Page 81 of Sworn to My Heart
“I love you much more than I want to admit,” I whisper sincerely against his chest, and he wraps his arms around me carefully.
“I did exactly what you would have done— I fought for my family. You and Cora have become an inseparable part of me. I’d rather it be me than either of you,” I add softly, my words hanging in the silence between us.
He lifts my chin and turns my gaze toward him. “You’re not God, Alin, and we’re a family that deals with problems together. We don’t go on suicide missions alone. When will you start trusting the people around you?” Luca’s words pierce my heart like arrows, one by one. He’s right; I’ve always done things alone to protect myself and those close to me. I preferred to keep everything inside and not ask for help from anyone.
Family may not always be defined by blood, but they are always supposed to be there. Was I really that selfish? What about my real family underwater then? I left them to deal with the consequences all by themselves. I could have died, and they wouldn’t even know what happened to me. I miss them. Do I need to fight for them too? Is that even possible?
“You’re right, I need to start taking responsibility for my actions,” I sigh, deciding to end my reckless adventures here. When we get home, I’ll open up to Luca about my family dilemma. Maybe we can try to find a solution together.
“That’s what I like to hear,” Luca replies with a smile, pulling me out of my thoughts. I don’t know how the wars in my world will end, but I definitely know which battles I’ll fight, and they’ll be by Luca’s side.
The doctor enters the room, breaking the little bubble of intimacy we had created here. Luca gets off the bed and lets the doctor finish his examinations, following his every move. There’s the possessive and crazy man I know, I chuckle.
When the doctor finishes and leaves the room, I encourage Luca to take me back to the apartment.
“It’s better to keep me nice and close to you, don’t you think?” I ask with playful flirtation, trying my luck with seduction first.
“When the little mermaid tempts me like that, how can I refuse?” he replies, his voice suddenly hungry and his eyes gleaming, a wicked smile stretching across his face.
If my body didn’t hurt so much, I’d happily jump on him right here and now.
“But you need medical supervision, so we’ll take the doctor with us,” he adds as a condition.
“No need, I’m not worried. No critical internal organs were hit; these are just gunshots. If you put me in water, I’ll heal quickly,” I explain, relieved that I can share this with him.
Luca looks surprised. “Just gunshots? You were unconscious for four days!”
I laugh at his surprised reaction. “Nothing that water can’t heal. It would take a lot more than a couple gunshots to really hurt me in a way that couldn’t easily be healed by water. But that’s a secret,” I say, placing my finger on my lips teasingly.
From the curious look on his face, I can tell he’s going to try to squeeze every bit of information out of me on this topic. A small snort escapes my lips as I bite back a laugh.
“But I do worry about you, what happened to your neck?” I ask before he starts his interrogation.
“Anyone who hurts what’s mine pays with their life. What’s on my neck is just a result of sweet revenge,” he smiles in satisfaction, and it seems there’s no man in the world who could match the beauty of mine, even on his worst days.
“I’ll stop questioning you if you take me home already,” I reach out my hand toward him in a request, a scheming smile on my face.
The spark returns to his eyes instantly. “That, you don’t have to ask twice.”
Alin
We enter the apartment, Luca carrying me in his arms, and I whimper in pain with each step he takes.
“It’s okay, keep going, just a little more,” I assure him when he stops to check if I’m alright.
He seems hesitant to continue, but he listens anyway. I bury my head in his chest, so he won’t see me biting my lips to hold the pain inside.Just a bit more, Alin.
Mariano waits for us in Luca’s bathroom, filling the tub with water.
When the tub is full, Luca carries me to the toilet, sits me down carefully, and finally removes the cloth gown from around my body. The pain is unbearable, and Luca is busy giving Mariano a few threatening looks while I’m suffering here.
Luca will always be Luca. Somehow, I find this fact relieving.
A sharp groan escapes my lips as he continues to remove the bandages from my gunshot wounds, his eyes clouding as they land on my exposed injuries. It looks like he drifts into his own world for a few moments.
“I’m really okay,” I reassure him. “Put me in the water, and I’ll be good as new in a few hours,” I promise, sending him a calming smile.
He doesn’t say a word, his eyes betraying an internal struggle.Placing one hand behind my back and the other under my legs, he lifts me carefully and lowers me into the bathwater.
