followed Nico through the bland, white halls toward his father’s hospital room. He was noticeably upset, probably scared, although he hid his fears extremely well.
Earlier in bed, I’d needed him.
Now, he needed me.
We found Val and Gia in the waiting room, huddled together on a small sofa with tear-stained cheeks. When Val saw us, she shot to her feet and threw herself into Nico’s arms. I was surprised that Gia didn’t even hesitate to do the same to me.
As if I already belonged to them.
Like I was family.
The way my heart soared was also inappropriate. This wasn’t about me and whether or not I wanted to be a part of this family.
“How is he?” Nico asked.
I doubted that either woman detected the slight shakiness in his voice.
Val pulled back from her son, wiping her eyes with a tissue. “He’s in surgery right now. They have to replace a valve and will probably put stints in. I told him he was putting too much on himself after the last time. His father had heart issues, too.”
Nico stiffened. “What do you mean, the last time?”
Val’s pale face flinched. “We didn’t want to worry any of you, especially before Cris and Jasmine’s wedding. Your father’s been having some chest pains for the last few months. His doctor diagnosed it as angina.”
My heart cracked right down the center when Nico’s face drained of color. “Mom… Why didn’t you tell us?”
“You know your father,” she laughed dryly. “Always has to be Superman. It was a battle just to get him to go to the doctor in the first place. I finally had to threaten to leave him if he didn’t.”
Gia and I shared weary grins, knowing Val was joking. Those two couldn’t have been more symmetrical to each other, more in sync. I couldn’t imagine anything tearing them apart.
“The stress has been getting to him, hasn’t it?” Nico demanded, his voice stern. “Everything that’s been going on this year, it’s taken its toll on him.”
Pushing back her shoulders, Val transformed into the tough matriarch right before my eyes. “Your father’s never going to stop being who he is, Niccolò, no matter what threats our family faces. Just as our children will never stop being who they are. And we would never want you to. We would never ask you to change. So, I cannot ask that of your father. His stubbornness is one of the reasons why I fell in love with him in the first place.”
Nico’s jaw hardened.
Then the waiting room doors burst open. Cris, Jasmine, and Luka stormed in, followed five minutes later by Ace, Roxy, and Rome. Everyone hugged, Val updated them on Enzo’s condition, but my eyes stayed on Nico. His face was taking on a chalky pallor, and it was starting to worry me.
So, when he mumbled something about going to look for a restroom, I followed him out the door and down the hall at a brisk pace. When I rounded a corner shortly after him—
He shattered me.
His forehead was pressed against the wall, face lowered, eyes squeezed shut. He was grinding his fist into the drywall, as if restraining the urge to haul back and punch it. As I slowly closed the distance between us, I saw it. Barely discernable in the minute trembling of his lips, the ticking in his cheeks, the shaking of his shoulders.
Nico was crying.
This infallible, unflappable man who always had a quick retort and snide comment on the tip of his tongue, was shedding tears.
He didn’t lift his head when I stopped next to him, but I could tell he knew I was there. I rubbed my cheek against his arm, needing some way to comfort him.
“He’s going to be okay.”
“I put this on him,” he choked out. “He was taking on more than he should have because of me.”
“You know better than that, Nico. You didn’t cause him to have a heart attack.”
His laughter was riddled with bitterness. “Didn’t I? If he’d known he could rely on me to take care of things, he wouldn’t have burdened himself with so much.” Through clenched teeth, he added, “The stress wouldn’t have been so overwhelming. This is on me.”
“It’s not on you,” I snapped. “Don’t let this be another excuse to pile on more guilt and self-hatred. Use this as an opportunity to prove yourself to them, Nico. Enzo wanted you to help him lead this family. And now they need you more than ever. Be there for them. Be the man your father