Oddio. “You’re real.” I grab her hand, tug her to me. Lena releases a surprised squeak as she lands against my bare chest. “Holy fuck,” I murmur, voice breaking. “You’re actually here.”
“Rem, be careful. Your injuries.” She tries to put space between us. I just hold her tighter.
“I’m fine.” I’m not. I feel like I’m having an out of bodyexperience. I’ve lost all feeling in my limbs. My heart is racing, my nervous system shot to shit. I’m so lightheaded I must be oxygen deprived. And I’ve never been happier in my entire fucking life.
“You’re going to tear your stitches,” she protests.
“Only if you keep squirming. Stay still,piccolina. I can’t not touch you. Don’t ask me to stop touching you.”
With a sigh Lena relaxes, gently wrapping her arms around me and hugging me back.
One beat, two. My lightheadedness is getting worse. I realize I’m not breathing. I’m waiting to wake up from this dream. For her to disappear like all the times before.
Her lips skim my ear. “Breathe, Rem. You’ve got to breathe.” She kisses my cheek and I break.
Lena holds me as I totally lose it, broken sobs shaking my torso and tears snaking through her hair. I bury my face in her neck, inhale her scent, let her soft whispers drift over me. Let her slowly, gently stitch me back together.
Eventually I manage to say, “How,howare you alive? I saw you on the ground. Injured, bleeding.” I lean back enough to look at her face. “How did you get out of there alive?”
“Aldo saved me. Saved all of us. He and his men dragged you, me, and your brother out of the building before the whole place went up. I don’t think any of us would’ve survived if he and his guards hadn’t been there.”
“But your head—you were bleeding so fucking much.”
“Head wounds bleed a lot, according to the nurse who patched me up, so it probably looked worse than it was. Though I do have a lump.” She gingerly touches my fingers to the knot on her scalp. “Plus a few stitches and some pain killers for the major headache that’s slowly going away.”
“That’s it?” I bracket her face in my hands, hold her inches from me. “Nothing else, no other injuries you’re not telling me about?”
She covers the back of my hands with hers. “I’m fine, Rem. I swear. I’m not the one who almost died. You are.”
A full-body tremor ripples through her, a bleakness filling her eyes that makes my pulse erratic. “You were shot. Twice. And stabbed. And blown up. You lost so much blood, Rem. And then there was the infection. You were so sick, delirious, and I wanted to be here, to help any way I could, but the doctors wouldn’t let me. Even in a drug-induced sleep you got so agitated anytime I came in they forced me to stay away. It was taking days, Rem, and the doctors were doing everything they could, but they weren’t sure…” Lena cuts herself off. Hauls in a ragged breath. “I was so scared. So scared I was going to lose you.”
Every fear I’ve had for days is stamped clearly in Lena’s expression. I have to close my eyes against the emotions overwhelming us both. Foreheads pressed together, I murmur, “I’m right here,mia amata. It’ll take more than a few bullets to keep me from you. I’m here and I’m not going anywhere anytime soon.”
Our lips meet and we fall into a kiss. It’s deep and sweet and feels like a benediction. I have no idea how long we stay locked together, but my pulse is pounding and my sweatpants are uncomfortably tight when we finally pull apart.
“I have something for you.” I unwind the gold chain from where it’s tangled in my fingers. Lena blinks rapidly, her face brightening when she sees what I’m holding.
“I thought I’d lost it.”
“Aldo must’ve salvaged it. He asked me to return it to you.”
“Of course he did. I’m slowly learning that man is a hopeless romantic.” Lena holds her hair up so I can clasp the chain around her neck.
Once the pendant settles against her chest I cover it with my hand. “I—I can’t believe you’re alive. That you’re still here, with me. When I thought you’d died….”
Lena cups my cheeks, kisses away something wet. I groan, gripping her tight.
“I’m so fucking mad at you, Rem Cosenza,” she says against my neck. “I can’t believe you let Aldo shoot you.”
“Believe me,mia amata, given the choice between Aldo shooting me and Ari shooting you, I pick the first one every fucking time.”
“That’s insane.”
“That’s love.” I haul Lena up onto the bed, ignoring her protests as I settle her in my lap, avoiding the injured part of my leg. “I love you, Lena Cosenza. I’ll do anything to keep you safe, including getting shot.”
My wife half-gasps, half-sobs.
I find the delicate skin behind her ear and kiss her. Let my lips linger. “Besides, Aldo is an excellent marksman. He knew exactly what he was doing.”
