Page 18 of Cutting Ties
Anthony
It had been a grueling twenty-four hours, but we were now finally back at the hotel, exhausted and smelling of blood and sweat. Valentina had insisted she wanted to stay by Emiliano’s side until he was out of surgery and had woken up. I respected her for that. She had such a kind heart and dedication to those that she cared about. It continued to amaze me that she was able to keep such a gentle disposition growing up in a world of violence. I’d seen it firsthand today and it was fucking scary.
Emiliano’s surgery had gone well and he was awake and coherent. Thank God he’d been wearing a bullet-proof vest because the second shot would have lodged itself right into his heart had it not been stopped by the steel plate.
Valentina walked across the room and flopped headfirst onto the blanket. “I’m so tired. This has been exhausting. My head and body hurts.” Groaning, she rolled over to her back and looked up at me. “We could be dead.”
Coming to sit next to her, I lowered myself next to her and turned to my side. “It’s possible. But that’s not what happened. We were lucky.”
She nodded, inching closer to me until she was snuggled tight to me. “We were. And I’m lucky for you. You covered me with your own body. You potentially sacrificed yourself for me. Then you saved Emiliano. I have no words to express how grateful I am to you.”
“Yeah… Well, I did what had to be done.” Running my hand through her hair, I watched the strands fall from my fingers. It didn’t have the satiny sheen it normally did. So much had happened in twenty-four hours. Enough that if there had been any doubt in my mind about us yesterday those doubts were gone now. It was funny how when faced with your own mortality and that of someone important to you, you can really prioritize what’s important in life.
It also cemented what I wanted going forward.
Her.
“But it’s okay now,” she murmured against my chest. “We may not be able to do any more sightseeing. Papa will lock us up if we try.” She nodded toward the door. “By tomorrow morning there will be guards waiting to take us back to the compound.”
“Your father said that?”
“Doesn’t have to. This isn’t the first war I’ve been in the middle of.”
“So what happens?”
“Since they tried to kill me, he will insist we stay home until he feels it’s safe. Could be weeks or it could be months to a year. Last time a cartel tried to take my father’s operation down to this degree, Mama and I were stuck on the property for nearly a year.”
“Damn. That’s not much of a life.”
She shrugged, snuggling tighter to me. “It’s my life and it’s not like it’s the worst life. I’ve always had everything I’ve ever wanted.”
“Except freedom.”
She pulled away from me slightly and rolled over to her back, lacing her hands behind her head and staring up at the ceiling for a minute. “Are any of us truly free?”
“I don’t get what you mean?”
“I mean, if you’re poor and can’t even afford food to eat or to pay for a hospital when you’re sick are you truly free? I say no. You’re limited to what your finance will allow.”
I mulled over her words a moment. I could see her point. As much as people would like to claim the United States was the land of opportunity, there were certainly barriers due to class division. I’d been blessed with having well-to-do parents. My mother was a housewife, but my father was also a doctor; he’d just retired a year ago. My parents were currently living their golden years in Miami.
“You may be right,” I admitted.
“Pretty and smart,” she teased.
“And so much more.”
She cocked a brow at me. “Is that so?”
“It is.” As I shifted my weight the diamond still nestled in the coin pocket of my jeans reminded me of its presence. Our gazes locked and the feeling of how right this moment was overwhelmed me.
Sliding from the mattress, I stood before her at the foot of the bed.
Looking down at her, a smile broke on my lips. We were both disgusting and bloody, yet she was still the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen – inside and out. She deserved a chance to enjoy freedom in all senses of the word, and to love without strings attached or expected obedience.
Above and beyond all that, I loved her.
“Stand up for a moment.” Taking her hand, I pulled her to her feet despite her whine-like groan of protest.
