Mafia Princess by Kennedy Slope

Chapter Thirty-One

“Here,” Marco said. He handed me a steaming cup of coffee. “I thought I’d get this for the night shift.”

I smiled at him. We’d been at the hospital for three days only leaving when the cops dragged us away.

“Thanks,” I said. I was so tired that I could barely keep my eyes open.

“You can go home. I’ve got men crawling all over this hospital,” he said.

I smiled. Marco and I had developed a strange friendship over the past few months, but it had been solidified in the aftermath of my kidnapping. “I appreciate it, but I want to be here when he wakes up.”

Nikolai had shot Dom square in the chest. It was a moment I would never forget. We’d both known it was coming the second Nikolai moved the gun away from me, but I hadn’t really thought that my brother could kill the man I loved.

“You don’t have to feel guilty,” Marco said.

‘What?” I turned to look at him.

“What happened had nothing to do with you.”

My fingers tightened around the cup. I didn’t want to talk about what happened three days ago. Whenever I thought about it, I felt like I was going to fall apart. But no matter what, I couldn’t escape it.

The police had been all over us over the last three days. Neighbors had called the cops after hearing gunfire, and they’d been on the scene like ants on a picnic, asking all types of questions that I couldn’t answer about my mother, father, and brother.

“I’ll call you if there are any changes,” I said, ignoring Marco’s question.

He looked like he wanted to say something more, but he didn’t. I think that he thought that if he pushed me too hard, I was going to crumble.

I walked inside of Dom’s room. Every time I did, I felt an overwhelming sense of grief coming over me. Dom was going to be okay. The police had brought an ambulance to the scene, and they had been able to get lifesaving measures started.

I took a seat next to his bed where I always sat and grabbed his hand. They’d removed his wedding ring, and for some reason, seeing his finger bare made me sad. When he woke up, we had a lot to figure out, and even more things to discuss. But what I did know was that I was in love with Dom Blanchi, and I suspected that I would always love him.

I felt a tear slide down my cheek, and I quickly flicked it away. I’d cried more in the past week than I had my entire life, and I was absolutely exhausted by it.

“Hopefully, you aren’t upset I made it,” Dom’s groggy said.

I nearly jumped out of my seat. “Oh my God,” I breathed out. “You’re awake.” I reached over, touching my hands on his forehead and cheeks.

“We’ve really got to stop meeting like this,” Dom said. He gave me a goofy smile, which was so unlike him.

“Let me get a doctor,” I said.

Dom reached out and grabbed my hand. There was a surprising amount of force in his grip considering that he’d been in a bed for three days.

“What happened?” he asked.

“You were shot.”

He winced. “I got that. But you're okay?”

Tears filled my eyes at the words. Despite the fact that he’d nearly died, Dom still cared more about me than he didn’t himself. We’d struggled so much together, and I was starting to think that it was all for nothing. Before I could overthink and stop myself. I leaned down and pressed a kiss to Dom’s lips.

“What was that for?” he asked, as I pulled away. The kiss had been brief, but it had sent shivers down my spine.

“I’m just so glad that you are okay,” I said.

He reached up and pressed his fingers against my cheeks. I allowed myself to enjoy the warmth of his touch. I hadn’t realized how much I missed it. “I’m so sorry,” I said. “So, so, sorry.”

Dom’s brow furrowed. “For what?”

I laughed sardonically. “I’ve got a lot to be sorry for,” I told him.

“You have nothing to be sorry for,” he said to me. “Especially not this.”

“I should have known about Nikolai.”

I’d been beating myself up for the past three days. There had been so many clues that I had chosen to miss, so many times when I could have spoken out, but I didn’t, and so many people had died because of it.

“No one could have known,” Dom said.

“You did,” I told him. I hadn’t forgotten how unsurprised he’d seemed when he saw my brother. I was hoping that he would explain that to me, but I knew that there was time.

“What happened with your brother?” he asked.

I sighed as my mind flashed back to what had happened. Nikolai shot Dom. I’d screamed as he hit the ground, and he’d tried to grab me.

“Nikolai tried to pull me away from your body,” I said, shivering as I recalled how much blood had streamed out of the wound in Dom’s chest. I had been sure that he was dead, and my mind hadn’t been able to handle it. “Marco must have heard me screaming because he intercepted us at the bottom of the stairs.”

I shivered slightly as I recalled that terrible moment.

“I thought Marco was going to shoot, but the cops busted through the door before we could do anything.”

“Cops?”

