My grip with both hands on both Luca's hand and arm is tight as we walk along the corridors of the hospital to my dad's room. It's almost like I'm holding onto him for dear life. Like if I had to let him go, I'll wake up and all of what's happened until this point will be nothing but a dream and instead of getting the good news that my dad is awake, my dad has really passed away and I'm walking to say my final goodbyes to him.

I can feel Luca's lips on the side of my head and I look at him, a small smile emerging across my lips.

This is real.

It's all real.

The sound of my uncle Dom's voice reaches us before we get a chance to turn the last corner that will take us to my dad's room. We turn the corner and walk towards my uncle who is busy talking to a young nurse.

"He wants some fresh water. The water that's in his room is warm and not refreshing for him one bit. It's not refreshing for anyone."

"Of course. I'll see to it myself," the nurse says before disappearing.

"Thank you."

"Tut tut tut. Someone has turned rather demanding," I joke when we come to a stop in front of him.

"Only doing what my brother has asked of me." Uncle Dom looks at Luca and I, and exhales loudly while tilting his head to the side. "I got to say, I never thought I'd see the day I'd see the two of you dressed like you mean business."

I look from my work attire then to Luca's. His charcoal suit with white shirt and deep tie – something I didn't notice until now that matches my trousers – is hidden under his black overcoat. If you didn't know any better, you'd think we were a power couple who doesn't take shit from anyone. It's partly true but we don't care.

Uncle Dom raises a brow and points to Luca's tie then to my trousers. "Do you always co-ordinate with clothes when you're together?"

"No, not all the time." I let go of Luca and step to my uncle. "This is the first time today we've seen each other. It's a funny coincidence."

"As long as you're happy, baby girl." He pulls me into his arms and hugs me tightly. "I see nothing wrong with a little bit of co-ordination here and there."

I pull away and my uncle shakes Luca's hand, thanking him for everything that he's done until this point.

"It's not a problem," Luca responds.

"He's looking forward to seeing you, Kaylee. Hasn't stopped asking for you since he saw everyone earlier."

"I did tell gran that I'd be here at some point. I can't just leave work when it suits."

"You're here now. That's all that matters," uncle Dom says before walking away towards the exit.

I roll my eyes at him and push the door to my dad's room open. I look at my dad with a smile, having to stop myself from running over to him and embracing him in a vice hold.

"There's my baby girl," my dad happily greets before laughing.

"He's on a lot of pain meds," Dr. Watts informs from where he's standing next to the bed checking his vitals. "He's a little high right now but is well aware of what he's saying and what's being said."

"So I see." I step to the other side of the bed and sit down. "I'm surprised you're not doing their heads in with moaning about being in bed too long."

"I normally would," my dad agrees. "However, when you have tubes and everything hanging from your body, you can't do that. Plus, these tubes are feeding me some really good pain relievers."

I laugh and reach for his hand. It's warm and his hold is firm like he doesn't want to let go.

He turns his head to look at me and I smile.

"I'll leave you all to it," Dr. Watts voices after writing up his notes. "Everything is looking good. I'll be back later to check on you again."

"Thanks," Luca nods.

Dr. Watts leaves, the door closing quietly behind him.

"I don't say it as often as I should but I love you, baby girl." My dad whispers, his eyes glistening over.

"I know you do and I love you. You're saying that like you know you won't be getting out of here."

"I'm getting old, baby girl. I don't know if I will be getting out of here after my old ticker decided to go haywire again."

I shake my head and shuffle closer to the bed. "Don't say that. You will be getting out of here and you'll enjoy your life with all of us. Your doctors will make sure of that."

"Even with the best doctors in the world . . . you can't predict how long my heart will continue to go for now after that operation." He looks over at Luca. "Thank you for getting the best surgeons here, Luca. You didn't have to do that after how I've treated you when it came to my daughter."

"I wanted to do it. You don't need to thank me," Luca tells him.

"There's been more ups than downs for the two of you since you got back together. Things have been thrown at both of you from all angles and you've both stayed together. You're each other's rocks and that's how a relationship should be. Both Yvette and I have been through our fair share of ups and downs but we're still going strong."

My dad looks back at me.

"The key is to not let others get between you to pull you apart from the inside. Trust only yourselves and as long you've got that, you're unstoppable together. Never give up on each other because you'll need each other like you do now. You need Luca and even if he doesn't say it to you, he needs you."

"Dad," I whisper, "please don't talk like this."

"I told your brother to drop the grudge he's been holding against Luca. I told him that sooner rather than later, my baby girl will marry him and he'll be a part of our family as well as you'll be a part of his. Luca will become Declan's brother-in-law and he'll be present at our family events which means he'll have to be civil. He's held a grudge for too long and its time to drop it whether he likes it or not.

