She’s My Queen

34. Suprise

34

SUPRISE

CRISTINA

A little while after I regain consciousness, the pain kicked up again, and I went under morphine, even though I was trying to tell Severio what I remembered of the incident at the church. Once my brain caught up with the urgency of it all, I tried to tell him who cornered me in the church and how it all played out, who the men were, and anything else I could remember.

Severio realized I was in pain again, and he made me stop talking and take pain meds so I could sleep. He shushed me and told me to rest because the business could wait. It warms my heart that he’s making my recovery a priority and putting it before business. It’s a huge tell that he cares about me, even though he never said the three magical words.

He will. He will when he’s good and ready and not a moment sooner, and if I pushed him for it, they wouldn’t mean as much to me as they will when he’s in his element. The uncomfortable one. I want this intimate side of Severio for myself. It is the most beautiful version of him, and I’m honored that he trusts me with it.

“Hey, you want to hear something crazy?” I ask.

He nods, but the door opens, and a man enters.

“Good morning,” the man says from the door. “Is it okay if I come in and examine you before I make a round?”

Severio waves him inside, blue eyes sharp, fixed on the man.

“I’m Dr. Bautista, the surgeon who operated on you.” He’s about five-ten, with dark hair and a kind face that’s instantly likable.

“Hi,” I say.

“I was here last night, but you slept through most of our conversation, I’m afraid. This morning, I’m only going to do a physical, and then I’ll order tests. Based on those, I’ll know your progress. Okay?”

“Okay.”

Dr. Bautista assesses me and continues to push and prod my body, moving my arms and legs.

“I haven’t had a chance to chat with Cristina yet,” Severio says.

“It’s been more than two days,” Dr. Bautista answers.

“Which she spent sleeping,” Severio counters.

Dr. Bautista smiles. “Today, then?”

“It depends on your tests.”

“Fair enough,” the doctor says. “We’ll be taking you in for scanning. I’ll have those results for you this afternoon, and I’ll drop by before going home.”

After Dr. Bautista leaves, I turn my head to Severio. “What was that about?”

“Your health and well-being.”

“Boring,” I say with a wink. After a moment, I say, “Severio, I’m ready to tell you what happened.”

“Don’t. Don’t tell me about anything that’ll upset you.”

“Dr. Bautista said the swelling is going down. I’m recovering. I want to talk about what happened.”

“Talk if you want, but it’s not necessary today.”

“We’ve wasted days already. They’ve escaped by now. I don’t want them to get away.” My dad. I don’t want him to get away with this.

“They won’t. They haven’t left the island.”

I swallow. “Did he tell you who he is?”

Severio frowns. “Who he is?”

“My…” Tears cloud my eyes.

Severio takes my hand and kisses the ring he put on my finger. “You don’t have to go through this. I’ve called in the military wing of the Order, and we have the island surrounded. I will hold this island in stasis for a year if I must. We’ll get them. Every single one of them that are hiding on the island, and we’ll get every one of them hiding elsewhere. I’ll close the trafficking rings completely, lay waste to everyone involved, and seize all their properties and assets. I will take their fucking mothers until they all crawl out from under the rocks so I can end them.”

“Amen,” I say. I lift my hand toward my face and wipe away a tear. “My dad met me at the church.” I start to cry hard. Now my headache is back and the machines are beeping, Severio is yelling, and nurses are barging into the room.

I close my eyes and meet the darkness again.

I wake up later that afternoon. Drago’s in my hospital room, leaning against the window, casually sliding bullets into the magazine of his gun. Brown eyes look up, and he lifts his leg toward his body. He slides the pistol into an ankle holster. Corrado’s on my right this time, hovering over something he’s spread out on the bed.

It’s a map lying on my legs.

“Severio’s in the shower,” Corrado says without looking up.

“Thank you.”

“Couldn’t get him to leave for days, and now all of a sudden, he can’t wait to get out. What did you tell him?”

Severio walks out of the shower. He comes to me and plants a kiss on my mouth. He smells fresh and shaved. All shaved.

