The hallway was quiet, save for the soft hum of machines from nearby rooms. Vincent leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed, eyes trained on the glass wall that separated him from the room Blossom was resting in.
West stood beside her bed, shoulders squared, hands buried deep in his pockets-quiet, observant, strangely composed. He didn't speak to her, didn't touch her-just watched her breathe, as if he was memorizing the movement of her chest rising and falling.
"She'll be alright," Vincent said, his voice low and edged with finality.
West turned slowly, eyes narrowing a little. "I'll hold you to that."
"You won't have to." Vincent's gaze didn't waver. "She'll be home soon."
That caught West off guard. "Home?"
Vincent didn't elaborate. He never did. He just pushed off the doorframe and turned down the hall.
"Take care of her," West said before walking past him. "She may act strong, but that doesn't mean she doesn't break."
Vincent didn't respond, didn't watch him leave.
When the sound of West's footsteps had vanished down the corridor, he finally spoke, just loud enough for Adriel-who had been lingering nearby-to hear.
"Prepare the dissolution papers," Vincent said.
Adriel blinked, stunned. "You're... withdrawing the contract?"
"Draft it. Quietly."
Adriel studied him, waiting for a hint of reason or remorse. There was neither.
"Yes, sir."
Vincent didn't speak again until Adriel turned to leave.
"Wait."
Adriel paused mid-step, eyes flicking over his shoulder.
Vincent's gaze was distant, fixed on the quiet room where Blossom lay, but his words were directed solely at the man beside him.
"You've done more than your job," Vincent said. "More than what I asked. I'm aware of it."
Adriel remained still, silent as always.
"You've stayed when you didn't have to. Followed every order-no matter how questionable. Even when it made you the villain in her eyes."
Adriel turned slowly, his expression unreadable but tense at the edges.
Vincent looked at him fully now. "You got her out of the cell. You helped with the traces. You covered for my injuries, tracked down the supply routes Rion thought were buried, and made sure my men didn't scatter when I disappeared. All of that, without ever asking for credit."
He paused.
"I don't say it often. You know that."
A beat passed.
"But thank you, Adriel."
Adriel's throat moved in a swallow, jaw tightening. It was the closest thing Vincent had ever given to praise. To recognition.
"I only did what was required," Adriel replied, voice low but steady.
Vincent almost smiled.
"That's exactly what makes it matter."
They stood in the sterile hallway, shadows cutting across the pale light spilling from Blossom's room. For a moment, they weren't Mafia leader and subordinate.
Just two brothers who had survived too much together.
Adriel gave a short nod. "I'll get the papers drafted."
And with that, he turned and walked away.
Vincent's gaze shifted back to the figure behind the glass. The girl who had come from fire and chaos, and somehow still brought him peace.
She had no idea what he was about to do.
And that was exactly how he wanted it.
---
*A Few Weeks Later*
Blossom's POV
The air smelled like eucalyptus and quiet.
Not the sterile kind from a hospital, but the carefully curated stillness of somewhere that had learned how to cradle silence without suffocating it. A few weeks had passed since the dock, the ocean, and the near end of everything I knew. And still, the mansion remained-unchanged in structure, but no longer as haunted.
I was alive.
Which was saying something.
I limped a little less now. The bruises had faded to pale whispers on my skin. The ache lingered, deep in the bones, but I could walk. I could breathe. I could think without trembling.
That was enough.
When I stepped into the sitting room, it was like time had been rolled back to an easier version of reality. The floor gleamed. The furniture had been rearranged-twice, probably. And seated right in the middle of it all, looking entirely too at home, was Lily.
She had returned the same day I was discharged.
I hadn't seen her since.
Until now.
"You're late," she said, eyes flicking up from the magazine in her hands. "I cleaned this place three times already. You could've at least shown up in time to watch."
I smirked. "Sorry, I was busy not dying."
She rolled her eyes and patted the seat next to her. "Come, dramatic near-corpse. Let's chat."
I hobbled toward the couch and dropped beside her with a soft grunt. "I think I liked you better when you were off-site and unreachable."
She snorted. "And I liked it better before you got kidnapped and traumatized. Yet here we are."
"Touché."
There was a pause.
Then, a silence.
And then... her voice, low.
"I heard what happened, Blossom."
My gaze dropped to my hands. "How much did you hear?"
"Enough to want to punch Riley through a wall. And maybe pour bleach in Rion's shampoo."
I gave a small, bitter laugh. "Make it extra strength."
She watched me for a moment. "Are you okay?"
The question hung in the air like a ghost.
I shrugged. "I don't know. I want to be."
Lily didn't press. She just nodded, reaching over to pour me tea from the set on the low table between us.
"You look better," she said.
"You say that like I was run over by a truck."
"You were. Emotionally. Physically. Metaphorically. All of it."
I smiled. "And you're the therapist now?"
"Don't insult me," she sniffed. "I'm just the glorified housekeeper who makes decent tea and can kill a man with a fork."
We both laughed.
It felt good. Like something inside me was slowly mending.
"Vincent's still being Vincent," Lily added, sipping her cup. "Quiet. Calculated. One wrong look away from becoming a full-on Bond villain."
"Sounds about right."
"You haven't really seen him much since you got back."
"I've been sleeping, mostly."
Lily raised a brow. "Avoiding, you mean."
I didn't answer.
Instead, I leaned back and let the silence return. The safe kind. The kind that said we didn't have to rush.
Not yet.
Eventually, I'd talk to him.
Eventually, I'd ask what it meant-that he nearly tore the world apart for me. That he dove into hell, and then the sea, and then still found a way to breathe.
But right now?
Right now I just needed a moment with someone who made me feel human again.
And Lily, strange as she was, did exactly that.