I nodded. “They arrested all of us. Held me for twenty-four hours, but I guess everyone’s story aligned, at least, as it pertained to my part of things.”

“And Marco? Nikolai? Your mother?”

I swallowed. I didn’t want to discuss any of this, but I knew that I didn’t have a choice. Dom deserved to know what happened.

“Marco is out on bail. Nikolai and Katarina are being held on multiple charges. The lawyer is pretty sure that neither of them are going to be seeing the light of day anytime soon.” To be honest, it hurt to say. I wasn’t particularly close with my mother, but I always thought that my brother cared about me.

He’d been ready to murder me just to get at Dom.

“Hey,” Dom reached out. There was an IV in his hand, a reminder of what had happened. “Everything’s going to be okay.”

I blinked away the tears. I needed to be strong. After all, I wasn’t the one sitting in a hospital bed with a chest wound.

“I’ll let your brother update you on the situation with the Bratva. With my father dead, there’s a power vacuum…” I trailed off. I didn’t want to discuss the Bratva. Thinking about my family was exhausting enough. Adding the Bratva element made my head hurt. “I’ll go get the doctor,” I said. I stood up from the bed, but Dom’s hand around my wrist tightened.

“Wait,” he said. “Stop trying to run away from me.”

I looked down out our joined hands. “Running away is what we do best,” I reminded him. I didn’t know what to say. Dom and I had gotten closer after the shooting, but things felt tainted by my family.

Dom closed his eyes, and I felt myself taking a deep, calming breathe. I didn’t know what was coming next. I couldn’t blame Dom if he decided this marriage wasn’t worth it to him. The Bratva was in pieces, so who knew what was coming next in the war between our families. My immediate family was dead, so I had no power in the organization.

“I don’t have anything to offer you,” I said finally. I wasn’t able to take the silence for much longer.

“What?” Dom exclaimed. He tried to sit up, but I noticed him wincing.

“Be careful,” I admonished. “You don’t want to pull out any stiches.”

Dom ignored me, and repositioned himself in the bed. Even in the hospital, there was something about him that oozed power. Dom was the type of man who commanded respect. I couldn’t imagine him as anything other than a mafia don.

“Why would you say that?” he asked. “Why would you think I cared about what you have to offer.”

I chuckled. “Let’s not pretend,” I said. I was so sick of pretending. I was sick of being miserable. I didn’t want to end up like my mother in thirty years. Twisted and dark. “We got married to joining together our families and bring peace. That’s no longer an option for us.”

Dom’s eyes narrowed. I could tell he didn’t like what I was saying, but I forged ahead anyway.

“You don’t have any obligations to me. The lawyers said my father left me some money in his will…” I trailed off. It was hard to talk about divorcing Dom. It was more difficult to think about my dead father.

I cleared my throat.

“The point I’m trying to make is that we entered into this because we were forced to but circumstances have changed.” I hated the way my voice sounded oddly formal and disjointed.

“Are you finished?” Dom asked.

I nodded.

“Good,” he said. “Because what you said is bullshit, and you know it.”

I opened my mouth to speak, annoyed that he would say something like that to me after I just poured my heart out.

“I let you talk, and now, it’s my turn,” Dom told me.

My mouth snapped shut.

“Yes, I married you because I wanted to bring peace to the family. But let’s be honest, there hasn’t been a moments peace between our families ever. If your mother and Nikolai hadn’t been pulling the strings, someone else would have.”

I said nothing. I had no idea where Dom was going with him. Plus, he was right, as per usual.

“The only peace that I have ever known is the peace that I’ve found in your arms,” he said.

His words took me by surprise. They were so sweet and heartfelt. Probably, the most sincere, romantic words that I had heard in my entire life. I felt tears spring to my eyes.

“You can leave me,” he said. “You can take that money and run to the ends of the Earth, but I can promise you that I’ll hunt you down. I’ll find you, and I’ll drag you home. Because you are my family.”

The tears that have been filling up my eyes finally spilled over, and though I was trying to control myself, I released a sob as I looked at Dom.

“Don’t cry,” Dom said. He reached out and wiped my tears away.

“Shouldn’t I be the one who takes care of you?” I asked, laughing slightly.

Dom nodded. His fingers didn’t move from my face, and I closed my eyes and leaned into his touch. “We’ll take care of each other,” he said.

When I looked at him, his dark eyes were sincere, and I knew that he meant what he said. We had a lot to figure out, but I knew that we would get there.

I might not have the perfect marriage I had always dreamed of, but I had the husband I needed, and I would be eternally grateful for that.