CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
LILIANA
Idon’t know what day it is when my eyes open. One minute I’m nowhere, the next I’m staring up at white ceilings. Steady beeps had drawn me from the hazy sleep.
My memory returns to me in patches at first. I remember the battle and I remember leaving with my daughter.
I remember feeling something in my gut that made me scared enough to turn back.
I remember asking Elio to take Mila and get her to safety, to get her to my mother.
He had tried hard to convince me otherwise but I just knew I had to go back.
I had to get back to him.
I remember arriving and seeing the gun pointed at Rafaelle and I was moving before I could think. I remember pushing him away, desperate to save his life.
And then I remember the gunshot, the pain lacing up my ribs.
My own father shot me.
I’m pretty sure he’s dead. I hope he burns in hell.
Even more incredible is the fact that I’m not dead yet. My body feels like it’s in a tranquil, painless state. I turn my head to the side and catch sight of the man in the chair beside me, his head lowered as he rubs a hand across his face tiredly.
Love is such a terrifying thing. Because as soon as I lay my eyes on Rafaelle, my heart starts to beat faster. The machines in the room change rhythm for a second, alerting Rafaelle. He glances up, looks at me and I watch as his expression falls. A puddle of relief and exhaustion.
He rises to his feet, moving even closer to my bed, staring at me like he can’t believe I’m real.
I speak first.
“When’s the last time you slept?”
“Two days ago,” he replies.
I’m having trouble reading the emotion behind the tone of his voice. All I know is that the sight of him fills me with a heavy longing that spreads through my veins. For him to touch me, hold me and show me he cares.
“Is that how long I’ve been out?”
He nods. I swallow. Two days in a coma. Could have been worse.
Rafaelle continues to stay quiet.
“What’s with the silent treatment?”
“I’m trying to decide,” he drawls.
“What?”
“If I should be angry at you for being so stupid, or if I should be questioning your sanity. I’m this close to checking you into a psych ward,” he grits out.
“Why? Because I took a bullet for you?”
His jaw tightens, “You shouldn’t have done that, Liliana.”
“I’d probably make the same choice if I had to,” I reply easily. “I wasn’t going to stand by and watch while you were shot, Rafaelle.”
His eyes sent a wrench straight through my heart. The shadows in his eyes flash.
“Listen to me and listen to me good because I’m only going to say this once, alright?”
I nod, anticipation curling within me.
“There is no version of this earth where you are not at my side, Liliana. If you had died, your sacrifice would have meant nothing because I would have followed you. Maybe not physically because our daughter is still here. But in all the ways that count. My heart would have been buried with you. Which means you would have been condemning two people to death because of your foolish actions.”
A tear slides down my cheek as warmth invades every inch of me, “I did it because I love you.”
“I know. Which is why I’m not angry.”
“You’re not?”
“I’m so fucking tired of anger, Liliana. Right now all I want to feel is you. I want to feel gratitude that you’re alive and safe. I want to feel all the happiness in the world that you’re still here. You’re going to be okay. I have you and I have my daughter. Nothing else matters.”
The mention of Mila has my heart rate climbing.
“She’s safe?”
“No thanks to you.”
I groan, “Don’t be mean, Rafaelle. If I hadn’t come back, you’d be dead. And then what would I have done? It was all my fault in the first place. None of this would have happened if I had made better choices.”
“You made your choices, and you have to own them. But don’t for a second blame yourself for what those assholes did. They’re gone, buried six feet under. All that’s left is here and now. You don’t need to apologize to me anymore for what you did.”
“You missed months with your daughter,” I whisper.
“I have decades more with her. It all worked out in the end.”
“How can you be so forgiving?” I ask, confused.
“Because I love you,” he says simply, leaning forward to press a kiss to my forehead, “I’m pretty sure I’ve loved you since that night when I walked into the bar and you were standing on that stage.
They may as well have been a halo around your head.
You were practically glowing, Liliana. You brought so much light into my life. How could I not love you?”
My heart surges and now the machines are really going haywire. Rafaelle glances at them with a small smirk. But he continues speaking.
“I hate that we wasted so much time. But we have a lifetime to make up for it all. If you want that, of course.”
“A lifetime with you sounds like paradise, Rafaelle,” I say, my eyes wet.
He quickly presses a soft kiss to my lips before exhaling softly.
“I’m going to go get your doctors so they can examine you. They said you were going to wake up soon. The surgery was successful, and they got the bullet out. But you’re going to have to take things easy for a couple of weeks,” he informs me.
I nod in understanding, “Could you please bring Mila here when you leave?”
“Sure thing, baby. She’s with Marisol right now. They’re out in the hallway. Should I let your mother come in, too?”
“Yeah,” I murmur, glad she’s also safe.
It feels impossible that I survived it all with my whole family intact. And I might not know what the future will bring, but I know if I have Rafaelle at my side, it’ll all be okay.
* * *
Three Weeks Later.
A shiver coasts down my spine as Rafaelle moves inside of me. I hiss a noise of pleasure, bracing my hands on the table as he fucks me hard from behind, each slap of flesh an echo in the quiet room.
This is the first time since I was shot that he’s allowing himself to be rough with me. Rafaelle pulls out, kneads my ass in his hand and after a light smack, he rams back in.
