Sophia nods, standing on the other side of the bed.“That’s true.And as the doctor said, he’s strong.Aren’t you, you stubborn prick?”she asks him.“You’re too stubborn to let some asshole with a gun take you away from the people who love you.”
Pulling up a chair, I take a seat and hold his hand while Sophia turns on the television at the foot of his bed.I’m glad she’s satisfied with watching mindless junk without saying a word.It’s enough to sit here together while he sleeps between us.
Please, wake up.There’s so much we haven’t done.I’ve never even been able to spend a night with him until now.We’ve had to hide to steal a little time here and there.We deserve a chance.
And he deserves the chance to show the people who doubt him how wrong they are.He has tried so hard to be a better person.He only needs more time.
We are on the third episode of a brainless but entertaining reality show when his fingers move.I sit bolt upright, gasping.“He’s waking up,” I whisper before jumping to my feet.
Sophia does, too, folding her hands under her chin, closing her eyes.“Please, please,” she whispers.It hits me again that he’s all she’s got when it comes to blood relatives.Their mom never did call her back, and she sure as hell hasn’t shown up here.We can bring her into the fold, treat her like one of our own, but that isn’t the same.Not really.
“Can you open your eyes?”Leaning in close to him so he can hear, I ask, “Can you just open your eyes for a second?Let me know you hear me.”
I’m not imagining his hand tightening around mine.His throat works, and his tongue moistens his lips, and I’m pretty sure I forget to breathe before he croaks, “I hear you.Keep talking, beautiful.”
Thank you, God.I have to swallow hard to dislodge the lump in my throat.“You’re going to be fine.The doctor said so.I just need you to keep fighting, all right?We both do,” I add, looking at Sophia.“We’re both here with you, me and Sophia.We both love you.”
Leaning down, I touch my lips to his, lingering for a few seconds.“I love you,” I tell him again.
His eyes open a little and find mine, and I’m sure my heart is going to burst.“I love you,” he whispers, faint but clear.“You think I’d take a bullet for just anyone?”
He loves me.For the first time in my life, it feels like I have everything I need.Nothing is missing—all thanks to the last person I would ever expect.
20
ALESSANDRO
For the first time and as long as I can remember, Christmas morning feels special.
I wake up with a smile, Giulia still sleeping in my arms.She’s warm and soft, and her head is heavy on my chest.It’s a welcome weight.The shooting is still too fresh, too raw for me to ask myself how things could have turned out differently.I could have lost her.I could’ve lost this before we ever really started.
After two weeks in the hospital, Isabella put her foot down.“You will stay with us.You’re not recuperating alone, and we can take better care of you than any hired nurse.”I don’t think she’ll ever stop trying to repay me for saving her little girl, and I’m grateful for the generosity, even if there are times I still want to pinch myself.
This morning is one of those times as I lie in bed and watch the first beams of sunlight paint the trees, bare except for a dusting of snow that fell overnight.Not enough to call it a white Christmas, but it’s idyllic as hell.“Hey, you,” I whisper, stroking Giulia’s bare back.I know she wouldn’t want to miss this.“It’s Christmas morning.You should look out the window.”
She yawns, stretching, before slowly lifting her head from where it has rested for hours.“Good morning.”Her sleepy smile never fails to light my soul.This is, without a doubt, my favorite part of the day.
She rolls away far enough that she can look over her shoulder, out her bedroom window.“Oh, wow,” she breathes out with all the childlike wonder she still possesses.That’s her gift to me, whether she knows it or not.Every day, I reconnect a little more with what matters.The kind of shit I used to roll my eyes at before I understood there’s more to life than power and vengeance.
Her dark eyes are glowing when she turns back to me.“It’s perfect.”
I was thinking the same thing about her.“I wonder if Santa came,” I murmur, tucking hair behind her ears.“Have you been a good girl this year?”
I swear, this woman was made for me.All of the sweet innocence shining in her eyes seconds ago is a memory replaced now by a wicked gleam.“It depends on who you ask.I’ve done some naughty things, but they made you feel pretty nice, didn’t they?”
“Believe me.”Familiar hunger starts to build on cue.It only grows as I admire her naked body, still draped over mine.“You are on the permanent nice list as far as I’m concerned.”
“Then maybe you had better stuff my stocking.”She barely gets the words out before she has to cover her mouth, giggling until she snorts.“I had to!”She laughs, and I have to laugh with her.
At the same time, there’s a specific part of my anatomy that took her joke very seriously.“I don’t know,” I muse, looking down at where I’m starting to swell under the sheets.“I was hoping for a little stocking stuffing this morning, now that you mention it.”
“And wouldn’t you know it…” She pushes herself up on her palms before straddling me, then leaning down until her nipples brush my chest and her thick curls hang down around my face in a dark curtain.“This is exactly what I asked Santa for.”
The second her lips touch mine, all joking is over.In some ways, it feels like we’ve been together forever, that she has always been part of my life.But the thrill is still fresh, like a fire leaping to life.It takes nothing to make me burn for her, and soon, she’s whimpering, thanks to the way I stroke her lower back before cupping her ass cheeks and pulling her tight against my cock.
She comes up for air with a gasp, and my hungry mouth continues kissing, nipping her neck, tracing her collarbone.When she pushes herself up on her hands, I take her tits in mine, guiding her nipples to my mouth.My tongue moves back and forth, forcing one soft sigh after another from between her parted lips.
“You’re so good to me.”She sighs, and I can’t think of much else I would rather hear.It means I’m doing something right.
