“Lina?”
“My name is Angel!”
My eyes flickered at another gun appearing from behind Leo. Then I saw the face of one of the two bodyguards from the plane. He swung his arm and he hit Leo on the head with the back of his gun.
Leo dropped on the floor unconscious, and the second bodyguard took away all the guns on Leo’s body.
“Signora, you okay?”
I nodded, trembling, tears frozen in my eyes as I looked at Tino’s pale face. “But he’s not breathing.”
Chapter 55
Angel
Arancia patched Tino up as best she could before we flew to the nearest hospital that belonged to the Mafia to avoid the police.
The doctors weren’t optimistic, even after they operated on him and took the bullet out. It hit very close to his heart, perforated his lung, and he’d lost a lot of blood.
Leo was sent to the Lanzas for safekeeping until his destiny was determined according to the Mafia laws. I called Nicky and told her I was safe. She was still in the mansion, guarded by Tino’s men now.
Three days after the operation, and he hadn’t woken up yet. I stayed by his bed, holding his hand, praying, waiting.
Arancia was surprised I didn’t run away or try to call for help. I was surprised at myself, too. This was my only chance to go and start over away from all the pain and darkness. But the same reason I had to go back for Tino on the island was keeping me here.
“How can I live without you, Tino?” A tear dropped on his hand I was holding. “You’re my savior, my lover. You can’t leave me alone in this world. You’re part of me. I need you. I love you. I’ve always loved you.”
I kissed his hand and placed it on my cheek. Then I closed my eyes and prayed. “There’s so much left for us to do together. We haven’t jammed yet. Me on the violin and you on the piano…You know what? I bet I’m better than you at playing the piano. Actually, I don’t think you can play at all. No? Well, you have to wake up and prove me wrong.”
I hiccupped through the tears. “You have to wake up so we can have a decent wedding, one without any kind of blood for once. You have to wake up so you can make me pregnant for real or your son is gonna try to kill me again.”
I opened my eyes and gazed at his features that even now were mesmerizingly beautiful. “If you wake up, I promise I’ll behave. Well, not all the time. You know me. I like my spanking, and I think you like it, too. Don’t you, Tino?”
A heated moan shivered on my lips in pain as I continued to cry. “You have to wake up so you can be with me.” I kissed his hand again. “Please don’t leave me.”
“Never.”
A gasp ripped from my throat at his slur. “Tino? Tino, are you up?”
Nothing happened for a second or two, and I thought I’d imagined it. Then his fingers moved faintly in my hand, squeezing.
I squeezed back, crying in relief. “You’re awake. You’re here.”
I yelled for the doctors, and they hurried in with Arancia. They checked him and the monitors and assured me he was stable now.
The dark blue eyes smiled at me again, swallowing me in where I belonged, promising me the life I’d never thought I needed and turned out to be exactly what I dreamed.
When the doctors were done, they left me alone in the room with Tino.
“I thought you’d be gone by now,” he said.
I smiled, shaking my head. “You won’t get rid of me that easily.”
“What about Leo?”
I heard the blame in his voice. “I’m sorry. I was an idiot. But that’s our thing. I make a stupid mistake, and you save me from it.”
“And punish you for it. I’m not gonna stop doing that.”
