Page 114 of Claiming the Mafia Queen

I felt all of it.

Everything.

I stare down at her reverently, hardly able to believe it was real; she was real. I was so convinced that I would never see her again. I didn’t think she wanted to see me again.

She stirred at my touch and her eyes flutter open.

I’m so transfixed on her.

“Wow…” I breathe as soon as she looks at me.

She looks stunned for a second before she reaches up and covers my hand with hers. It’s small in comparison. Delicate…

But I know it’s the furthest from the truth.

“Why aren’t you in the hospital?” I ask. “You were literally beaten like orange juice…”

“Orange juice?”She looks confused and I can’t help but laugh again.

“Pulp….” I say, doing a two tap drum into cymbal kind of motion. “Beat you into a pulp.” But then I realize something, “Not that it’s funny you were kidnapped….”

She looks at me for a moment. Glaring. And then laughs. Softly before kissing my hand. “Glad you’re awake…” she says. “But don’t ever tell a lame joke like that again or I’ll put air in your IV.”

I closed my eyes at her touch, smiling slightly. “How long have I been out?”

She sat up, gripping my hand on her own. 'Three days. You had some internal bleeding…”

“Internal bleeding?” I ask. I can’t even pinpoint when that would have happened. I got knocked around quite a bit by the explosions.

“And a lot of smoke inhalation…”

I hear the strain in her voice. “I just stayed overnight…as soon as they discharged me, I came here…” She took a deep breath. “At first, they didn’t know if you’d survive the night…”

The way she is looking at me, like she cares…

“What about your ribs?”

She shrugs. “Hurts like hell.. they gave me a brace and some pain meds, though, and I should be right as rain soon enough…”

I want to hold her.

My body is aching for it.

I want to press my body against her and reassure myself that it’s not a dream. I open my eyes wide and extend my arms. “Come here…” it’s not an order, but it is definitely a request…

She hesitates for a moment.

“Don’t worry about it…”

“You’re laying in a hospital bed…”

“And you have broken bones…” he laughs. “So seems only fair you’re in a hospital bed, too..”

That comment seems to win her over. Because she relents. She comes around to the other side of the bed. The open side.

I feel my body shift as soon as she climbs on top of the white sheets. She’s gentle, though, clearly being careful not to hurt me. And possibly even hurt herself…I watch as she grips her ribs with every slow, intentional movement.

I love her.

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