“You feel amazing, Liliana,” he grunts against my back. “You always feel so fucking amazing, baby.”
I push my hips back, needing to feel more of him as he continues to thrust into me from behind. He pulls out and then turns me around so I’m looking into his eyes. I slide up on the desk, providing him with the perfect angle to thrust inside me again
We both groan.
“You like this baby?” he asks
“Y-yes!” is wrenched from my throat.
Rafaelle darts his tongue out and licks the tip of my nose, kisses my cheek before claiming my lips in a passionate kiss. The kiss breaks as his thrusts turn wilder and deeper, until every inch of me can feel him. He reaches down to massage my clit, knowing exactly how close I am.
I come with a violent shake, my clit and pussy throbbing in sync with his touch.
“That’s my girl,” he groans before coming as well. I clutch his arms, needing him to center me and anchor me back to the universe.
When my vision returns, I’m staring directly at his chest. There are words inked there now, when before it used to be just a lion that he and his brothers all share. The words Rafaelle chooses to engrave on his body have all the meaning in the world.
Liliana and Milagro. Both names above his heart.
I cried when I saw it.
“We need to head downstairs,” I remind him through shaky breaths.
He buries his face in my neck, making a low discontent sound, “We can skip dinner and stay in here till they leave.”
“That would be fine, except we’re the hosts and I have a feeling they would know exactly what we’re doing up here,” I say laughing.
Plus, I’m really looking forward to the dinner. I have been for days. A part of me can’t believe I have so many people to call family now. Not just the Vitales, but my brother and my mother and while my other siblings are still estranged, my heart has never felt fuller.
“They all have sex, Liliana. It’s no big deal.”
I slap at his chest, pushing him off me, “We’re having this family dinner. We eloped, so they’re here to celebrate us. The two of us are going to be perfect hosts, capisce?”
He rolls his eyes, “What the fuck do you mean by capisce?”
He knows exactly what I mean. The word is literally fucking Italian. He’s just annoying. I manage to escape from underneath him, heading towards the closet to get dressed, which was what I was doing before he so rudely interrupted me and bent me over the table.
“Do you think Sofia will attend the dinner? Lindsay mentioned she might come and I want to see if I can pitch the idea to her tonight,” I state.
I was talking to Lindsay recently and when I mentioned that I wanted to become a composer she told me about Sofia who is apparently a talented piano player. Lindsay thinks Sofia might have contacts in the music world or at the very least, get me an in so I can start selling my music.
Especially in the last couple of weeks, I’ve been beyond inspired.
“She might be there, she might not,” Rafaelle says, shrugging.
“My husband, ladies and gentlemen. Such a supportive sweetheart.”
I manage to put on my bra and underwear before reaching for the dress I’m wearing tonight.
Realizing he’s getting on my last nerve, he looks towards me with a smile. I watch as he saunters across the room until he’s standing in front of me, completely naked and sexy as hell. I keep fixating on the tattoo on his chest. I’ll never get over it.
One look and I’m putty in his hands. It’s ridiculous.
“I’m sorry. Even if Sofia can’t help, I’m going to do whatever it takes to make sure your music charts number one in like all the fucking countries of the world,” he tells me.
“I don’t want your help. I can make it on my own.”
“I know you can, but you have me now.”
“And you’re amazing.” I wrap my hands around his neck to place a kiss on his cheek.
There’s a knock on the door, and I quickly throw on my dress before going to see who it is. My mother stands on the other side with a frown on her face. She’s taken up an unofficial position as Mila’s nanny and rarely leaves her side unless she’s with one of us.
“She’s asking for her papa,” my mom informs me.
I sigh softly, looking at the little traitor. I’ve never felt more betrayed than when Mila decided a couple of weeks ago that her first word was going to be Papa. She knew me for way longer.
Still, I take her from my mother’s arms with a grateful smile.
“You should go get ready for the dinner, mama,” I state.
“I’ll be there,” she says softly and I can see in her eyes all the things left unsaid.
I know she’s proud of the family I’ve managed to build. And she’s glad I didn’t make the same mistakes she did. I found happiness.
And I was able to have it all.
With Mila in my arms, I walk towards the bed, bouncing her in my arms. Rafaelle emerges from the closet, wearing his pants but still shirtless.
“There’s my perfect little angel,” he exclaims.
“Papa,” she calls, stretching her arms towards him.
He takes her from me, cradling her to his chest. I pout, taking a seat on the edge of the bed.
“It’s not fair.”
“Sorry, baby. You’ll get the next one,” Rafaelle winks.
The prospect of having another kid with him is exciting. He’s an amazing father and it’s hard not to feel warm when you watch him interact with Mila. I want to spend the rest of my life with Rafaelle and then some.
I know deep in my heart that fate put him in my path.
He was my dark knight, and he came into my life when I was most desperate for meaning. And in more than one way, he did exactly that.
“What are you thinking about, siren?” he asks, pulling me from my thoughts.
“How much I love you,” I answer with a smile.
He leans down, pressing a soft kiss against my lips, “I love you so much more than you could ever imagine, Liliana. You’re mine. You and Mila, forever and always.”