“Your hair,” I say, wide-eyed. “You cut it.” It’s in a military buzz cut, and my God, this man is beautiful. “The nurses outside will go wild.”

His chuckle stirs the butterflies in my belly. Not many because I’m still a recovering blob on the bed, but enough to know that my affection for him is alive and well.

Drago brings an extra chair, and the three men surround me.

Severio starts. “I’ve asked Cristina to marry me.”

“Actually,” I correct, “he told me to say yes to marrying him, and I did.”

“She barked.”

Corrado looks from me to Severio and back to me.

Severio and I smile. We have a joke, one between the two of us, one only we understand. It warms my heart.

Severio runs a hand over his cropped hair, then extends a hand toward Drago, who puts a few drops of something into his palm. Severio rubs it over his hair, face, neck, hands. I notice Severio is wearing black on black like Drago.

“The last time you two matched clothing was before you left my house,” I say.

“You saw us leave?” Severio asks.

“I wasn’t going to miss the view of you in a pilot’s uniform.”

He smiles, clearly pleased I said that. “I’ll wear it for you some other time.”

Heat warms my cheeks, and Severio bends and kisses me on the mouth again. “Wife.”

“You haven’t married her yet,” Corrado says.

“I have.”

“You have?” I ask.

Severio nods. “Since I forbade my uncle from marrying you, there was an empty slot for a name next to yours in the marriage register. I signed mine.”

I want to laugh, but my muscles hurt, so I produce a tiny chortling sound. “Only you, Severio Mancini, can think that practicing your signature in a marriage register is appropriate.”

He bows. “At your service, my queen.” He says this while he eyes his brother. He then pulls back his sleeve and shows us his tattoo. It’s the head of the red serpent, matching the body of the serpent around my neck. “The serpent is complete,” he says.

Corrado nods. “Very well.” He bends toward me and kisses my cheek, his cologne different, carrying some vanilla. “I’m happy to call you my sister-in-law, Cristina.”

“Thank you, Corrado.”

“Now tell your husband you need him by your side while I go with Drago to take care of whatever business needs doing.”

“Where are you going tonight?” I ask Severio.

Nobody answers.

“The island has been under siege from air and sea for days,” Drago says. “We’ll make international news if we don’t take care of all the loose ends tonight.”

“We’re holding the entire island captive?”

“Why not?” Severio pushes back. “Someone tried to kill my wife. They will pay for it, their associates will pay for it, everyone they ever knew will pay for it.”

“Oh, Severio, it was just my dad.” I swallow. “It was my daddy.”

Corrado curses and takes my hand. He holds it gently. “I’m sorry about that. Some dads are dicks.”

“Thank you. He’s had facial reconstructive surgery. You won’t recognize him.”

“We’re holding three men,” Drago says from the foot of the bed. He holds up his phone with an image, and since I gently shake my head no, I wince.

“Don’t shake your head,” Severio says.

“I didn’t.” A lie.

“Use your words, Cristina,” he orders.

He’s so attentive that he’s annoyed with himself that he’s attentive.

Drago shows me all three. “The last one,” I say.

“You sure?” Severio asks.

“I’m sure.”

“We’ll need DNA samples,” Drago says.

“I know it’s him. Those are his hands and his voice. He called me Issi. Nobody else calls me that. Well, my mom would know to call me that… Oh God, do you think my mom knew?”

Severio squeezes my shoulder. “She didn’t. She was sleeping with Gio. For her, losing your father was a benefit.”

“My mother was sleeping with Gio?”

Severio nods.

“That is…well, I hope nobody ever finds out. What a scandal that would be. It would ruin her career.”

“Anything else you can remember?” Corrado asks.

“We have everything we need, don’t we, Drago?” Severio asks.

Drago shrugs. “Just name them, and I’ll take care of the rest.”

The Mancini brothers look at me. I know what I must do. I give them my dad’s name.

“The Head rests,” Severio says and turns for the exit.

“The Body follows.” Drago leaves behind him.

Corrado sits down.

“Did I just order a hit on my dad?” I ask.

Corrado unfolds the map. “Welcome to the family.”