Page 123 of Ruthless Vow
“Yeah?”
She lifts her head. Looks at me with those eyes that have seen me from the beginning. That saw through the Don to the man underneath.
“It’s been a yes since the moment you asked.”
She presses a kiss to my chest, right over my heart.
I tug her back down. We lie there in the morning light, tangled together in a hospital bed that’s too small for two people.
The Benedettis are still out there. War is still coming. There are questions that need answers, plans that need making, a family that needs leading.
But right now, with her heartbeat against my side and her hand warm on my chest, none of that touches me.
Minutes pass. The light shifts. The monitors beep their steady rhythm.
“I should clean up,” she murmurs. “Before your sister comes in and lectures us both.”
“Probably.”
Neither of us moves.
“Five more minutes,” she says.
I tug her closer. My lips find her hair.
She shifts against me and my dead arm screams back to life. Thousands of tiny needles stabbing from shoulder to wrist.
I must have made a sound because she freezes.
“What’s wrong? Did I hurt you?”
“My arm fell asleep three hours ago.”
“What?” She scrambles up. “Dante! Why didn’t you say something?”
“Because you were sleeping on it.” I flex my fingers, wincing as the blood rushes back. “And I wasn’t about to wake you up.”
She stares at me. “You let your arm go numb for three hours?”
“I’d let it fall off if it meant keeping you close.”
She shakes her head. “That’s either the most romantic thing anyone’s ever said to me, or you need serious help.”
“Probably both.”
She laughs. The sound fills the room, fills my chest, fills all the empty spaces I didn’t know existed.
Then she climbs out of bed. Stretching muscles that have been cramped in chairs and hospital beds for too long.
At the door, she turns back. Looks at me.
“Don’t go anywhere.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it.” I flex my tingling fingers. “Couldn’t if I tried. I think my whole left side is dead now.”
She grins. “I love you.”
“I love you too.” The words come out easier now. Like breathing.
