“I know Vinny is your best friend and you and Caprice have history, but she’s a loose cannon. She’s dangerous to all of us. I have to…”

Leo finished the sentence, “… kill her.” Something wild and evil rose from the depths of his soul, single-minded and obsessed. “Yes, I know. But don’t just put a bullet in her head, Ange. Make her suffer first. I don’t care what you do, but make sure she suffers. And before you kill her, tell her the order came from me.”

Angelo’s eyes widened before his face went back to its normal, cold perfection. They embraced and kissed, then his brother set his glass on the side bar and started toward the door.

“Ange?”

His mirror image turned back to him. “Yeah?”

“Vinny can never know.”

Angelo gave a short nod.

When his brother was gone, Leo strode to the east wing. The pain and the memories rose in his chest, a physical thing threatening to take his breath. The memory of her lifeless in his arms.

As she’d gone still, he’d snapped into focus, like a robot, seeing her no longer as the woman he loved, but as a broken piece of flesh to fix.

Leo leaned his forehead against the door to Faith’s room and took a long, shuddering breath, to pull himself together. Thinking of all he could have lost was pointless torment. He hadn’t lost her. No thanks to his own foolish choices that had put her in harm’s way.

He’d thought it best to keep her in the glass room during recovery. The sunlight would do her good. Leo knocked, then turned the knob without waiting for a reply. She was still too weak to call out. A nurse sat on the sofa reading a book, and his ma sat in a chair watching over Faith as the machines beeped away.

The room overflowed with balloons and flowers and stuffed animals from all of the family. If Uncle Sal or Uncle Bernie, or even Angelo had doubted Faith’s worth, they were her biggest fans now. The word liability would never cross their lips again.

Max sprawled across the foot of the bed, guarding her, while the two cats cuddled into her side. The animals kept their vigil, and no power on earth would have removed them from their stations.

Faith’s eyes fluttered open as he approached the bed. He took her hand and leaned in to kiss her forehead.

“I’m going into town. Do you need anything?”

Her heart rate beeped erratically on the machine. “No! Don’t go out, you might… he might…”

“Shhhh, sweetheart. Angelo took care of it. It’s safe. It was personal. It was one mistake. I have no other enemies.”

After a few moments, she released her death grip on his hand.

“Now, do you need anything?”

She shook her head.

Leo turned to his mother and the nurse. “I need to speak with my wife in private.”

Looks were exchanged, but the two women removed themselves from the room. When the door clicked shut, Leo said, “As soon as you’re better, I’ll take you to the church so Father Joseph can bless the marriage properly. Then we’ll have the reception. I’m flying everyone in. They all want you to have your party.”