Chapter 32

Y ou 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.

"Hermana, he needs rest." He objects, trying to appear calm when he seems to want to kill me now that I've come back to life.

"Julian, I love her." I start to say, turning to her, I say, "Catalina, I love you. Since the moment I saw you, I've been obsessed. I think you know the extent of my obsession by now. Not even death could keep me away from you and I refuse to let anyone try. As I told you before, I'd burn down the world for you. I may not be worthy of you but I will treat you like a fucking queen every single day of our lives, in this life and the next, for the rest of eternity."

She smiles, tears of joy replacing her earlier sadness, and flings her arms around me making me groan from the pressure. "I love you too. I love you, Enzo. I am just as obsessed with you." She whispers, saying the words for only me to hear. Julian stares at us, devoid of any visible emotion, and he simply smirks and walks out the door, leaving us alone again.