Page 37 of Healed

Vienna would eventually need to know what I had gone through, what Nico had done to me. I would need to address what happened that night when everything shattered. And then there was his club.

“Gabby,” he said softly. “You don’t need to decide anything now. I’m not going to pressure you into anything.”

“Thank you. I just… I need some time,” I admitted.

“I have plenty of that,” he smiled. “Until we know where Nico is, and he’s been dealt with, you’ll need to stay on the compound for your own safety. But other than that, this place is yours as much as it is ours. Come and go as you please. I have Church tomorrow, and I will speak to my brothers about what’s happening and ensure none of them speak out of turn to you.”

“Thank you,” I said again, blinking back my tears.

“And one last thing?” he said as I went to stand up.

“What’s that?”

“Talk to me, Gabby. Don’t shut me out and live in that head of yours overthinking everything. I won’t pressure you, but I’m also not going to avoid you. I’ll be right here whenever you need me, but you need to take that leap and talk to me. I’ve seen what happens when so much is left unsaid—it almost destroyed Rachel and Dante more than once. And I don’t want that to happen to us, not if there’s a chance we can make this work simply by talking. Promise me.”

“I promise,” I said softly.

He looked at me as though he didn’t quite believe me, but then nodded, as though he had decided not to push the matter.

“Get some sleep, princess. Do you need anything?”

“I don’t think so. Rachel said everything was all set up next door.”

He chuckled softly.

“What’s so funny?”

“Next door is her old room. Before she and Dante sorted their shit out.”

“And why is that funny?”

“It isn’t. But if walls could talk, trust me, your night would be much more entertaining.”

I smiled back, imagining the possibilities. “They are… a unique couple, aren’t they?”

“They’re a fucking nightmare. But it works for them.”

“I… sure,” I said, not believing that for a second. But then again, they must have something to have lasted more than a week together without killing each other.

“The end of the hallway is Rachel and Dante’s room. Well, it’s actually two rooms they knocked together. Which means it’s split into a sort of triangle. They are the end, on either side of them is the kids. Bee on the right, Axel on the left next to me. Opposite me is Kitty and Crash’s old room, which Jenna is currently staying in. You’re next to me, and the room opposite you is empty. The other end of the hallway, where the stairs are, is a massive playroom for the kids, which doubles as a classroom for when Heather is teaching Bee. She doesn’t always go to school. And downstairs you already know—two spare rooms for emergencies, the kitchen and living room, Church, Dante’s office, and the club out front.”

I nodded, even though I already knew this. Though it was nice to get an update on who was staying where. The only unoccupied room was the one that used to belong to Macbeth. I remember because that had been the one I’d needed to sneak past the most back in the day.

“I’ll leave you to get some sleep,” I said to Vienna when silence fell once more. He nodded his response, knowing there was nothing left to say. I left his room, slipped in next door and softly cried myself to sleep.

Because what else did one do when the man they loved had both saved them, and yet had taken something so monumental from them?

Chapter 11

Gabriella

I woke the next day with shame immediately washing over me.

I was in the room of the woman who had murdered my brother. Sleeping next to her was the man who had murdered my father. And right next door to me was the man who had murdered my mother.

And here I was, taking refuge behind their walls, relying on them for my safety and protection, when these were the people who had hurt me the most.

All night I had been plagued with memories of my family. It was impossible not to remember Damien when surrounded by the belongings of his murderer.