CHAPTER NINE

KAI

I didn’t stay down.

Nineteen years of training has taught me one thing: never stay still when danger is coming. A gunshot wasn’t going to erase that habit overnight.

I was already pushing myself upright, biting back the pain in my shoulder, when the door opened.

It wasn’t Marco.

A young nurse stood there with a clipboard against her chest. She looked tired, probably used to walking into all kinds of strange situations, but even she froze when she saw me halfway out of bed and Renata sitting beside me with one hand buried inside her jacket.

For a second, nobody moved.

Then Renata pulled her hand out.

Her expression changed instantly. Whatever I’d seen on her face moments ago was gone, replaced by the calm, controlled woman she’d been pretending to be for years.

“I’m sorry,” she said smoothly. “My nephew was startled. It’s been a difficult night.”

The nurse glanced at me, then at Renata.

She recovered quickly and started talking about checking my vitals and giving me more pain medication. She reminded me that I needed to rest before slipping out of the room.

The door clicked shut.

Renata lowered herself back into the chair. This time, she didn’t bother hiding the shaking in her hands.

“I nearly pulled a gun on a nurse.”

She stared at her hands.

“What have I become?”

“You’ve been afraid for a long time.”

I didn’t say it to excuse her. I said it because it was true.

And despite everything I’d learned tonight, I still couldn’t hate her the way I thought I should.

“Being afraid doesn’t make you evil, Renata. But it doesn’t make what you did right either. You’re going to have to live with both.”

She said nothing.

Neither did I.

The hospital room was quiet except for the steady beeping of the monitor beside me.

But my mind wasn’t quiet.

Marco Reyes was somewhere out there in Ironmouth. He had nineteen years of secrets and leverage behind him, and now he had nothing left to lose.

And Elias was out there too.

Alone.

Chasing the truth inside that letter I’d told him not to wait for me to read.

I should never have said that.

Don’t wait for me.

At the time, I’d meant it to reassure him. I’d been getting wheeled away on a gurney, scared out of my mind and trying to make sure he didn’t blame himself.

Now I realized what I’d actually done.

I’d sent him straight toward a secret that had already gotten people hurt.

A secret Marco could kill to keep buried.

“I need a phone.”

Renata looked at me.

“Kai—”

“Now.”

She hesitated, then handed it over.

I dialed the only number I had for Elias. The number he’d given me weeks ago after some ridiculous excuse I’d made about a delivery because I wanted an excuse to hear his voice.

It rang.

Four times.

Five.

Then voicemail.

I hung up and tried again.

Nothing.

On the fourth attempt, he answered.

His breathing was heavy, like he’d been running.

“Kai?”

Relief hit me so hard I almost forgot about my shoulder.

“You’re awake. You’re okay. They said you were—”

“Where are you?”

I didn’t have the patience for anything else.

“Elias, tell me exactly where you are.”

There was a pause.

Then I heard another voice in the background. Older.

Urgent.

My body went tense.

“My father’s house,” Elias said. “Teo’s here.”

He lowered his voice.

“Kai, there’s something you need to know. Something about my mother, and about—”

I heard a door creak.

Then his voice dropped even further.

“Teo says Marco was seen leaving the service gate before the police arrived. He thinks I’m not safe. He thinks whatever is happening isn’t over.”

“He’s right.”

I threw the blanket aside and swung my legs over the edge of the bed.

Renata immediately stood.

“Kai.”

I ignored her.

The IV pulled at my arm. My shoulder screamed when I moved, but I pushed through it.

My clothes were folded on the chair by the window. They were stained with blood and looked terrible, but they were still better than the hospital gown.

I grabbed my shirt and started pulling it on with one hand.

Renata muttered something sharp in Italian.

I didn’t ask what she said.

“Listen to me,” I told Elias. “Don’t go anywhere alone. Don’t go to the docks. Don’t go back to my house. Stay exactly where you are.”

“Kai, you just got shot.”

“I noticed.”

I managed to get my shirt on.

“Keep Teo with you. Don’t open that door for anyone you don’t know.”

“Elias—”

“What?”

I stopped.

My hand rested against the cold wall.

There were things I’d been avoiding for weeks. Things I’d refused to say because saying them meant admitting how much he mattered to me.

Tonight, there was no point pretending anymore.

“I’m not losing you over a secret that’s nineteen years old.”

Elias went quiet.

“Whatever is in that letter, whatever Teo tells you, we deal with it together. From now on.”

“I mean that.”

My voice dropped.

“I should’ve said it a long time ago.”

For a moment, neither of us spoke.

It felt like we’d both been waiting for one of us to finally say it.

“Okay,” he whispered.

“Okay. Just be careful, Kai. Please.”

“Always.”

It was a lie.

I’d never been careful when it came to Elias.

And something told me I never would be.

I ended the call.

When I turned around, Renata was already standing by the door.

Her jacket was on.

Her car keys were in her hand.

I’d seen that look before. It was the same look she’d worn when I was a kid and she’d already made up her mind about something.

“You cannot drive with that shoulder,” she said.

“I’m not driving.”

“I’m taking you.”

I looked at her.

“You called Marco tonight.”

“I know what I did.”

Her voice was different now. The guilt was still there.

“And I’m going to fix what I can.”

She tightened her grip around the keys.

“That boy shouldn’t have to pay for a debt that was never his.”

Then she opened the door.

“Now come on, Kai. Get in the car before I change my mind and have you sedated.”

Despite everything, I almost smiled.

I didn’t argue.

There wasn’t time.

And watching Renata standing there, ready to walk straight into whatever came next, I realized something.

For nineteen years, she’d been protecting the wrong people.

Tonight, she’d finally chosen a side.

It had taken a bullet, a dead man’s aide bleeding out on her nephew’s study floor, and the possibility of losing Elias to finally force her hand.

But she’d chosen.

We left the hospital despite every warning the doctors had given us.

Outside, the night air was cold.

My shoulder throbbed with every step.

I barely noticed.

All I could think about was Elias' voice.

The fact that he was alive.

Waiting for me.

This time, I wasn’t going to leave him to face the truth alone.

Whatever was waiting for us, whatever it cost, I was going to keep that promise.