Page 42 of Temptation: Discreet

The doctors and nurses that surround him allow me to stay by his side while they add the stitching to his shoulder. With each pierce of the needle, my tears fall harder. He looks so vulnerable laying here in this hospital bed.

Once they finish the stitching, the medical staff speaks softly to Rocco, I only hear small pieces of the conversation, but it all is regarding physical therapy and the recovery process.

The teardrops that fall from my eyes land on Enzo’s skin, I slowly bring his hands to my lips and kiss away the salty tears.

“Can I have a moment alone with him,” I ask, my eyes never leaving Enzo. I’m not sure if they nod or respond, but they simply walk out the door.

“Come back to me, Enzo. I love you with every fiber of my being, with every fucked-up part of my damaged soul, with every sheltered piece of me. You freed me in ways I’d only dreamt of. You saw me, and wanted me anyway. You saw me as a strength, and not a burden. I need you, Enzo. So, please, come back to me. Dammit, Enzo. Please…You promised me eternity,” my voice cracks. “Please, wake up.”

I continue crying, pouring out my love I have for this man with every tear and pleading word, hoping he can hear me. But the exhaustion from the day slowly creeps up on me. The memories of the kidnapping and other traumatic experience I went through starts to take over. I rest my head on my arm, never letting go of his hand, slowly closing my eyes as I fade in and out of sleep until it surpasses me the way a tide would submerge the shoreline.

Blackness takes over, and what’s left now is to wait.

Chapter 32

You promised me eternity , Catalina’s words echoed in my mind. The heartbreak in her trembling tone, the feeling of her hands touching mine, the warmth of her hands on mine.

I’m here, Princess. I want to tell her but words wouldn't leave my mouth. My eyes refused to open, the harsh lights bearing down on where I lay making it even more of a struggle. Even after passing out, I could feel her hands on me, and I desperately want to her feel more of her warmth.

With great effort, I try to will myself to wake up, to show some sort of proof that I’m here; that she hasn’t lost me, and to not lose hope, but my eyes feel heavy and searing pain radiates from my shoulder. I’ve been shot a few times, but fuck never in the shoulder. Arms, yes, a graze on my stomach a few times, but never anything worse, never anything to the point where I saw a light.

I force my hand to lift and move, even just an inch, to let her know I’m here, She moves slightly from the movement. I groan as loudly as I can, causing her to gasp softly. Though I can’t see her face, I can imagine the look of shock and relief on her beautiful face. She squeezes my hands a little more, as if she’s afraid that I’d suddenly drift away.

“L-lights,” I groan as best I can, my voice emerging like a frog’s. The feeling of her hands disappear and the overhead light goes dark. She quickly returns to my side, and grabs my hands again. Her warmth is comforting, and reassures me that she’s safe and unharmed from her time in captivity.

“I’m here,” she sniffles, her soft lips pressing against my forehead. I use all my energy to open my eyes, and when they finally do the goddess before me radiates under the lights from the hallway lights that spill into the room. Her red, blotchy eyes and slight pink nose betray her recent tears. I frown, unsure how long I’ve been unconscious, or how much time has passed since I last saw her.

“Lina,” I groan, struggling to sit up so I can see her a little more clearly. She quickly helps, adjusting the pillows beneath my head and moving closer.Reaching for a nearby glass of water, she guides me to take a few sips. The water goes smoothly down my throat, the sandpaper feeling I had before disappearing with every swig.

“Enzo,” she cries, restraining herself from wrapping her arms around me to give me a hug.

“Catalina, my love,” I rasp weakly, “I’m okay, I’m here.”

“I thought you were dead You died,” she gasps, her voice trembling, “don’t ever do that to me again.”

I chuckle, then wince in pain from the bandages on my shoulder. Catalina buries her face in her hands, tears streaming down her cheek.

“I’m sorry. This is all my fault,” she hiccups. “I was trying so hard to fix this on my own, to keep you and my family safe. Instead, I just made everything worse. I’m so sorry.” She shakes her head, refusing to look at me as she repeats, “I’m sorry, Enzo.”

“Baby,” I say, reaching out for her wrists, hoping she would at least look at me. But she remains out of reach. “You did nothing wrong. I’m okay and I’m alive. I came back because of you,” I pause, waiting for her to turn towards me.

“I promised you an eternity, and I’m a man of my word,” I whisper.

She looks up at me, slowly bringing her hands down from her face. “But, I ruined everything. I was going to marry Eduardo so I could get close enough to kill him. That was the only way I could have saved us from this war. He’s still out there, and we don’t have the help from the Italians. I don’t want any other marriage arrangement.”

“Catalina. You will never marry anyone who isn’t me.” I reply, extending my hand once more, silently asking her to touch me. She looks at me cautiously, but walks forward anyway, placing her delicate hand in mine. The touch of her soft skin against mine breathes life back into me. She is all I needed to truly live.

“But that would have started another war, and there’s no way my brothers would agree to that.” She wipes at the tears with her other hand.

“I would have started a war for you if I had to, Lina,” I say. “While you were gone, we discovered something else, Dario is technically my half-brother. When we first met him, he saw how much we meant to each other.” I take a deep breath. “Technically, our marriage will mean marrying into the Italian mafia.”

Catalina’s jaw drops slightly as she processes this new information about my long-lost half family. I’m still unsure how I feel about it. Dario’s efforts saved my life. Before we can continue our conversation, Rocco and Julian stride into the room, giving Catalina a brief nod from across the distance.

“Jesus, you look like shit.” Julian says. He pauses, then continues, “I’m going to head out now that you’re stable. I need to go back to the Casino and check on…” he shakes his head and brings his hands behind his neck.

“Anyway, as soon as you’re cleared, you’ll be able to head home. Rocco will be here with you, along with some men.” He turns to Lina, “Hermana, let’s go. We have much to discuss.”

“No, I’m not leaving Enzo’s side,” she says sternly. We continue holding onto each other’s hands like we’re afraid that one of us will disappear.

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