Chapter 47
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
Kathleen stood in front of the windows in her hotel room.
Night had settled over the city, the lights below blurred and distant, and exhaustion pressed down on her bones.
It had been hours since everything ended.
Hours of questions, of repeating the same details until they lost meaning. Eventually, the police let her go.
She still hadn’t spoken to Enzo.
Jamie had stopped by not long ago, all brisk reassurance and big-brother efficiency. Everyone was fine. They were meeting downstairs for a meal if she felt up to it. If she didn’t, that was fine too.
She’d smiled and nodded, but the truth was she didn’t know what she felt up to anymore.
Kathleen tugged off her shirt and jeans and let out a soft moan as she stretched.
Everything ached, bruised, battered, wrung out.
The ache in her head was almost as bad as the one in her heart.
Where was Enzo? There were things she needed to say.
But the words, as she rehearsed them in her head, were nothing more than gibberish.
She pressed her forehead against the cool glass before her, staring at the landscape of Mallorca, trying to sort out her thoughts and feelings. Coming up empty, she decided a hot shower and a soft bed were the only things she could face right now. Her stomach growled.
Fine. Food too.
She turned on the shower and reached for the spray just as a knock sounded at the door.
“Damn it,” she muttered.
She grabbed the robe hanging on the back of the bathroom door, wrapped it around herself, and padded across the room.
Enzo leaned against the doorjamb when she opened it, his posture casual, his eyes anything but. His gaze swept over her slowly, carefully, like he was confirming she was real.
He said quietly, “You look like you were calling it a night. And here I was, about to see if you wanted dinner.”
“Enzo,” she breathed.
The sound of his name was enough. She stepped forward and threw her arms around his neck, pressing her face into his shoulder. “I was so worried,” she said, her voice muffled. “Jamie said you were fine, but I kept thinking they’d keep you. Or—” She stopped herself.
Enzo’s arms closed around her, strong and solid. “Logan helped,” he said. “Answered questions. Smoothed things over. There were enough guns involved that no one wanted to argue against self-defense.” He pulled back just enough to look at her. “I’m here.”
She nodded, blinking fast. Relief washed through her so hard her knees nearly buckled.
He guided her inside and closed the door behind him. For a moment, they just stood there, the silence thick with everything they hadn’t said yet.
Kathleen took a breath. “Jamie told me what you said. About me.”
Enzo’s brow furrowed. “He had no right—”
“I’m glad he did,” she interrupted gently. “You were right. About all of it.” She swallowed. “I didn’t realize how trapped I felt until someone said it out loud. Until you saw it. Until you saw me.” She pressed her fist over her heart for emphasis.
She looked at him then, really looked at him. The danger, the scars, the man who would never be safe or simple. And still…
“I’m falling in love with you,” she said quietly. The words scared her. They thrilled her, too. “And that terrifies me. But I needed you to know.”
Enzo’s breath hitched. For once, he didn’t hide it.
“You saved me,” he said, just as quietly. “From a life that looked full from the outside and was empty as hell on the inside. I didn’t even realize how alone I was until you walked into it.” His voice roughened. “I love you, Kathleen. I don’t know how or when it happened. I just know it did.”
Her chest tightened. “So what do we do now?”