Page 131

He moves at once, his face softening as he crouches beside her.
“I’m here, Chiara.” He says, his tone unrecognisably gentle. “I’m right here.”
She reaches out for her brother, her fingers wrapping around his hand as she fights to sit up.
My mouth runs dry as I watch her move, noticing how pale she looks after so many days of resting, and how tired her eyes seem.
But she’s still as beautiful as ever, even like this.
She touches him all over, her hands over his arms, his face, as she lets out a shaky gasp, her lips trembling.
“You’re okay.” she whispers. “You’re really okay, Dario.”
As he nods at her, Nikolai and I move closer to the bed too, though we stop a few steps away, just far enough to avoid crossing whatever invisible line separates us from her family.
“Chiara.” I say softly. “You’re awake. You’re safe.”
Her head swivels towards me, her eyes locking with mine.
The way she looks at me—wide eyed, almost pleading—makes it hard to breathe.
“Mikhail.” She says, her voice barely a whisper. Then her gaze shifts to my brother, and I feel him grow tense beside me. “Nikolai. You both are really here?”
He doesn’t say anything to her at first, he just gives her a small, sharp nod.
His face is as stoic as ever, but I know my brother.
I see the way his jaw tightens, and the way his hands twitch at his sides like he wants to reach out for her, but doesn’t know if he should with the tension that’s only rising in this room.
“We’re here.” He finally says. “We’re not going anywhere, darling.”
Chiara closes her eyes for a second, her lips parting as she releases a heavy breath.
When she opens them again, the room feels smaller as both Nikolai and I stare at her, and her only.
Dario stands abruptly, his eyes blazing as he glares in our direction.
“Stay back!” He snaps, his voice still sharp and defensive. “Chiara doesn’t need you both crowding her space right now.”
I stiffen at his tone, my hands curling into fists by my sides almost immediately.
My initial reaction is to say something back, to start an argument so I can throw punches and show him who he’s really talking to, but I don’t.
Not now when Chiara has finally woken up properly, and not now when she’s looking at me like that.
Right now, the only thing she needs is reassurance, and definitely not more chaos.
“We’re not crowding her.” Nikolai says quietly, though there’s a cold edge to his words. “We’re making sure that she's okay.”
Dario doesn’t hesitate to bite back, moving from the bed as he steps in front of it, almost shielding Chiara as if we’re some kind of threat to her.
“You both have done enough already.”
I almost laugh in his face.
Behind him, I watch Francesco shift as he murmurs something again to Chiara. She shakes her head, and that’s when I notice how tense he quickly becomes.
“Dario.” Chiara whispers in a shaky voice. “It’s okay. Please let them see me.”