Page 49 of Arming Alexis

Massimo opened his mouth to speak, but I had already pulled the trigger. Blood splattered behind him, with only a small hole in the center of his forehead as he crumpled to the floor.

"Let's get this cleaned up and get the fuck out of here," I barked out, wiping down my gun and tucking it back into the holster behind my back.

* * *

I barely registeredwhat was happening when my eyes opened. Piercing light blinded me, and I groaned and lifted my hand to block out the light.

Or I tried to.

My fingers were weighed down by something, and as I tugged them free, my vision cleared to show Alexis asleep with her arms resting on my hands, her head pillowed on top of them.

No matter how long we spent apart, her beauty struck me even when barely conscious.

I gazed down at her, not moving, looking so peaceful as she slept. I brushed away the curtain of hair that fell over her shoulder.

Her eyes fluttered open as if in slow motion, and she smiled at me. Everything melted away, and it was just...us in the moment.

"Tesoro." I coughed, my voice rough as if I hadn't used it in years.

"Antonio?" She replied sleepily, leaning into my touch before she jolted. "You're awake? You're awake! Cormac! Miko!"

I groaned and winced at her loud shriek. "Not so loud."

"Are you okay?" Alexis stood up and hovered over me, brushing my hair from my forehead and checking me over. The tenderness in her touch and tone made my heart swell.

I tilted my head and looked up at her as I grasped her wrists and pressed her hands to my cheeks. "I heard you,Tesoro. You guided me back."

Tears filled her eyes, and I felt her hands tremble beneath mine. "Anthony," she breathed.

"Fuck, finally. Miko, call Doc and tell him he finally woke up," Cormac boomed, and Alexis jumped away from me like a frightened rabbit.

“Boss, good to have you back in the land of the moving. How are you feeling?” Cormac came over and started to check my blood pressure and pupil response.

“I feel like a tunnel collapsed on me, and I barely survived,” I retorted, my gaze trailing from Cormac to Alexis as she gathered a blanket from beside the chair she was sitting in.

She wouldn’t meet my gaze. Fuck me. We had a moment. I knew that’s what it was.

If she had a blanket, then that meant she was beside my bed. I know I heard her voice as I was trying to come back. It was why I was able to come back.

I tried to shift in the bed, and a sharp stab of pain swept through my leg and up my body. “Fuck,” I grunted.

“Easy with the leg. Doc had to do surgery, so you have a few pins in place to help the bone heal right.” Cormac looked down at me and placed a hand on my shoulder. “Glad you’re back. You’re a lucky son of a bitch.”

I nodded, my eyes instinctively seeking out Alexis. “Yeah, I am a lucky son of a bitch.”

26

ALEXIS

Istayed away from Antonio as first Cormac, then Doc checked him over. I wanted to forget our shared moment, when he told me he heard me.

I wasn’t sure how that was possible, but I kept talking to him, at least when Miko and Cormac weren’t in the room.

But fuck I didn’t want him to know.

Because he would think all was forgiven and want to pick up where we left off.

He still had some apologizing to do before I was ready to forgive him fully.

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