When She Falls (The Fallen, #3)(35)

“Not here.”

“Get me Vale.”

“She’s not here either.”

He turns me around and sits me down on the edge of the bed. His touch on me is firm but gentle.

When I meet his gaze, there’s a graveness to it that makes a shiver of panic creep up my back. “What happened? Are they okay?”

“Vale and Dem left on their honeymoon.”

They were leaving the same day we were supposed to be flying back to New York.

“When?”

“Yesterday.”

An outlandish suspicion starts to build. “And my family?”

“They left yesterday too.”

“They left me here.”

No way.

They wouldn’t.

Ras lets out a sigh and lowers to his haunches in front of me. He wraps his palms over my knees in a reassuring hold. “You’re with me, Gem.”

My chin starts to tremble. I know I should try to keep my emotions in, but my body is so wrung out, I’m incapable of it. “They left me?”

Ras’s gaze is soft as he studies me. “Your father had…important meetings he couldn’t miss.”

“What about Cleo?”

Even if Papà left, she wouldn’t just abandon me here.

“Cleo had to meet some guy.”

“What guy?”

“A marriage prospect, from what I understand.”

I rack my brain for any memory of this. Oh. Ludovico—the stodgy capo Papà promoted recently. He’s been sniffing around Cleo for years. She’s already threatened him once with disembowelment.

Yes, I vaguely recall Mamma mentioning something on the way over here about meeting with him. But was that meeting really so important that they chose to leave without me?

A sob bubbles up.

“Hey, you’ll be okay.” Ras’s palms tighten on my knees. “I promise, I’ll get you all better, all right?” He gets up and comes back a moment later with a tissue. “I’ll go get your meds. You need to take them now.”

I wait until he’s out of the room before I fling myself onto the bed and weep into the pillow.

I’m so weak.

I’m in so much pain.

And my family abandoned me, leaving me with Ras of all people. Ras doesn’t even work for Papà. How did Papà allow this?

After a few minutes, my tears stop, and I sit back up, clutching the bedcover in fear. There’s no way this was Papà’s idea. He would have dragged me on that plane even if I was delirious, which means someone stopped him from doing that.

Vale and Dem.

“Oh God.”

Ras picks that moment to reenter the room. He hands me a little white pill and a glass of cool water.

I glance down at the pill. “What is this?”

“Something to get your temperature down.”

When I stare at it suspiciously, Ras clicks his tongue. “For fuck’s sake, Gemma. What do you think I’d give you?”

“Cyanide.”

“Glad to see you’re feeling better,” he mutters. “If I wanted to kill you, I had plenty of opportunities to do so before you regained consciousness.”

He has a point. I swallow the pill and chase it with more water.

“What did you do to make Papà leave me here?”

“Doctor’s orders.”

“Don’t lie to me.” Papà would not have let a doctor prevent me from leaving.

Ras’s jaw hardens. “We told your father that you were too sick to travel and that we wouldn’t allow you off the property until you’ve been cleared by a medical professional.”

“And Papà agreed?”

“It wasn’t a negotiation.”

I clutch my head with my hands. “No, no, no. I’m screwed. Papà will be furious. There’ll be hell to pay when I get back to New York.”

God, I can’t even imagine the speech I’ll get from Mamma. To make myself such an inconvenience for everyone will rank high on her list of my biggest fuckups in life. And Papà won’t be happy about me being the cause of Vale and Dem telling him what to do.

Shit, shit, shit!

When Ras doesn’t say anything, I tear my gaze off the floor and look at him. He drags his palm over his chin and gives me a look so pregnant with meaning it makes my stomach drop.

“You mean when we get back to New York,” he finally says in a low voice.

“What?”

“I’m taking you back. And I think I’ll stay for a while.”





I wake up in the middle of the night, the darkness so thick it makes me question if all light on Earth was permanently extinguished while I slept. My hands pad over the bed. They’re sticky with sweat. I don’t even know what I’m looking for, but when I don’t find it, I start crying.

The bed dips, and there are suddenly arms around me. “Shh, you’re okay.” Someone’s rubbing the small of my back. “Do you need to throw up?”

“No. I’m scared. It’s so dark—”

A light comes on. For a moment, its appearance is so shocking that it steals my breath.

We’re good. It’s all good.

“Breathe, Gemma.” Warm palms squeeze my shoulders. “It was just a fever dream.” There’s an intentional brush over my forehead. “You’re still a bit hot. But at least you’re not burning up like before.”