Gabriel looks way too big for his hospital bed. He is strapped into what seems like a dozen machines, with tubes and wires going everywhere. But he’s alive.
I slide into the chair next to his bed and rest my hand over his. His eyes open slowly, and when he sees it’s me, he smiles.
“What immortal hand or eye could frame thy fearful symmetry?” he murmurs.
“What?” I don’t know what I was expecting his first words to be, but it wasn’t that.
“The next line of the poem,” he explains.
It all comes back, and I laugh. Reciting Blake in the back of the SUV while Silvano weaved through traffic feels like a lifetime ago.
“I didn’t think you’d remember any of that,” I say.
Gabriel licks his dry lips, looking around the room. “I make a habit of committing every second I’ve ever spent with you to memory.” His eyes return to mine, the black of his pupils spilling out toward the white. “Is the baby okay?”
I rest a hand over my stomach, smiling. “Baby’s fine. I’m fine. Harry’s fine.”
“Good.” His eyes drift closed, and he nods. “Good.”
“Gabriel,” I say, and his eyes blink open again. “What do we do now?”
His smile falls, and he grows more solemn. “That’s a good question. Call a meeting of my advisors. Whichever of them are left alive.”
I already know who is still alive, having received the news from Silvano a couple of hours ago. I squeeze Gabriel’s hand.
“I’ll call them,” I say. “But you should know that Piero didn’t make it, and Mirko and Liz are in intensive care. A couple of the men who came with the backup were killed as well—John and Matteo.”
Gabriel closes his eyes, as though feeling the pain of their deaths through the fog of the morphine. My heart breaks for him. He has seen so much death. I hope that this was the final battle and that an era of peace will follow. In fact, I intend to do everything I can to make sure that happens.
Gabriel has been allotted a larger than average hospital room, but even so, it is much too small a venue for an assembly of husky mobsters. Antonio somehow folds himself up in a chair in the corner, and the rest pack in around Gabriel’s bed like sardines, though they leave space around me. Silvano slips through the crowd and asserts himself at Gabriel’s other side.
“I’m on pretty powerful pain medication,” Gabriel says by way of greeting. “If I start muttering nonsense, I expect one of you to tell me.”
Some of the men chuckle. It’s nice to have even a sliver of lighthearted banter amidst what has been a truly hellish day.
Gabriel’s eyes skim over everyone in the room, as though he is grateful just to see them alive again. He takes in a great breath, and then sighs.
“It’s not over yet,” Gabriel says solemnly. “Antonio and Silvano, I want you to coordinate a blitz of the remaining Cartel members. I want the city wiped clean of them.” He looks at Dom, whose bulky form is towering over the end of his bed like a gargoyle. “Dom, do a sweep of O’Neill’s. If there’s any Irish Mafia still around, make it known in no uncertain terms that we will not tolerate any attacks on our people or businesses. They will either accept peace or they will die.”
Dom nods.
Gabriel’s eyelids flutter. I can tell that he’s working hard to stay awake. When he speaks next, his words have taken on a slurred edge. “Alexis’ word is to be taken as law, especially given that I don’t know how long I will be laid up. She has my full trust, and if anyone has a problem with that, they must speak to me directly. Understood?”
All of the men chime their agreement. I can’t believe that Gabriel has all but crowned me in front of them. I’m glad, because there’s a much bigger mess to clean up here than Gabriel is currently capable of dealing with.
Gabriel dismisses his men, and I follow them out into the hall.
“Elia,” I call.
The older man turns to face me. He has a splint on his nose, and his lip is split on one side.
“Yes?” he says.
I suddenly grow nervous. I’ve never commanded one of Gabriel’s capos before, not like this. What if he tells me to fuck off?
No, I’m being stupid. It is my right to make demands of him, and it is his duty to follow them.
“I want you to start funeral arrangements for John, Piero, and Matteo,” I say. “Have men go around to tell their families personally. I also want the families of those in intensive care notified and brought to the hospital if they so desire.”
He nods.
“One more thing,” I say. “Have the nurses set up a cot for me in Gabriel’s room.”
“Of course,” Elia says. “It will be done.”
He disappears down the corridor, and I feel a rush of adrenaline. I get the feeling I could have asked him to do anything and, even though he barely knows me, Elia would have been only too happy to oblige. So this is what power feels like. I vow to use it responsibly.
Gabriel is asleep when I go back into his room, so I go find Clara and Harry. Angelo is in the private waiting room with them, and when I walk in, Clara is curled against him on the sofa with a sleeping Harry nestled between them. I almost don’t want to interrupt them.
“Hey,” I say.
Clara looks up, smiling. “Hey.”
“Gabriel’s asleep.” I walk over, squatting down until I’m level with Harry. He is drooling all over Angelo’s expensive suit jacket. I smile and stroke his head. “Will you take this one home for me? I’m staying here tonight.”
“Of course,” Clara replies. “I’ll bring him back in the morning.”
I thank her and then start ambling back to Gabriel’s room. Only then, once everything has been organized and sorted into neat little piles, do the day’s events truly hit me.
I killed two people. A man I didn’t know who wanted to hurt me, and a mother I never knew I had—who also wanted to hurt me. I know that I should feel remorse, that snuffing out another human life should weigh heavily on my conscience, but I don’t, and it doesn’t. I didn’t enjoy doing it, but I wouldn’t hesitate to do it again.
In one squeeze of my finger, I dove straight into the gray area that Gabriel operates his whole life within, and it’s not the wretched place I thought it was. In fact, I have an odd sense of clarity. The remaining misgivings I’d had about participating in the dark side of Gabriel’s business flutter away because I know that at the end of the day, I will always do what I feel is right. The darkness won’t turn me into someone unrecognizable. I might be more myself now than I ever have been.
Gabriel is still asleep when I get back to the room. A little bed has been made for me beside his, but for now, I go to the chair. I rest my hand over his and stare at him, sleeping peacefully, eyes flickering behind his closed lids. I hope he’s dreaming about something nice.
I’m suddenly exhausted. I know I should go to the cot, but I’m hesitant to take my eyes off him, like if I do, he will disappear in a puff of smoke. So I hold out a minute longer.
Just another minute…
I wake suddenly, shooting upright from where I’d been resting my forehead on the side of Gabriel’s bed. I whirl around and check the corners of the room, but there’s nobody there. With a sagging sigh, I turn back to Gabriel and notice him smiling at me in amusement.