Page 124 of Ruined By Blood
She lays her head back on my chest, her fingers finding mine and intertwining them.
"I won't betray you," she whispers, the words a solemn vow.
I trace my fingers along Sienna's spine, feeling each vertebra, each scar that marks her survival. Her body relaxes against mine, trusting me completely. It's a gift I never expected to receive from anyone again.
"I'm not afraid you'll hurt me like she did," I admit, my voice rougher than intended. "I'm just afraid of not being enough for you."
Sienna lifts her head, surprise flickering across her features. "What do you mean?"
I exhale slowly, struggling to put words to the fear that's been growing alongside my feelings for her. "You deserve someone better. Someone who hasn't done the things I've done. Someone whose hands aren't..." I flex my fingers against her skin. "Someone whose hands aren't covered in blood."
She reaches up, taking one of my hands in hers. Slowly, deliberately, she brings it to her lips and kisses my knuckles.The same knuckles that have broken bones, drawn blood, ended lives.
"These hands saved me," she whispers against my skin.
My chest tightens as I watch her, this woman who's seen the darkest parts of me and isn't running.
"Well, now I have an even bigger problem," I say, my tone lighter.
She tilts her head, curious. "What problem?"
"I think I'm in love with this girl," I say, watching her eyes widen slightly. "It's fucking inconvenient, really."
Her breath catches, and for a moment she just stares at me, eyes searching mine for any sign I'm not serious. I hold her gaze, letting her see the truth.
"Inconvenient?" she finally asks, her voice barely audible.
"Extremely." I brush a strand of hair from her face. "I had a perfectly good life planned out. Run the business, protect my family, avoid entanglements. Then this woman shows up in my casino wearing a red dress that doesn't suit her, and suddenly I'm jumping off balconies, getting into shootouts, and kidnapping people from medical facilities."
A smile tugs at the corner of her mouth. "Sounds terribly disruptive."
"You have no idea." I pull her closer, my hand cradling the back of her head. "And the worst part? I don't want any of it back. The control, the simplicity, the certainty. I'd trade it all again just to keep her looking at me the way she's looking at me right now."
I watch her face carefully, searching for any sign of hesitation or doubt. Instead, Sienna's eyes shine with something I've never seen directed at me before—something warm and certain.
"Your problem is solved," she whispers, her fingerstracing the outline of my jaw. "Because the girl is in love with you too."
Oh. Fuck.
For a man who's spent his life calculating odds and predicting outcomes, I find myself completely blindsided. I've killed men without blinking, negotiated million-dollar deals without breaking a sweat, but this confession from her lips leaves me speechless.
"Say that again," I finally manage, my voice rougher than intended.
A smile tugs at her lips. "I'm in love with you, Enzo Feretti." She says it slowly, deliberately, like she's testing how the words feel. "Despite everything—or maybe because of everything—I love you."
I pull her against me, burying my face in her hair, breathing her in. The tightness in my chest expands until I can barely breathe. How the fuck did I get here? How did I earn this?
"I love you too, baby girl. Big time."
She smiles blinking at me with the most beautiful eyes they have ever existed.
"What are we going to do now?" she asks against my skin, her voice small but steady. "From here, I mean. What happens next?"
I pull back enough to see her face.
"We figure it out," I tell her. "Step by step." My thumb traces her cheekbone, still faintly bruised from her father's hand. "There's no rulebook for this, piccola. But we take it one day at a time."
She nods, processing my words. "I don't even know what normal looks like anymore," she admits. "I've spent so long just trying to survive that I never thought about what I'd do if I actually made it out."
