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I stared at her sleeping face and tucked a strand of her brown hair behind her ear. It only took me nearly losing her for me to realize that I loved this woman. There was no use running from it. I didn’t know when it had happened or how it had happened, but this woman owned my heart now.
“You have me acting like a mess, Savina. I want the people who did this to you to pay in blood.” I brought the back of her hand to my lips and gently kissed each one of her knuckles. “I punched your godfather in the face. You’ll probably chew my head off after you learn about that. But can you blame me? The man has fucked up his job more than once, and I can’t trust him to protect you—only I can protect you.”
I turned my attention to the ring that I had placed back on her finger. Only a few short months ago this had symbolized my imprisonment. But now it was a badge of honor. It symbolized who she belonged to and where her heart was meant to reside.
My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I stood from my seat beside her to take the call.
“Valerio,” I greeted my brother. “You either have good news for me or you have no business calling me.”
“I have a name for you and, surprise, surprise, they are Russian. The dots are connecting Andres, but I’m just not sure what the full picture is going to be in the end.”
I rubbed the stubble that had begun to form on my jaw. “Leave them to me. I want to be the first to cut into their useless flesh. They are going to regret the day they ever laid a hand on my wife.”
The bloodlust only intensified at the thought of finally making those responsible pay. I had been itching to draw blood from the moment I found out she was hurt.
“How is she?” Valerio cared for Savina as one would their little sister. She had grown on him.
“The same.” I looked over my shoulder at her sleeping frame. “The doctors said that we just need to wait, but I don’t know how long I can keep doing it. I’m thinking of bringing in some new specialists.”
“She needs time to heal, brother.” His words of comfort did nothing to ease the ache in the middle of my chest. I knew she needed time, but every day I spent not staring into those brown eyes of hers I felt a piece of me crack. “She’s a fighter and she will pull through. We only need to keep hoping.”
“She can’t die, Valerio.” My chords tightened as the emotion seized my chest. “Especially when I…”
I hadn’t told her how I felt. She needed to know that I was not her enemy, and that I was in this fight with her together.
“I know, Andres. I know.”
“Don’t tell me you’re going to start crying, Valdez.”
Her hoarse voice filled the room suddenly, and I turned, the phone dropping from my ear.
Her brown eyes fluttered open, staring up at the ceiling. I waited a beat and then she finally lowered her chin and stared at me.
“I need to call you back, brother.” I hung up the phone and walked back to her side in three strides. “Savina? Do you know where you are?”
Her eyes shifted to where I stood. She looked like she had fought through hell and back to open them, but at least they were open.
“I…” She tried to speak again to no avail.
“Can you stop?” I grabbed her face in between my hands. I stared into the molten chocolate eyes that I had, for a moment, believed I would never see again. “Don’t speak.”
Her eyebrows pulled together in a frown, but she kept her mouth shut.
“You almost died, Savina. You have been dancing with death the past few days, and I’m tired of worrying about you. You’re moving back with me.”
“The hell I am.” She grabbed my hands to remove them from her face, but I didn’t allow her to. “Let me go, Andres.”
“No.”
She opened her mouth and then closed it. Her frown deepened and her eyes narrowed on me. “I’m not going to tell you this again. You don’t get to tell me what to do. I am only your wife by name. It doesn’t give you the right to dictate my life.”
“You belong to me, Savina, and I protect what’s mine. There is no use fighting me on this. You will not win.”
She turned her face into my palm and bit down on my skin, hard. I winced and pulled away from her face slightly, and she took the change to rip it from my grasp.
“Did you just bite me?” I looked at her in complete disbelief.
“Yes, and I will do it again if you touch me again.” Oh, how I had missed her intense fire. There were no women in this world built like her, and I would settle for no one else.
