All Chapters of Forbidden: Claimed by My Ex's Father and Brother: Chapter 251 - Chapter 260

Lia's POVI sat in Victor's hospital room and felt the worry moving through me like something alive.The chair was soft. That was the strange part. Everything about this room was soft and quiet and expensive in a way that made the fear sitting in my stomach feel even more out of place. The chair I was curled up in was a deep armchair upholstered in pale gray fabric, the sort of thing you'd find in a hotel lobby. There was a matching couch along the far wall with a folded cashmere throw draped over the back. There was even a small kitchenette in the corner with a coffee machine that made real espresso.I hadn't touched any of it.The air didn't smell like antiseptic in here. Not really. Outside the enormous window the sky was going soft and gray with late afternoon. This room had a view. Actual sky, actual city, the buildings going hazy at the edges as the light flattened out. The blinds were half open and laid thin pale stripes across the carpet and up the side of the bed.I barely

Dante's POVCallum reached me before my knees could finish giving out.I felt his hand close hard around my good arm and then his shoulder come under mine, taking my weight. He was solid. He didn't say anything at first, just held me up while my legs decided whether they were going to keep working."I've got you," he said. Low. Right next to my ear. "Stay on your feet. I've got you."My shoulder was burning.That's the only word for it. Burning — a deep, spreading heat that went from somewhere below my collarbone down through the whole arm and around into my back. It pulsed with every heartbeat, and my heart was going so fast that it felt like one long continuous wave of it, no gaps. My fingers had gone strange. Tingling and thick, like they belonged to somebody else. I could feel warm wetness soaking down the inside of my shirt.I ignored all of it.I pulled Matteo back from my chest, just far enough to see him."Let me look at you," I said. My voice came out wrong, ragged and breath

Dante's POVIt took Callum and both medics to get me up. When I stood, the world tilted sideways for about two seconds and then straightened out.I kept Matteo on my hip the entire way out of those woods. My right arm under him, his legs around my waist, his face buried in my neck. Every step jolted my shoulder. I didn't care. Callum walked beside me with one hand hovering near my back the whole time, ready.The walk out felt three times longer than the walk in.We passed the police tape they'd already strung between two trees. Past officers standing in small groups. Past a man in a windbreaker photographing footprints in the mud.I did not look toward the middle of the clearing when we passed it.Neither did Matteo. I made sure of that with my hand on the back of his head.The ambulance was parked in the motel lot with its back doors already open, lights turning silently.They wanted to put me on the stretcher. I sat on it. That was as far as I'd go."He rides with me," I said."Sir,

Lia’s POVHe settled back against the chair and I watched the relief hit him, whether he wanted it to or not. His head tipped back. His good hand went loose on the armrest. All that tension he’d been holding just to stay upright let go at once, and that told me more about how bad it was than anything he’d said out loud.I crouched down in front of him so we were level.He reached out and took my hand and brought it to his mouth and pressed his lips to my knuckles. Held them there a second longer than he needed to.“I love you,” he said.“I love you too.” I put my free hand on the side of his face. His skin was still too cool. “So come back and tell me again.”“I will.”Then he turned his head and looked at his son.“Matteo.”“I have to go with the doctors for a little while so they can fix my shoulder,” Dante said. “But I’m coming back. Soon. Okay?”Matteo’s chin wobbled. “Promise?”“I promise. I have never broken a promise to you, have I?”“No.”“And I’m not starting today.” Dante’s

 Lia’s POVI sat carefully on the edge of the bed beside him, still holding his hand. Matteo leaned his head against Dante’s good side, his small body finally starting to relax. Lola stayed silent at the window, her arms crossed, looking out at the dark city. For a few quiet minutes, with Dante looking at me like I was the only steady thing in the room, I let myself breathe.His fingers stayed loose around mine. Every so often his thumb brushed slowly across my knuckles, like he needed the contact to stay grounded. His eyes were still a little glassy from the pain medication, soft in a way that made my chest ache. He kept glancing at me, then at Matteo, then back at me again, as if checking that we were both still real.The hospital room was dim except for the soft light above the bed. The air smelled clean and sharp, like antiseptic mixed with the faint scent of the soap they used on the sheets. Somewhere down the hall a cart rattled pa