Trapped by Seven Mafia Wolves novel Chapter 92

**Stars Refuse To Blink by Asa River Knox**

**Matteo’s POV**

The atmosphere in the room is thick with an unsettling silence.

An eerie stillness blankets everything, disrupted only by the rhythmic beeping of machines that monitor her fragile existence. The fluorescent lights cast a harsh, clinical glow, illuminating a scene that feels too surreal to bear. There she lies, my little sister, a fragile figure ensnared in a web of wires and monitors. Her body is a patchwork of bruises, and half of her is swathed in gauze, as if some desperate soul tried to bind her together with nothing more than tape and fervent prayers. My sorellina.

Once upon a time, I found it difficult to think of her in such tender terms, but now, the thought of calling her anything else feels like a betrayal.

I draw in a shaky breath, my heart pounding like a war drum in my chest. My hands tremble uncontrollably, betraying the storm of emotions swirling within me.

And then, in that stillness, she stirs.

It’s a minuscule movement, almost imperceptible—a flutter of her lashes, a slight twitch of her fingers. My heart leaps into my throat, and I freeze, terrified that if I blink, I might shatter this fragile moment. Her eyes flicker open.

They are foggy, clouded by whatever haze the medication has her trapped in. But they are open, and that’s enough.

And then, they find me.

For a fleeting moment, I wonder if she truly sees me, or if I am merely a figment of her drug-laden dreams. But then, her mouth shifts—slowly, almost drunkenly—into a smile.

A genuine smile.

“You… came back,” she whispers, her voice a raspy whisper that cuts through the sterile air like a knife.

I’m rooted in place, unable to move. Her voice, though hoarse and fragile, hits me like a bullet, piercing straight through my heart. The fact that she can look at me like that—that she still wants me here—fills me with an overwhelming mix of relief and guilt.

I take a tentative step forward.

Then another.

What will I say when I finally reach her? The words swirl in my mind like a tempest, chaotic and unformed.

But then she does something so utterly unexpected that it stops me dead in my tracks. With a shaky hand, she lifts her arm and reaches out. Her finger gently taps my nose.

“Boop.”

I blink in disbelief.

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify