I lie back on the bed, looking out the window, enjoying the warm sun as it creeps inside. I sigh as my body relaxes in Dante’s bed, the familiar soft sheets wrapping around me, his smell infiltrating my senses. It is the same bed I spent all my nights in, albeit, in a totally different room.

I haven’t been to the old house. From what Maria tells me, it is nothing but a cement shell now, Dante gutting it all immediately after the incident with Angelina. Not wanting any reminder to be present for Leo.

“Can you hold this?” Leo asks quietly, and I turn and smile at him, taking the small building block from his hand so he can put together a few other elements of what looks like a boat that he is building.

He hasn’t left my side since Dante brought me back here a few days ago. Everywhere I go, he is with me. It is sweet, but I also know we will need to work on his attachment in time. Maria is equally protective of me, now ensuring that I am fed regularly, resting, and not lifting a finger until I am fully recovered. Dante is the most protective of all, though. He won’t let me leave the bedroom, believing that my body has been through so much this past month, both physically and mentally that I need to just rest. I feel fine, but I have nightmares, and I don’t hide them from Dante. I don’t hide anything from him anymore.

“It looks like a lovely boat, Leo,” I comment, taking in the bright white blocks and the clever way he has curved the square ones into the shape he required. He is such an intelligent boy.

“It is our boat,” he says, as his tongue juts out of his mouth. He is in deep concentration.

“What do you mean, our boat?” I ask, intrigued now.

“This is our boat in Sicily. Dad said we are taking you there,” he says, not looking at me, still struggling with some pronunciation, but making good progress the more and more he uses his voice.

“Sicily?” I question as I sit up a little more. “What do you mean?”

“What he means is we are going on a family break together,” Dante says, walking into the bedroom, his footsteps still stealthy because I didn’t hear him enter at all.

I look up at him as he stands next to the bed, peering down at me.

“What?” I gape, in complete shock.

“I’m taking you to Sicily, Little Red. We are going at the end of the week.” He’s telling me the most exciting news like it is nothing more than a trip to the grocery store.

My eyes widen in surprise, and a smile takes over my face as pure joy radiates through me.