Chapter 70
Caterina
I took Harlow’s hand and walked her to the bathroom.
I informed my men not to disturb me, even if they heard screaming.
It was rough enough with her nightmares, then to add a dozen burly men with guns rushing into my bedroom to a panicking Harlow.
It caused even more panic, even though they were just doing their jobs.
My hands went down her body, stopping at the hem of her nightgown. Her hands grabbed mine and our eyes met. “Don’t hide from me, mia vita.”
“Caterina, I’m…”
“The most beautiful woman I ever laid eyes on,” I finished her sentence. “I don’t care what he did, what new scars he gave you. I still see the same woman I fell in love with.”
I pulled her nightgown off and her arms fell to her side.
She sunk into herself as I discarded the fabric to the side.
Harlow’s injuries were mostly healed. The discoloring was fading finally from her bruises, and the cuts were fully scabbed over.
Any internal damage was fixed at the hospital when I saved her.
Now we needed to work on her mental healing.
The physical wounds always healed quicker than the mental scars, but I would be with her through every part of her healing journey.
She thought she was a burden to me, but I would walk through hell if it meant I could heal every part of her.
Harlow would never be a burden to me. Not in this lifetime or the next.
The trauma she endured was greater than anything I could ever imagine.
I killed the bastard who tried to harm me, but she was trapped for almost a decade, and then again for over two months.
If I could take everything from her, I would, but I could be by her side.
I ran my hands down her body, and she shivered at my touch. My fingertips brushed over every scar, stretch mark, and imperfection she saw, admiring every inch of her beauty. She was breathtaking. Her skin told a story of survival, and it was a story I would listen to every day until my final day.
“Your scars make you beautiful. I know you don’t feel beautiful, but I think you are the most breathtaking woman I have ever laid my eyes upon.”
I leaned forward, gently kissing the scar on her collarbone and trailing my lips down, capturing every scar I could find until I was on my knees kissing her navel and her thighs.
There were a few lacerations that were deeper and still tender on her legs, so I was careful of those as my lips traced her skin.
“I’ve never seen beauty quite like you.” I kissed her inner thigh.
“Perfection, sculpted from the goddesses themselves.” I kissed her left thigh, high this time that her hands could tangle in my hair.
“I will never be worthy of you, but I will spend every day worshiping the goddess I’ve been blessed with. ”
I stepped into the bath, holding her hand as she stepped in with me, turning to sit in my lap.
Everything had been stressful and hectic with what happened to both of us in the last few months, but now we finally had time just the two of us.
I kissed her neck, causing her back to arch into me.
I’d never get tired of how she reacted to me.
Every part of her belonged to me, just like every part of me belonged to her.
“I missed you,” she whimpered.
“I missed you, mia vita. I’m sorry I couldn’t save you sooner.”
She nuzzled herself into my neck. “You did more than just save me. You gave me my mother—and my grandmother—back. That’s more than I could ever ask for. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you how I felt.”
“I wish I would’ve known sooner, and then you would have saved her, too.”
“She’s here now. I think we need to kill him. I know you were waiting for me to heal a little more, but I can’t keep trying to live when he’s still alive. I’m scared.”
Then we would kill him.
He spent two months in the basement being tormented daily.
“I don’t need sex,” she admitted. “I need him dead. I need to know he can’t get to me again.”
“I’ll have Lena do one final check on you tomorrow to make sure this won’t overexert your body, and then we will kill him.”
“Thank you for giving me this. I know what killing him means to you, Caterina.”
“He took my mom, but he took your childhood, your life, your innocence. I’ll cherish the memories I have with my mom, and I already made sure he had plenty of injuries, but you can’t get back what he took from you, either.”
She leaned back and looked up at me. “I love you more than you will ever know. Thank you for being my rock and being patient with me.”
“I love you. More than anything. After he is gone, we can start our future and work towards our end goal. Everything you wanted in life will be a reality. I am by your side through everything.”
The next morning, I brought Harlow to see Lena. I knew she was doing better physically, but I didn’t want her to strain anything or hurt herself. Killing Vincenzo was something I knew she needed to do, but I would do it if I needed to.
Lena checked Harlow over, making sure most of her internal injuries were confirmed healed like her outer ones.
Once Lena gave her a clean bill of health, we would sit down and talk about what we were going to do before we went to the basement.
Vincenzo might be wounded, but he still had a fucking mouth.
Maybe I should have Spencer cut his tongue out first.
“Alright, you are good to go. Limit yourself, but I give you permission to do this as a friend of course, not as a doctor.”
“Thank you,” Harlow said. “Did he mess anything up inside? I want to have a baby one day, I just didn’t want his.”
Lena gave her a soft smile. “Yes. You two can have a baby when you are ready. I think you’ll be considered high risk because of the abdominal trauma, but I know an amazing OBGYN. While I am your doctor, I am not certified in IVF. But I can do normal checkups like I am doing with Lizzy.”
“At least he didn’t ruin everything,” Harlow mumbled. “I’m sorry, positive thoughts. Thank you, Lena.”
“I’ll call you if we need anything else,” I informed her as I helped Harlow off the table.
We walked to the guest house where the boys were waiting for us, and we sat on the porch swing. With the clean bill of health, we were now a talk away from finishing everything and getting rid of Vincenzo once and for all. I needed her to know I supported her no matter what.
“Does killing someone change you?” Harlow asked, a tremble in her voice.
“It can. Are you having second thoughts?” I questioned. If she didn’t want to do this, I would go down there now and slit his throat myself.
She shook her head. “No, I want to do it. I need to do it. If you kill Vincenzo for me, then he still wins. He still controls me. I just…what if it doesn’t help?” she confessed. “What if Vincenzo is dead, but nothing changes? So many people hurt me, Caterina. What if Vincenzo isn’t enough?”
“Then I will track down every last man who hurt you and kill them. I will bring their heads to you on silver platters. I already told you, I didn’t care.
I’m a monster.” We already had this talk before.
Back then my feelings for her were minimal, but everything I said was true.
“I will make these streets bleed, if I have to.”
“If you’re a monster, then you’re mine…and maybe that makes me a little monstrous, too, because I’ll destroy the world for you. It should scare me, but it doesn’t.”
“You know this is how romantasies end up. Are you following the villain to the end of the Earth?”
She grinned. “I’ll follow you to the pits of hell. Now I guess it’s time for us to get our happy ending, huh?”
It was time for everyone to get their happy ending. Vincenzo would finally be a stain removed from this world, and no one would miss him.