Page 70 of In My Heart
“And I won’t, if he does as told.”
My voice faltered at the end of the sentence and I found myself coughing hard, my eyes watering with the pain it caused to my chest and throat.
“For God’s sake, Rafe! This is why you need to stay in the hospital. You’re not alright!” Cara worried as she came closer,grabbing a bottle of water from the tall cabinet beside me and cracking it open. She pushed a straw in the top and held it out to me. I took a few sips and the agonising coughing finally settled down. I collapsed back against the pillows then, exhausted.
“Thanks,Gioia,” I whispered once Cara had set down the water and leaned in over me to scowl even deeper.
“I missed you so much,” she whimpered as more tears poured down her cheeks. “Please…j-just listen to the doctors. I need you to get better. I’m no good without you in my life, Rafe. I need you.”
“I’m here,Tesorino. I’m not going anywhere now.” I reached for her hand and covered it with mine. “But I c-can’t stay here. I have to go home. I have to give the appearance that I’m back at the head of our table. If anyone th-thinks our family is weakened right now, they’ll strike – particularly Adamian. I…” I had to stop to catch my breath. My voice was little more than a whisper by now too and I hated the fact I knew it was all scaring her further. “I have to keep you safe, because I need you just as much.”
“Let’s just wait for Dario, okay? We can all talk when he’s here,” Cal suggested as he appeared behind Cara and pulled her into his arms.
She cuddled against him, clinging to his sweatshirt tightly. It was obvious they had become closer while I was out of the picture. “Why don’t you try and rest until he arrives, Rafe? You’re exhausted.”
“I’m fine,” I argued, but it was a blatant lie.
“Then at least rest your voice. Your throat is raw from the tube. Carry on like this and you won’t have the ability to talk to Dar,” he pointed out.
Smart arse little prick. He always was too intelligent for his own good. But I loved him for that too. He was my family. Mine and Cara’s. Him, Dario, Arran, Terza, and Dante…if he ever came back to us. I couldn’t help but be grateful in that moment that I would live to have more time with them all.
CARA
The gym was becoming a comforting place to me, I realised as I stood in the middle of it, barefoot on the mats, rolling my shoulders loose and slowing my breathing.
In all of the chaos of the last week, ever since Rafe got shot, exercising was the only way I had saved my sanity and kept myself even remotely calm. It was Arran who had first dragged me down there, that first day after Rafe was shot. I had been in pieces, and struggling to hold in my anxiety that was fighting to consume me. I’d obviously done a crappy job of hiding it all from Arran though. He knew, and he brought me to train. It was the best thing he could have done for me.
Ever since, I had been down there every day, sometimes multiple times. Arran had worked with me, as had Dio and even Cal, all of them seeming to know I needed a healthy way to vent my anger, anxiety, and fear. They’d taught me new skills and techniques, strengthening what I already knew along the way, and it had made me feel stronger, and so much calmer.
In a lot of ways being down there, and learning to defend myself - making myself feel prepared for the next attack, that I knew without a shadow of a doubt would come -it had become my sanctum.
I glanced around me at the basement space. It didn’t even have windows, but bright, even light poured from the state of the art lighting above, reflecting off of the polished mirrors untilthere wasn’t a shadow left to hide in. Everything was pristine—weights lined up, equipment gleaming, the air faintly sharp with citrus cleaner. It felt controlled, and made me feel the same, and I needed that more than I needed my next breath when the darkness tried to take over my thoughts.
“Yer distracted, lass,” Arran pointed out.
He was right. In that moment, my thoughts needed to take a back seat. I looked ahead and took another breath. My body felt loose, almost all of my old injuries fully healed now. I was ready, and I showed it when I turned my entire focus to Cal.
He stood opposite me, shirtless, broad, and solid under the lights, muscles covered with a sheen of sweat from the training we had already done down there. He looked unfairly steady, like nothing could knock him off balance. He wasn’t even out of breath, not even a little.
He smiled at me teasingly and I scowled, determined to wipe that smugness away this time. He needed to be out of breath when I was done with him this time.
“Play nice kids,” Arran joked from where he lounged against the mirrored wall, arms folded, watching us with quiet amusement.
I’d have sent him a scowl too, but it was hard to do anything but appreciate him when he stood before me in very hugging black shorts and nothing else. His long hair was pulled up into a top knot and every inch of his muscled body was glimmering with a sheen of sweat.
He and Cal had sparred while I watched, before Arran and I switched out, and it had been a spectacular show to behold, even with them being cautious because of Cal’s new boot on his ankle. The doctor had not cleared Cal for exercise at the lastappointment, but there was no stopping him when he set his mind to something, and he had been anxious to get back into the gym as much as he could. The only reason I hadn’t put up more of a fight was because I knew Arran always took care of his brother.
It had been worth it when I got to watch them. They were both works of art, and the power I saw from both of them as they fought was enough to have me clenching my thighs together as my body heated wildly.
“Okay, babe. Let’s try this again,” Cal taunted.
I smirked, shifting my stance. Determination rushed through me.
“You just don’t like that I got you last time.”
“You didn’t get me,” he scoffed. “You surprised me.”
“That’s kind of the point, isn’t it?”
