Chapter 208
Aria’s POV
Aty body felt like it was floating at first. Not in a peaceful way, but like I was caught between sleep and waking. Like I was underwater and everything around me moved too slow. The air smelled like alcohol and cotton. There were voices, low and muffled, like someone was speaking behind a thick wall, M/ head throbbed. A deep pulsing pain right behind my eyes that made it hard to think or remember anything clearly.
I tried to move. Just a little. My fingers twitched and then I tried to sit up but a warm hand pressed gently against my shoulder, holding me down.
“Easy,” a voice said. Calm. Familiar. “Don’t try to move yet, bella. Just breathe.”
Enzo.
That was Enzo’s voice. My chest eased a little just hearing it.
I groaned as I blinked my eyes open. The light above me was too bright and everything looked fuzzy. I saw blurry outlines. One. Two. Three. I blinked again and the shapes turned into faces. Enzo. Matteo. Dante. All of them looking at me like I was something fragile. Like they had been holding their breaths.
I tried to speak but my throat felt dry. I winced and whispered, “My head…”
“I know,” Enzo said quickly. “You’re okay now.”
I looked around slowly. I wasn’t in my room. The walls were gray, clean, and cold. A machine beeped softly nearby. There was a strange man at the corner of the room, tall, with graying hair and dark gloves. He was setting something down on a metal tray. I tensed up before realized he wasn’t a threat. Just a doctor.
Matteo reached for my hand and held it between both of his. His palms were warm. He rubbed small circles into my skin with his thumb. It calmed me, grounded me. I wanted to say something but my body felt too heavy. My tongue didn’t want to work. I could see the worry in their eyes. All three of them. They looked pale. Like they hadn’t slept.
I let my eyes close again for a moment, just to escape the spinning in my head. But then something sharp pulsed at the back of my skull and I gasped.
“Aria?” Dante’s voice was tight with fear.
“What is it?” Enzo asked, moving closer.
I blinked fast, trying to focus through the pain. “It hurts. Still.”
The doctor walked over and spoke softly. “She’s got a bandage on the back of her head. She took a pretty bad hit. The pain will come and go. She was given painkillers but it’ll take a while to wear off completely. She needs rest.”
They were all staring at the doctor like they were ready to punch him for not making the pain go away faster.
He added gently, “She’s stable. We got to her in time. She’s lucky.”
Lucky. That word echoed in my mind. I didn’t feel lucky./I broken.
The doctor said a few more things I didn’t understand, then he packed his things and left the room. It was just me and the brothers again.
Enzo pulled a chair close and leaned in. “You scared the hell out of us,” he said softly.
“You lost a lot of blood,” Matteo added. “If we’d gotten there a
minutes later…”
“She would’ve died,” Dante finished for him, his voice raw.
I swallowed hard. My throat ached. I turned my head slightly and whispered, “Someone hit me.”
Enzo nodded. “We know.”
1/2
Chapter 208
“I was in the study,” I said slowly. “I was looking for something. I had this, this feeling. I knew something wasn’t right. Then someone there. A woman. She said run. And then…” I touched the bandage lightly. I didn’t see who it was, just a dark hoodle.
“Don’t think about that right now,” Matteo said softly. “You’re safe.”
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