Nicole lay on her side beside Salvatore, gently running her hand over his back with him sleeping soundly. It had been almost 3 days since he finally managed to get some sleep, but that also with Nicole rubbing his back and she was too afraid that he'd wake up if she stopped, and for that very reason she resumed the movement at 2 a.m. in the morning; hoping that he'd get as much as sleep before he took over Arcangelo's turn at the hospital.She didn't dare move, no matter how uncomfortable she might be, or how her arm may be getting numb, she wouldn't move, much too well acquainted with her husband's sleeping habits.Inhaling deeply, she slowly ran her hand up and down his back, gauging by his breathing in the dark and let out a relieved whoosh of air to know that he was still asleep. No soon had the relief arrived when a knock sounded on the door and forced Nicole to hold her breath before wanting to curse when Salv

Sighing tiredly, Salvatore pulled off the t-shirt he wore, lazily stretching out on the bed before covering his eyes with his arms. Inhaling deeply he took hold of his phone and checked to see if he had any messages."What are you doing?" Nicole's voice inquired in exasperation as he scrolled through the device."Just checking for messages,""We agreed, Salvatore," She admonished and plucked it from his hands before putting it onto his side table."Fine, fine," He relented and lay back on the bed. "No phone,""That's right," She grinned at him and hitched up her silken nightgown to straddle his waist watching Salvatore let out an exhale before she intertwined their fingers together. "No phone,""This is new," Salvatore noticed the grey satin nightgown she wore that was pooled up to her thighs.

Nicole sat with her back to the armrest with her legs over Salvatore's lap, an art pad in her lap as she drew her husband's concentrated expression as he read the file in hand with sunlight pouring over him. His wife clicking her tongue when he moved his head, grasping his chin into her hand and fixing the direction as he let her do as she willed. Leaning back again, her eyes drifted to her cup of coffee, going to reach for it before realizing her husband's breakfast was untouched."Salvatore, you have to eat something," Nicole sighed as he flipped through a file in his hand, slowly sipping his coffee. "You didn't even eat dinner yesterday,""I'm not hungry," He murmured in response and clicked his pen, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration as he blinked at the words."Baby, please eat something," She found herself pleading more often nowadays.Her husband had lost

Stars illuminated the sky dressed in flowing black and for once; it wasn't covered by grey clouds and crying a fresh wave of snowflakes. The floor was the opposite of the roof above, white against black shining with diamonds. The house had been shining like fire in the setting sun, but now had been reduced to an ebony shadow in the distance, and at this time of the night, the majority of the lights had been turned off as well.Men hid on tree branches, watching the house, and the men patrolling the grounds, knowing they had a small time window, and the job needed to be done quickly. Their Boss was amongst the men hidden between the leaves, his immaculate suit replaced by black camouflage and a device fitted into his ear."Piero," Their boss called into the device, his voice hardly above a whisper, with his mouth covered by a black scarf to keep away the cold. "Are you in position?"Pier

Nicole stood in front of the mirror, staring at herself in the black V-neck wrap dress that reached her knees. Her hair was left open, but it was a mess, she hadn't bothered brushing out the tangles after her shower, as a matter of fact, the only reason she had showered was because of Salvatore dragged her in with him.Swallowing the lump in her throat, she gave herself a long hard look. Her eyes a soft pink from her incessant crying, her lips chapped and her cheeks ashen. It hadn't been 2 days, and already she looked like a zombie.Black always had suited her, accentuated the green of her eyes or contrasted with the rich hazel of her hair, but now, she wore black to commemorate her grief for her loss. She had every right to be a mess, Salvatore said, she had every right to cry and scream and be angry, and she knew that and agreed. But what she didn't agree with was the need to invite