Chapter 14 - The Midnight Confession
That night, a violent thunderstorm rolled over Westchester. Heavy sheets of rain lashed against the bedroom windows, and thunder rattled the glass panes.
In the master suite, Serena woke up to the sound of quiet, rhythmic tossing and turning beside her.
Victor was thrashing in his sleep, his brow beaded with sweat, muttering broken fragments of a nightmare she had never heard him speak of. “Elena… watch out… the car…”
Serena’s heart squeezed with sudden, sharp empathy. She shifted closer, pressing her chest against his broad back, and wrapped her arms tightly around his waist, pulling him out of the dark corridors of his past.
Victor gasped, his eyes flying open. He swung his arm back instinctively, a reflex born of a thousand stealth attacks, before freezing when he realized it was just Serena.
“Hey,” Serena whispered softly in the dark, her voice a safe harbor. “I’ve got you. You’re here. You’re home.”
Victor let out a ragged, broken breath, turning over and burying his face in the crook of her neck. The untouchable mafia kingpin trembled against her skin, stripped of all armor.
“I still see it sometimes,” Victor whispered, his voice thick with unspoken grief. “The fire. The smoke. I couldn't save her, Serena. And every time the boys cry, I feel like I’m failing them all over again.”
Serena combed her fingers through his dark hair, scratching his scalp gently until his breathing slowed.
May you like
“You didn’t fail them, Victor,” Serena murmured fiercely, pressing a soft kiss to his temple. “You gave them a second chance. You gave me a second chance. We survived the fire together. And we’re not going anywhere.”
Victor wrapped his arms around her with desperate, crushing intensity, holding onto her like she was the only thing keeping him anchored to the earth.
