Chapter 73
Caterina
With the closing of the basement door, it felt like the final goodbye.
Vincenzo Mancini was finally gone, and the world could sleep peacefully tonight.
His crimes in life were finally sealed with a coffin, only his coffin would be soil in my garden.
He wouldn’t get a final resting place once our babies were finished with him.
I took Harlow’s hand. She didn’t say anything as he died or when he took his final breath, but her hands were trembling slightly.
I directed her to the bathroom and she followed suit.
She just did the one thing she thought would never happen, and now she could finally sleep peacefully knowing he was dead.
Stepping into the bathroom, I turned on the shower, watching the steam fill the bathroom.
My wife was a fierce warrior who finally was able to put down her sword after a decade-long battle, and now she looked like she didn’t know what to do or how to process this new freedom.
This freedom was different than being away from him.
With him dead, she didn’t have that constant fear gnawing on her bones.
“Mia vita? Come back to me.”
She looked at me. “He doesn’t get to control me anymore.”
She stepped into me, grabbing the front of my shirt, ignoring the blood, and yanking me down.
Her lips crashed to mine with hunger and desire—feral.
My back hit the small section of wall where our towels stayed.
I winced as the crystal knob dug into my back, but I wasn’t letting a minor inconvenience take me away from this moment.
Her hands slid up my chest, desperate but firm as she deepened the kiss. I pulled her closer to me like our bodies could fuse together and become one. Our lips danced, pouring every ounce of obsession, relief, and devotion into it. This kiss was different from every other kiss we shared before.
Harlow was my fierce warrior, the only bright light in this cruel world. She gave me hope, a future, I never thought possible. And I was her savage queen, a devil who chose her as my only weakness; but for her, I would burn the world and bring even the devil to his knees.
I grabbed her waist, pulling her closer but not taking control.
She needed this, so I let her devour me.
She was reclaiming something that was taken from her far too many times, and I was more than happy to let her take what she desired.
Harlow pulled away from me slightly, pressing her forehead to mine.
She kissed me again, slower this time. I cupped her face, finally taking some control and devouring her. I kissed her like I was promising her heaven and home in one breath. She was my everything, and this kiss was only touching the top of my possessiveness.
I pulled away from her, my hands finding the hem of her shirt, and waited a moment.
Harlow didn’t want to wait. Instead she ripped her shirt off, removing her bra and shimmying out of her blood-soaked pants before she fumbled with the button of my jeans.
When we were both naked, I pulled us into the shower.
The moment the water hit us, Harlow was on me once more, but this time she was holding me like I was her lifeline.
“He’s gone,” she mumbled. “He’s really gone.”
“He can never touch you again, mia vita.” I brushed her hair back, letting the water hit her scalp.
This was the level of intimacy she needed.
Harlow was slowly working on her trauma.
I wanted to make sure we didn’t move too quickly, but Harlow was ready to go at her pace.
Now, we would work towards her healing. I already told her I would be with her every step of the way, even if we went back to step one.
Healing was a journey, and it was one we would do together.
I took her lavender loofah and squirted my rose and sandalwood bodywash onto it.
I dragged the loofah gently against her skin, cleaning the blood from her body.
She turned so I could wash her back. As the water rinsed her neck, I trailed my lips on her shoulder blade and neck.
I wanted to make sure she felt loved in every aspect of life.
I knew things would be difficult, but she would always have me by her side.
“Can you watch me?” she whispered. “I love you, but I can’t force myself into having sex yet. I want to start slowly. Before, you watched me touch myself. I want to do that again. Do you have a mirror?”
I would move at her pace. “I do.”
“Can we put it in front of the bed so you can be behind me? I want you touching me, but I can’t yet…it doesn’t make sense.”
“It’s okay, mia vita.” I kissed her neck. “We will go at your pace. Whatever you want to do, you just let me know.”
She turned in my arms. “Are you sure you don’t want anyone else? I know how rough you like sex, and I can’t do it right now.”
I raked my fingers through her hair. “Mia vita, I would be by your side even if you went celibate and gave yourself to the Catholic church. If you never wanted to have sex again, I would accept it and I would love you anyway. I love you, not just our sex life.”
She smiled meekly. “I loved our sex life,” she muttered. “It was something else he took from me.”
“Hey, we’ll get back to it when you are ready. Don’t force yourself. I can wait. We can start with masturbation and work our way back to where we were.”
“I love you. Thank you for being patient with me.”
“You are everything to me, mia vita.”