His Mafia Prince
Chapter 223: It’s You I Care About

Chapter 223: It’s You I Care About

(SASHA)

The next time that I wake up, it feels like much less of an effort. Unlike the usual when someone could be shining a light into my eyes, I’m staring at Tyler’s pretty face. I smile, and wince when my lips crack. Tyler disappears for a while and when he comes back, he smears something on my lips.

"Keep still," he whispers when I try to turn my face away. "This is for your own good."

"I doubt that." I say hoarsely, but I let him do his thing. "Thirsty."

He lets me have a few more measly sips of water. I watch him while I suck on the straw. If I felt a little better, I’d make some joke about preferring to suck him rather than water. But my head is still fuzzy and every part of my body hurts. Then our previous conversation comes back to me.

"You said...Marco?

He sighs. "Marco is in town, but he went to check on some business at the moment. He was so worked up about what happened back then and how all this happened.

I grin. That’s so Marco.

"I’ll bring him in," I say as soon as I can." Tyler goes on. "But I want us to talk about something before I do."

I stop grinning when I see the serious look on Tyler’s face. This never ends well. "What?" I cough out suspiciously that he lets me have more water.

"We need to get out of this place."

"Yes. We do. I hate it here and it’s too hard to keep secure. I found that out the other time when we brought Arlo in." I pause. Mentioning Miles’ omega has triggered a faint memory, but it won’t quite come into my consciousness. "I’m asking to be released soon so that I can walk, my love. Don’t you worry about that."

"No." he says, touching my face. "No, Sasha. I don’t mean from the hospital. I mean from the city."

I frown, taking it in. "Did someone threaten you?"

"Are you kidding me? This is about you, Sasha. You need to be protected. Much as you have a lot to oversee, I want my husband alive too."

I now see the sense in what he is saying. If I am in danger, then that means that he is in danger too. The last time that things got this tight, he had escaped and attempted to get an abortion by himself, and that didn’t turn out well. "Asgard?" I croak out.

"I was thinking a little further away."

"Hm, Avalon?"

"Further."

"Bedrock?"

With a pained expression, he gives me a sip of water then says, "I mean out of the country." He watches me, closely as though he is expecting me to choke.

I swallow down carefully and deliberately then say, "That isn’t a good idea." He hesitates, trying to hide it by settling the water on the nightstand. "We aren’t going to Wale, baby." I warn him. "That is far too complicated."

He lifts my hand and nestles his cheek into my palm. I feel the pricking of what I assume to be about a two day growth. It doesn’t suit him. I prefer him smooth shaven. But we will discuss that, and his obvious lack of sleep, once I can stay awake for longer than thirty minutes at a time. I’m already feeling my eyelids drooping.

But then Tyler says something that snaps them wide open again.

"I am thinking Anor, Londo." He says, completely casual about it’ but I can tell from the way he is watching me beneath his lashes that he is worried about how I will take it.

He should be.

"No. Absolutely not." I snap and pull my hand away from his face, trying to swallow an involuntary grunt of pain at the sudden movement. Now I know what he is doing, trying to seduce me with those pretty eyes of his before getting me to agree to outlandish suggestions.

"Baby, listen to me," he begs, trying to take my hand again. But I yank it away, and agony shoots through me that I can’t not gasp.

He freezes, his eyes wide and afraid.

"Sasha, please." He says, and it is then that I notice why his eyes look so much like deep limpid pools. He is tearing up. "Please," he says again, lips quivering. "You’re not safe here, especially not now. And Marco thinks that it would be great if you got to stay with him for a while."

"Marco thinks so? Well, no one has ever accused my uncle of being that intelligent." I snarl. I can still feel the discomfort rippling through me, then Tyler reaches over to get the pain relief button then places it in my hand. But I let it slip off my fingers.

Tyler’s lips pull back from his teeth frustratedly. "Will you stop being such a macho and take your medicine?"

"No, and we aren’t going to Anor."

"Sasha―"

"No. That is my final decision on the matter." He opens his mouth to speak, but I talk over him. "Don’t ever mention Anor again."

"Do not speak to me like that Sasha." He says, his face going pale. "I’m not one of your fucking underlings, and right now, I still make decisions about your medical care. So push the damn button and quit lying there panting and sweating because you’re in pain. You look like shit."

We are both angry, devolving into petty bickering now. But I can’t stop my lips from twitching. "You don’t look so good yourself."

I let him put the pain relic button on my palm.

"Take these drugs, baby. Or I will take them myself." He says, his eyes still intense.

I am beaten, and I certainly know that now. I hit the button and moments later, relief floods through me. "Oh damn, that feels great." I murmur as I relax back into the pillows. I try to keep my eyes open, hoping that Tyler understands. "Baby―"

"What is it?" Now he is back to playing nursemaid, tucking the sheets around where I have pulled them free.

"If I leave, it’s an abdication. Do you understand?"

"If you leave, you will recover and come back stronger. You can make more allies then. You know the Triple Triads would need more."

"If I leave, this city will tear apart. Don’t you see that? I can’t turn tail and run. I can’t...I can’t retreat now. Julius Caesar never retreated. Augustus never retreated. And Alexander the great―"

"I don’t care about fucking dead Romans." He yells. "It is you I care about. And you are retreating, Sasha."

I am too tired to explain all this to him now. Too tired to even point out to him that Alexander the great wasn’t Roman. I’m slowly slipping back into sleep again, and for a moment, I think that he is right about retreating.

I will retreat to the safety of my sleep and continue this battle when I wake up.

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