Hospital.
My heart lurched.
No.
No, no?—
“Alessio?”My throat was raw.His name came out shredded.
Nothing answered me but the monitor.
The memory hit me like a bullet.
Blood.
Screaming.
Gunfire ripping the air apart.
Alessio at the door.
My brother.
My baby brother.
Standing there with a gun too big for his hands, eyes fierce, body shaking—not running, not hiding—protecting me.
I sucked in a breath that turned into a broken sound.
“No…”
My eyes flew open fully now, panic flooding my veins.My head jerked from side to side, searching the room like if I looked hard enough, Alessio would be there, sitting in a chair, smirking, calling me an asshole for almost dying.
“Alessio!”I shouted.
Nothing.
The truth crashed into me, merciless and final.
He didn’t come back.
My chest seized so violently I thought my heart had stopped.
“Oh God—” I tried to sit up, but pain exploded through me, white-hot, savage.I didn’t care.I ripped against the tubes in my arms, the wires on my chest, the bandages binding my ribs.
“Alessio!”I roared again, voice breaking.
Hands grabbed me.Voices shouted.None of it mattered.
I had promised.
I had promised.
You don’t go anywhere unless you can take me down.
We go together.
I won’t let you die.