Page 120 of The Viper's Wife

I scramble to the living room to grab my phone and call the Family doctor, who tells me he’s already on the way and to touch Nico as little as possible. He hangs up.

I go to curl up on the floor next to Nico’s body and watch his chest rise and fall in shallow movements.

Dr. Macaluso is somber as he comes into the apartment. At his direction, we work together to carry Nico into the bedroom, push him onto the bed, and undress him. I can barely breathe looking at his body—his beautiful body with his art gallery of tattoos and strong muscles, all covered with black and purple like a corpse in a stage of decomposition.

The doctor sets himself to washing and applying antibiotic ointment to Nico’s body and stitching some of the worse-looking cuts. Nico doesn’t even react as the needle pierces his skin. I’ve never been squeamish before, but I have to look away.

When he’s done, Nico is bandaged and sleeping under the covers.

I walk Dr. Macaluso to the door.

“He’s stable for now, but call me if anything changes. Get him lots of water and rest. He can come by my office when he’s able, to check for broken bones. His rib might be fractured, so don’t move him around too much until then.”

“Thank you, doctor.”

Once he leaves, I slide down the door and sob into my hands.

Nico getshot through the night, sweating even though I have the fan running and pulled the blankets off of him.

I give up on any attempt at sleep and sit on the edge of the bed in the darkness to feel his forehead with the back of my hand like my nonna would do when we were young.

I haven’t thought about her in a long time. We used to see her all the time while she lived in Chicago, and thenNonno died, and she moved. Last I heard, she was by herself in a retirement home. I wonder if she knows about dad, if Giovanni got word to her too, just to fuck with what’s left of my family.

It’s selfish, but I take Nico’s hand into mine and clutch it in both of mine. The rest of his body is burning hot, but his fingers are clammy. I smile a little. Always a contrarian.

“Nico, I need you to wake up now.” I don’t know if he can hear me. I’m probably disrupting his sleep. But I need him to know I’m here.

“So, your credit card stopped working.” That was a nice surprise when I tried ordering food for delivery. “That’s probably not good. I don’t know what to do next. We can’t stay here. They’re gonna ki—” I choke on the word. Even for my scumbag brother, I can’t bear the thought. He’s still mybrother. “After Stefano, it’ll be me. That’s what all this is for, isn’t it? To keep you in line. I’m expendable.”

It doesn’t hurt at all to say it out loud. I know that I’m not expendable to Nico. To him, I’m special, for better or for worse.

I laugh dryly. For worse, probably.

“I want to stay.” My voice drops to a murmur. “I want to stay with yousobadly, but this isn’t working. They’ll take me out, eventually. And it’ll be worse for you the longer I stay. I should leave now. You’ll get a wife who’s important enough to keep alive. Just, please, do what they say. I can’t bear seeing you like this. I don’t care what you have to do. I don’t ever want to see you get hurt again.”

I stare at him, even the barest shadowy suggestion of his face breathtakingly beautiful. How could I not tell how he’d be, even so long ago, at the party? I could feel it, at least, feel the way he expressed his inner self in the darkness. Thecurve of his mouth, his warm praise, his strong hands. Even without the light, he’s so beautiful.

“Val.”

I sit up straight, clutching at his hand like a lifeline.

He’s motionless.

Did I imagine his voice, whispering my name?

“Val.”

That, I definitely didn’t imagine. I lean in.

“Val, don’t go. Don’t go… Water. I need water.”

I release his hand. “I’ll go get you?—”

“Valeria!”

Nico bolts upright, snatching me in the dark. I shriek, and he clutches me to him.

“I need water,” Nico shouts, pinning me against his feverishly hot body.