Page 70 of Love Bites
“How? You were dead!”
Ignacio shook his head. “No, I wasn’t. You would have known that if you’d been man enough to do your own dirty work.”
He took a menacing step forward, and Katheryn saw Hunter flinch.
“Do the work myself?” Hunter scoffed as if the idea was a foreign concept to him. “Never.”
“Fortunately, tonight, you die Hunter Francis.”
With a blur of motion, Ignacio was in front of Hunter. Before the man could react or even open his mouth to scream, Ignacio gripped his head and twisted his neck until it made a loud crack.
With an ugly thud, Hunter’s limp body hit the floor. And just like that...he was dead.
Katheryn stared down at him. He lay immobile, head twisted at an awkward angle on the floor. The swiftness of him dying, nearly overwhelmed her, yet she couldn’t seem to tear her gaze from his body.
Hunter was dead. Relief washed over her. He was dead and could never hurt her again.
“Katheryn?”
Katheryn tore her gaze from Hunter’s body to look at Ignacio.
He moved in front of her, blocking away the horrible sight of Hunter’s body. Concern filled Ignacio's eyes, but didn’t move to touch her. She stared at him like someone peering through fog, trying to make sense of the images beyond it. Seeing him stand before her felt so surreal. She’d thought him dead, had felt the pain of it.
“Love, are you okay?” he asked gently, as if she were a wounded puppy that needed comfort.
“Tell me this isn’t a dream,” she whispered. “Tell me you aren’t dead.”
Ignacio grinned. “I’m not dead, love. I’m very much alive.”
He touched a hand to her cheek, and she felt the comforting warmth of the familiar touch. She listened to her heart, heard the thrumming cord that bound them together grow silent, appeased.
She was complete again.
“How can you be here? They shot you,”
“They did. And a bullet nearly punctured my heart. I healed from it, but it took time.” he answered.
That was all Katheryn needed to hear before she jumped into his arms. Throwing her arms around his neck, she gripped him tightly.
“You’re alive!” she cried against his shoulder.
She broke apart from him and looked him in the eyes. She needed to tell him, needed to tell him now. “Hunter told me if I didn’t go with him, he would kill you. I was trying to save you. Forgive me, please say you forgive me.”
She’d thought she was all cried out, but she had been wrong. Tears overflowed her eyes, running down her cheeks.
Ignacio brushed away the wetness with his thumb. “I know, love. I could hear your thoughts, and I could see your heart. I know why you did what you did. There is nothing to forgive.”
Katheryn sighed her relief and leaned into her Soul Mate. She inhaled his scent. She had come so close to losing him many times and didn’t want to ever go through that ever again. She pressed a kiss to his throat and gripped him like a lifeline in a stormy sea. She didn’t ever want to let go.
In that moment, she vowed she’d never doubt him again, never mistrust, misjudge or hurt him as long as she lived. She would proudly embrace him as her Soul Mate and never take advantage of his love. After all they’d been through, she realized there was no telling how long they’d have together. Life was full of surprises, some bad ones and some good. She wouldn’t waste whatever time they had together, sweating the small stuff. Katheryn had already wasted too many years of her life by giving up on her dream and being pushed into a career that wasn’t her own.
Never again,she decided. Never again would she allow someone to dictate decisions for her. She wouldn’t waste another minute suppressing what she’d been born to do. Instead, she’d throw her arms open to the sky, scream “to hell with them” and do what her heart truly desired.
She and Ignacio looked into each other’s eyes then, blue and yellow, and they smiled. After so many years of feeling lost, after ending up with no friends, family or money, Katheryn knew one thing, and it was probably the most important thing she’d ever have in her life.
With Ignacio, she felt home.
Epilogue
