ I murmured, winking. ‘And my good looks.’

When Ana gave me a finger from her bed, I knew she was truly on the mend.

‘Deacon, fils, tu es une bénédiction, you’ve always been a blessing,’ Théa said, tears spilling over her cheeks as she smiled through the display.

‘Don’t I know it,’ I said with a rakish smirk, the playfulness masking how much I craved moments like these.

I missed Théa; hell, I longed for the days when we were all one big happy family.

After her mother hung up, Ana’s eyes fluttered shut.

‘I’m so tired,’ she whispered.

I let her doze off, but I had another important call to make, this time to Spain.

Raff picked up almost at once, sitting up in bed, his hair a messy, sleep-mussed nest.

He blinked in the morning light, his eyes trying to focus on me.

‘Hey, Dad! Tell me you got her!’ Raff blurted out, leaning close to his camera.

‘She’s safe, shorty,’ I said, rotating the phone so he could see the orderly room behind me and his mother lying back into the pillows. ‘We’re at Nairobi Hospital now. The doctors patched her up, and she’s resting. She’s going to be fine.’

His small shoulders dropped as he let out a shaky exhale.

‘Awesome.’

‘Are you happy Mum is out of danger?’ I drawled.