Page 205 of Phantom Mine

Thiago huffs and wraps an arm around his wife’s shoulders. “Make sure I never doubt that statement in the future, not unless you want that coma of yours to become permanent.”

My eyes are still glued to Valentina’s face so I don’t watch them go, but I hear them stop at the door of my room.

“You and I as family?” Thiago’s smile stretches evilly. “Should be fun.” He says it like he’s going to make it anything but for me.

Game on.

I glance down when hands push insistently at my chest.

“You shouldn’t be standing up,” Valentina scolds, ordering, “Get in the bed and lay back down.”

“No,” I answer, arms tightening around her middle. “Apparently, I haven’t held you in a month. I’ve got some making up to do.”

Valentina’s lip trembles and she looks away.

“What is it,cara?” I question softly.

“The doctors weren’t sure if you’d ever wake up. They told me I needed to be ready for you to…” She blinks and a tear cascades down her cheek. “That I needed to be ready for you todie.” A choked sob escapes her lips and she shoves me back. “Itoldyou. I told you I didn’t want you to die for me.”

I grab her hands, noticing that they’re still covered in a thin layer of gauze, and pin them to my chest.

“If I had to relive that night a thousand times, I'd make the same choice every single time. My life hasn’t been my own since the night I met you. I’m not interested in a world without you in it, Leni.”

“I think you underestimate how much I love you, Matteo. You thought I would leave you there, you thought thatIwould choose a world without you in it.”

I shake my head. “I hoped,cara. I hoped you would save yourself, but deep down I knew you’d make the reckless, impulsive decision.” My lips find hers. “I just couldn’t face it.”

A sharp, jabbing pain shoots up my spine. I flinch and groan loudly.

“You’re hurt—”

“You’rehurt,” I growl, turning her palms over and kissing them gently. “You burned your hands.”

“I had to get the beam off you. It was killing you, Matteo.”

A deeply possessive rumble sounds in my chest as I pull her closer. “I think the reason I suffered as a boy was so I could earn and deserve your love as a man.”

Two fresh tears fall down her face as her eyes soften. I sweep them away with my thumbs. “You have third degree burns on your entire back, Matteo.”

I kiss her again. “I don’t care.”

“The skin is completely scarred—”

Another kiss. “Don’t care.”

“Matteo,” she says, lifting a hand to stop me. “The ‘R’... it’s gone. These burns have scarred over it.”

A pressure I wasn’t aware of lifts off my chest. I didn’t realize until just now how much the scar weighed on me mentally. For the first time in a decade, I breathe unencumbered air.

Valentina looks up at me hesitantly.

“That’s good,cara,” I reassure her. “These are scars I wanted, scars I’ll wear proudly because they announce just how far I’m willing to go for you.”

She falls into my arms once more and we hold each other, cling to the other’s body like we fear being separated.

“What—” A voice erupts from the doorframe. “What the hell are you doing?”

I look above Valentina’s head to find a doctor storming towards me.

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