Chapter 141: 141 ~ Jace
Of all the things, I did not expect her to say that.
I listened with rapt attention as she explained everything to me. My jaw clenched at the realization that she possibly could have died if not for her quick thinking.
My heart swelled with pride but at the same time, I was disappointed in myself for failing at my duty to keep my wife safe.
At the end of her narration, she broke down in tears and I scooped her into my arms.
"It’s okay." I rubbed the back of her head gently as her body wracked with sobs.
I tried to soothe her in the best way possible. She was shivering in my arms.
Bloodshed wasn’t for someone like Mira. She was sweet, pure and innocent. An untainted rose even if she played tough most of the time. But the truth of the matter is, I was the dirty one. Now I felt like I had failed her so much she had to do my job for me.
Her tears soaked my short but I didn’t know.
"You’re okay now, mia cara."
"I know but what if I had just hit him in the head instead? I shouldn’t have pulled the trigger. He had a family!"
I caressed her tearstained face and made her look at me.
"This is how our world works baby. It’s either you kill or get killed."
Her throat bobbed as she swallowed. "But, what if I don’t want to?"
"Like you rightly said, this was self defense. You didn’t kill him out of spite."
"Okay."
Once she had calmed down, I made sure to book a private room for her in the hospital even though she insisted she was fine. I just wanted to make sure she was okay.
It was after she was asleep that everything she had said slammed into me.
Massimo had gotten men to infiltrate my own home??
That bastard had no fear and I was going to have to remind him of what it was to cross me like that.
We had rules in this world and he crossed a line by having my own mother, the donna of the entire Italian Mafia, shot. And now trying to harm my most precious jewel by planting imposters in my home?
There was nothing more unacceptable than these two things. He could do whatever he wanted to me. Hell, he could kill me with an array of bullets and I wouldn’t mind. But touching the people I loved had signed him up for a very painful demise.
I picked up my phone and called Tomas.
"Boss, we’re on it." He said, understanding me before I could even speak.
"Don’t spare anyone of his." I cracked my knuckles as annoyance and indignation soared in my blood.
"Got it."
"Clean up the mess at the estate too. It’s going to be closed down for a while."
"Alright."
Massimo had messed with the wrong one.
I went back into the hospital room to check on Mira. She was tossing and turning in her sleep unlike the peaceful angel I had always been. I could tell that she was troubled from the expression on her face. She was having a nightmare.
Fuck! I hated seeing her like this.
I walked over and gently rubbed my thumb over her forehead until the creases reduced.
Then I softly rubbed on her smooth dark hair until I heard her sigh and relax. I was hoping she wouldn’t open her eyes so she wouldn’t see how much I worried for her.
~
The next morning after a quick shower, change of clothes and a very sleepless night on my part, I walked hand in hand with Mira to the intensive care unit where my mother was.
She had been in coma for the last few days. The doctors said it was a miracle she was able to survive the shots to her mid region.
I clenched my fist every time I remember how I was told it happened.
She was on her way back from a luncheon when her vehicle was ambushed. When they discovered the cars were bulletproof, they made sure they opened the car and shot her twice.
My men killed them off but the damage had been done.
Why on earth were they slacking so much?! I was paying them well enough to avoid such incidents yet they had flopped at their one job.
My father would have eliminated every slacker but I wasn’t like him. I was simply going to fire them.
That was when it hit me.
There was no way a random face would have entered my premises and not raised suspicions. Massimo had tracked the men I fired and used them against me.
I hated that my father’s methods did not look so brutal anymore.
"That bastard!" I cussed under my breath but loud enough for Mira to hear.
"Jace?" Mira called out giving me a bewildered.
We had been silent ever since we entered and saw my mother’s unconscious body and asides from the beeping of the monitors, and the hum of the air conditioner, there was no sound.
"I’m sorry, I just thought of something."
"Okay," she said cautiously and then looked away.
She squeezed my hand in hers. "Everything’s going to be just fine."
"Well, I hope so."
"It will." She reassured me.
And for some strange reason, it made me feel a bit of comfort on the inside.
We left the hospital soon after and headed to a hotel suite my assistant helped us book.
Mira’s head laid on my shoulder all through the ride.
"You didn’t sleep well." It was a statement not a question.
The dark circles under my eyes were evidence.
"I didn’t sleep at all." I told her.
"Okay we’ll sleep immediately after breakfast."
"Not sure I have an appetite. I also have lots of work to do."
"Mr Romano, you’re going to eat and take a nap. No questions asked." She ordered.
My mouth lifted in a smile for the first time in twenty four hours.
"Yes ma’am."
"Good." She grinned.
When we reached the hotel and checked into the suite, that was exactly what we did. We ate and slid into bed with my arms around her.
I slept peacefully like I always did when she was next to me.
I don’t know how long I napped for but I felt so refreshed when I woke up.
But when I woke up, Mira was nowhere to be found. I immediately panicked.
Jumping out of bed, I headed into the suite’s living room.
"Mira?!" My voice came out louder than usual.
"Jace? Why are you yelling? Is everything okay?"
I was relieved to see her sitting in front of the TV, snacking on chips.
"I thought you were kidnapped or something." I admitted my fear before I could stop myself.
"No one would even dare to try to take me from under your nose. You would rip them apart with your bare hands." She grinned.
"You’re hyping me up." I said in amusement.
"I’m saying the truth." She said, getting on her feet. "You’re my superman and I know you would do anything to protect me."
"But I failed you yesterday."
I felt a twinge of guilt and fear every time I thought about the possibility of losing her.
She sighed. "At least I proved that I can take care of myself."
I pressed a kiss to her forehead. "You sure can."
I leaned back against the couch, the city skyline gleaming beyond the glass wall. For once, the chaos was muted. There were no calls, no gunfire, no shadows breathing down my neck. Just Mira curled against me, her hair spilling across my chest like silk, her hand tracing idle circles against my skin.
It should have been perfect. A rare moment of peace.
But peace was fragile. Peace never lasted in my world.
"Stop thinking," she murmured without opening her eyes. Her voice was drowsy and sweet like honey.
"I can feel it," she added.
I smirked faintly, brushing my lips over her temple. "You can feel everything, huh?"
"Hmm." She hummed, nuzzling closer. "Especially when you’re trying too hard to act like nothing’s wrong."
I didn’t answer. I couldn’t even do that because she was right. My head was still back at the hospital, seeing my mother pale and fragile, a woman I had always thought unbreakable. It unsettled me more than I wanted to admit.
Mira tilted her face up to look at me. Her eyes searched mine in a soft, insistent, demanding the truth I wasn’t ready to say.
"I’m not going anywhere, Jace," she whispered. "No matter what happens, we’re always going to be together."
And that nearly undid me.
I crushed her against me, breathing her in, holding her like maybe if I did, the world couldn’t take her too. She had no idea how much I wanted to believe that promise. That reassurance was everything.
My phone buzzed on the table, cutting through the moment. The sound was sharp and urgent. It reeked of something ominous.
Mira stiffened slightly, but I reached for it.
The name on the screen twisted something low in my gut.
Massimo.
For a second, I just stared at it, my thumb hovering. Every instinct screamed that whatever waited on the other end of the line would stir up chaos. But what else was new?
Mira’s fingers brushed my arm. "Who is it?" she asked softly.
My jaw tightened as I locked eyes with her.
"Trouble," I said at last, and swiped to answer.