Page 94 of Deceit
Somewhere in the distance, tires screeched. I didn’t dare look away, toofocused on Sofia and silently begging her to come back to me.
“It’s Kai. I’ll get help.”I’d forgottenhewas there as he took off, and as thepadding of his retreating footsteps fell silent, I blew more breath into Sofia before continuing with the chest pumps.
“Come on, Sofia!”I hissed, the tears I’d been trying to hold back nowsliding down my cheeks.“I need you to wake up, Sofe. I…I fucking love you and I never told you.”Pump, pump, pump.“I should have told youthatI knew the exact moment I fell in love with you.”Pump, pump, pump.“It was when you walked down the aisle, and you were so fucking beautiful.”I gulped in several breaths, my lungs once again screaming as I blew them into her before returning to pumping her heart.“Please, Sofe. I can’t live without you. Come back to me, and I promise I’ll tell you every fucking daythatI love you.”
Panicked shouts from down by the dock reached my ears as I lowered myface to hers once more, andjustas I was about to cover her mouth, her body jolted.
She coughed.
Water spewed from her mouth.
Monumental relief swept through me as I rolled her onto her side. Shecoughed and coughed while I rubbed her back, throwing up water until there was nothing.
When there was no more water to come up, and as the approaching footstepssignaled the arrival of help, Sofia rolled onto her back. Moving quickly, I caught her so her head rested in my lap.
Her bright blue eyes, filled with tears, blinked up at me, and when shespoke, her voice was nothing more than a hoarse whisper.“I…love you too.”
Chapter 30
Sofia
For the first two weeks after my brush with death, I could barely move fromthe bruises decorating my ribs. Miles was plagued with guilt, notjustbecause he’d been the one to batter my chest as he tried to restart my heart, but because he hadn’t gotten to me before I was shoved off the end of the jetty.
It didn’t matter how many times I told himthatif it weren’t for the bruises, I’d bedead. Nor did it matter how often I reminded himthathad he tried to break free of the gun pressed to his head, he would have been killed instantly, andthenwithout a doubt, I would have died too.
It simply didn’t matter. The guilt ate him alive.
Our physical wounds healed over time, the emotional ones took longer, andwe both knew we’d be left with invisible scars, reminding us of what had happened.
Night after night passed, and as nightmares haunted our sleep, we would lieawake talking until the sun came up, bearing our souls to each other. Slowly, we started healing together. Gradually, his guilt began to ebb.
It took time to build up my confidence to leave the house out of fearthatIwould be kidnapped again, especially after Miles told me all about the threat from the Herrera cartel.
He had to tell me; I woke up screaming one night, and recalled him tellingHugothatmy father’s debt was not mine to pay.
But my fears were somewhat allayed when Miles reassured methatthecartel had agreed not to take any action against me or Papa while a deal was discussed between them and the Wolfes. A dealthatwas being negotiated by none other than Rafe.
While I still had the lingering fearthatthe cartel would suddenly strike, Ihad faith in Miles to keep me safe, and I had faith in my brother to find a way to clear up Papa’s mess.Besides, if I gave in to the fearthatwanted to consume me, I’d never have leftthe house, and I refused to let anyone take my life from me nowthatI was finally beginning to live it.
The feud between my papa and the cartel explained Rafe’s absence since thenight of the incident. He’d been spending an awful lot of time in New York, and while he maintained he was there to deal with the cartel, I suspected there was another reason my brother was reluctant to leave the city.
And it wasn’t because of Vanessa King, despite their engagement still standing after I’d broken her nose.
As for Papa, I couldn’t say I was surprised to learnthathe had taken littlesteps to negate the threat toward me. He’d visited me once, a few days after Miles had brought me back to life, and he was more disappointed at learningthatI wasn’t pregnant than he was at me nearly dying.
Miles had thrown him out of the house and told him he wasn’t welcome inmy life anymore. The two had engaged in a silent standoff before Papa left, mutteringthatthis wasn’t over. Miles’ response had been nothing but a smirk.
I didn’t know it until the moment Papa drove away, but an invisible cloak ofdread had been hanging over me since the day I’d returned from Italy. Once his car disappeared out of the drive, the cloak lifted. I collapsedto my knees in the foyer of our home and sobbed my heart out in Miles’ arms, relief and gratitude sweeping through methatI no longer had to deal with Papa alone.
When my tears dried up, Miles asked me a questionthattook my breathaway, and my answer was onethatled me to sitting in front of my mirror almost six weeks after drowning, and applying the finishing touches to my makeup.
I stared back at my reflection, my blue eyes sparkling under the warm sunbeaming in through the enormous glass windows of the room Miles and I now shared. It was a stark difference from the last time I’d looked in the mirror while wearing a wedding dress.
The last time, my gaze had been filled with trepidation and uncertainty at myfuture. Now, they held nothing but excitement for my life with Miles.
A soft knock at the door pulled me away from my reverie. Standing, Icalled for whoever it was to come in. Air whooshed out of my lungs when Rafe stepped inside, dressed in a smart tux, and his dark hair impeccably styled.
“Rafe! You came!”I squealed, jumping into his arms, careful not to creasemy silk dress.