"We call ourselves family and yet one of us isn't as accepting as the rest. After all of this, he's still not changing his mind. If I could argue with him, I would. If I could yell at him, I would but I can't. There's only so much talking that my brothers can do to drum it into him but he won't listen. I need him to be here with the two of them and my dad to get it superglued into his mind that Luca isn't going away this time. He's here for good and he's family."

He looks at Luca again.

"We protect our family like no other. We protect our own and that includes you and your family."

"God, you're making it sound like the mafia or something," I comment.

"You know what I mean," my dad sighs.

"I get it," Luca nods. "I have the same values for my daughter. She's my family and I'll protect her till my dying days and beyond. I told Kaylee I'd do the same thing for her and I will. Not just for my family but for hers, too."

"We're on the same page, then."

"We are," Luca agrees.

The room falls silent and my dad tugs lightly on my hand, bringing my attention back to him.

"I heard what you said to me yesterday," he murmurs.

My eyes widen. "Which was?"

"You know what it was and I completely agree with what you said," he says, tilting his head to Luca and raising his brows to indicate that it has something to do with him.

I look at Luca who is grinning down at me with a raised brow.

"Talking about me behind my back?" He jokingly asks. "And here I thought we weren't going to have any secrets from each other."

I open my mouth to respond but close it when no words come out.

What's the point in responding? I'm just going to find myself stuck in the middle of whatever line of conversation we're about to go down. It will be like my dad and Luca have become best friends and they'll start picking on me like I do with Chloe and Declan when we want to annoy each other.

"Kaylee," my dad grunts, marginally moving his upper body before the pain reaches him despite his pain medication trying to dull it, "can I have a word with Luca, please?"

"I . . ." I look at Luca with a frown. He shrugs. "Alright." I look back at my dad and get to my feet. "I'll be outside."

I lean down and place a kiss on my dad's cheek. He gives my hand another squeeze and lets it go regardless of the fact that I don't want to let it go.

"I'll be fine," he assures. "No shouting or arguing. I promise."

I turn and move towards Luca.

"Don't aggravate him," I warn.

"I'm just an innocent bystander," he defends.

"Sure you are," I mutter before leaving the room.

I look through the window in the room. Luca moves from where he's been standing at the foot of the bed, to the chair I was sitting on next to the bed. My dad's attention is on him and they begin talking like it's something they've always do and something they always do.

I watch them for a good five, maybe ten, minutes before someone comes and stands next to me. I look at the person briefly before looking back at my dad and Luca.

"Evening, Jane." I breathe loudly.

Inside, I'm rolling my eyes at Luca's mum for turning up here without any notice. She shouldn't be here and neither should Nick who is busy at the end of the corridor talking to Carlo. This is only meant to be for immediate family and right now, neither Nick nor Jane are direct family.

"Evening," she responds. "I thought I'd come by and see how your father is doing."

"He's awake which is something we've all been waiting for to happen."

"He survived," Jane declares. "He's a survivor which makes him a fighter."

I glare at her.

She's wearing a white blazer over her blue pencil dress that she's teamed with black heeled shoes and matching bag – very business-like. Clearly, she's been working somewhere around London. However, if she's here to do her stupid mind tricks on my dad, she can take a run and fucking jump. He's been through a lot and doesn't need her to get into his mind to make him seem like he's lost the plot.

I'm about to ask her what she meant by her comment but stop myself from doing so as Nick joins us, standing to my left as Jane is to my right.

"Kaylee," Nick says with a courteous nod. He looks through the window and his hands slip into his trouser pockets. "I never thought I'd see the day those two would be civil to each other once again."

"A lot sure has changed," I comment as Luca starts to laugh at something my dad has said.

Luca gets to his feet. My dad extends his arm up as best he can to shake Luca's hand and Luca takes the offered hand in his. He mutters something and shakes his hand, his free hand covering clasping the underside of their combined hands before he places my dad's hand back down on the bed. He walks out the room and closes the door after him.

"What did he say to you? Why were you laughing?" I question, stepping past his mum before she has a chance to get to him.

"He was just thanking me for making you happy again." He reaches for my hand and gently pulls at it so we start walking away from my dad's room. His parents follow us closely, not saying a word. "He brought up a few things that we joked about as they were things I did when I was younger that I forgot all about. Nothing serious."

"You weren't talking about me behind my back, were you?"

He shakes his head. "Nope. Nothing about you was said other than that."

"If you say so," I shrug.

"He's had a long day and wanted to rest and I don't blame him."

"After the day you've had at work, you need your rest, too." Nick states.

"Father, not now." Luca retorts.

"Why? What's happened?" I look behind at Nick then to Luca, waiting for him to shed some light on whatever it is that's happened during his working day.

"It's nothing that I can't handle," Luca says, eyeing his dad over his shoulder. "It's was just a typical day for me."

He leaves the conversation at that but I can tell there's something he's not telling me about. I don't want to push for an answer, especially here where anyone can hear. When we're in the right environment and at the right time, I'll ask him more about it.