Page 39 of The Deadly Candies

“I’m sorry,” he said softer.

“Stop it, don’t touch me like that,” she knocked his hand off her breast.

“I fucked up many times. But never about what’s important. The family. Me, you, and the kids. I never fucked up when it counted,” he reasoned.

“Your point?” she asked.

He could see the conflict on her face. He pointed a finger at her. “Stop bringing up the mistakes of the past. Stop finding excuses to push me away. You pulled that shit with me in prison, Deb. Not anymore. I’m home. Time is up. You will marry me.”

“Or what?” She held his gaze, stubborn and unwavering, her silence as defiant and unwinnable as the games she played with him. Now he’d have to fund one of her crazy business ideas to have some peace with her. He knew her game.

After a long standoff, Matteo broke the tension with a grin. “I like your hair like that. It reminds me of Aretha Franklin or Marilyn Monroe.”

Debbie narrowed her eyes on him.

“But you are sexier,” he winked.

She rolled her eyes, but a faint smile tugged at her lips despite herself. She blushed for him.

“And look at you,” he continued, his voice softening. “You’ve got curves everywhere. You think I’m going to let anyone else near you? You know me, Debs. You are the only woman for me. The only woman I’ve ever touched.”

“You don’t own my body, Matteo,” she said, standing again and placing her hands on her hips. “Besides, I’ve gained weight, and my feet are swollen. I’m not pretty and petite like I used to be.”

“Let me see,” he said, his tone gentle but insistent.

Reluctantly, she lifted her foot to show him her swollen ankle.

“Why are you wearing these shoes with the heels?” he asked with a deep frown. “You need something more comfortable,bambina.” He knelt in front of her, carefully removing her shoe. His hands began to massage her foot, his touch firm but tender. Debbie sighed; the relief immediate as the tension in her muscles eased.

Matteo’s gaze slowly rose to meet hers, his eyes dark and insistent. She opened her eyes and looked down at him, her breath catching as his hand slid up her leg. Before she could protest, he hooked his fingers into the waistband of her underwear and gently tugged them down.

“Matteo,” she said, her voice a mix of warning and amusement, but it was too late, he had already taken control.Debbie relaxed and let him touch her.

“Lock the door,” she said.

“Already locked,” Matteo replied.

She touched the top of his hair and then ran her fingers through it. “I’m sorry I was mean to you,mybaby,” Debbie said. “I hurt for you all the time, Matteo. Sometimes I want you to feel that pain too.”

His gaze lifted. He stood before her. “I do feel it. I always have.”

“You’re right. You do. I was avoiding us. Not because I want you to buy me a new shop, not because of any jealousy I have over Kathy. I’m scared of the Wolf, Matteo.”

“Scared?” he asked.

“If he is alive, he could take you from me, or make you do something that sends you back to prison. And I’m scared of you. Trusting you again, getting my hopes up and losing you again. I lost you to the war. I lost you to your illness. I lost you to prison. I lost you more times than I’ve had you. I know you want me to bring the kids into our thing… but they have lost you to. They lost José because of you. I can’t undo that, baby, and neither can you. We can’t erase the past and start over. We are not Kathy and Carmelo.”

“You’re right. We lost. They lost. We all paid because everywhere we turned, the world told us we shouldn’t be together. I went to prison to atone. I paid with my life to love you, Debbie. I can’t die, I can’t live, I can’t do anything without you,” he said.

Debbie’s tears spilled. He wiped them from her cheek with his thumb. She turned her face to kiss his palm.

“Don’t you understand?” she pleaded. “All the things that have happened to us. I have scars. Carmelo and Kathy have scars. And the one with the deepest scars is you.” She touched his chest. “The things you suffered. Going to prison, taking care of me and the kids when no one was there to take care of you. How many nights I cried for you. Wanted to heal you, Matteo. I never could. Sometimes in life, we don’t get a do-over. Sometimes the life you want isn’t the life meant for you. We can’t turn back the clock. We aren’t those kids anymore.”

“Cara, you’re right. You’re always right. I died a little each day in that cell without you. I may die still. I don’t deserve anything, especially after what I put you through. You gave me chances. A hundred chances. I can never blame you. And I never do. I just… I don’t have anything but what’s in my heart for you, Debbie.”

She dropped her head on his chest and cried. He held her to him.

“I love you so much,” she said. “I could have died that day at Magdalena. You saved me. I love you. I always have, always will. I love you and only you. I tried to fight it, stop it, ignore it, and run from it. But from the beginning, it’s always been this. Me and you. I am your wife. I was on that day we said our vows in our new home. I meant them. I’m sorry for punishing you. José’s death was an accident. I believe that now.”

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