Chapter 28 I’ll Find You In Every Lifetime
I’ll Find You In Every Lifetime
Papa says that you’re busy and that’s why you’re not replying. Apparently, you’re doing important work there. He said that one day I’ll be important too. — Mi manchi, Izzy
Izzy
I love it when Enzo sneaks over to cuddle. These are my favorite nights. The ones where I feel safe, protected from the world. No one can hurt me when he’s here.
I shift, curling closer, soaking in his warmth.
“You’re awake,” he murmurs, his boyish face blinking at me sleepily.
“Mmm.”
“I gotta go, before your dad catches me again.” He looks so forlorn, like he really doesn’t want to leave.
“Five more minutes,” I mumble, clutching him tighter.
“Can’t, Cuore mio. I’ll be back in an hour to walk you to school.”
“Mmkay.”
His lips brush my forehead.
“Wake up, Iz. Please. I love you. I can’t survive without you.”
Huh?
I’m already awake.
“Please, baby. I need to see your beautiful blue eyes.”
I try to open them. I want to—but they’re heavy.
“I’m sorry,” he whispers, voice cracked. “I’m so fucking sorry. This is all my fault.”
I don’t understand.
White light floods in as my lashes flutter.
A hand gripping mine tightens. “Izzy?”
I turn toward the voice.
Green.
I love his eyes.
Pain throbs in my skull. I groan, trying to sit up—but Enzo gently pushes me back down.
“Don’t move, okay? Just rest.”
Rest?
What—
Air vanishes from my lungs as the memories slam into me.
Lucas. Marcus. Pain.
I whimper, body aching.
“Shh, it’s alright,” Enzo soothes.
“What happened?”
“You were shot, Cuore mio. In the shoulder. You’re okay, though. You’re safe.”
My brow furrows. “Shot? By Lucas?”
My head clears just enough to see Enzo’s expression. His jaw is locked, eyes burning. “We’re going to kill that motherfucker.”
I nod. It hurts.
“Good.”
The sound of the door opening pulls my focus just as Doc steps in, followed by someone who looks like an actual hospital doctor. The sterile room around me now makes sense. There's a hum of monitors surrounding me, and the bed is scratchy and uncomfortable.
“Isolde,” Doc says with a warm smile, the lines on his face deepening. “It’s good to see you awake. I just wish it wasn’t always under circumstances like these.”
I huff a laugh, but it turns into a groan as pain slices through my shoulder.
The doctor steps forward and begins explaining my injury—a clean through-and-through. Seems like I got lucky.
But then their expression shifts. Everyone’s does. Tension settles over the room like a heavy fog.
“What is it?” I ask, scanning their faces. “What aren’t you saying?”
The doctor clears their throat. “Would you prefer we speak in private?”
Enzo’s grip on my hand tightens.
“No. It’s okay,” I say. “They can stay. They’ve seen me at my worst.”
The doctor hesitates, then nods. “Alright, Izzy. I need to talk to you about something sensitive. Some of your injuries suggest… something else may have happened. Aside from the gunshot wound. Is it okay if we ask you a few questions about that?”
I swallow hard. “You mean how he raped me while holding a knife to my throat, with a gun pointed at me?”
A collective breath is sucked in by all.
I shrug, even though it hurts. “I don’t need to talk about it.”
“We just want to make sure you’re okay,” the doctor says gently. “If you’re comfortable, we can bring in a specialist. We also offer a forensic exam, but only with your consent. It’s entirely up to you.”
I shake my head, barely. “No. I don’t need it.”
Enzo growls low beside me.
“What?” I murmur. “It’s not like we don’t know who did it.”
The doctor tries again, carefully. “Even if you do, a forensic kit can give you legal evidence—if you ever want to take it to court.”
I let out a hollow laugh. “There won’t be a court.”
“I… okay. If you’re sure. But if you change your mind, just let us know. May I check your shoulder?”
I nod, and they step in to examine me. Afterward, the doctor says that if I’m released into Doc’s care, I can go home today.
Home.
Shame burns beneath my skin. The reason I ran. The secret I kept.
I pull my hand from Enzo’s.
“I need to call Cam,” I say quietly. “He can find me somewhere safe to lay low.”
“The fuck?” Enzo explodes, surging to his feet. “You’re not going anywhere but home—with me.”
“No.”
He spins back toward me, storming to my bedside. “What do you mean no?”
My throat tightens. “I can’t,” I whisper, hating the crack in my voice.
“Can’t what, baby?”
“I can’t be around you. I can’t keep pretending I don’t love you.” The tears fall fast, stinging. “Not anymore.”
“Izzy.” His hands cup my face, warm and steady despite the storm in his eyes. “I love you.”
A sob punches out of me. “But not the way I love you.”
He brushes the tears from my cheeks, even as more fall.
“Yes, Cuore mio. I have loved you since I was a scrawny teenager. You’ve always been the one good thing in my life.
I loved you then. I love you now. I’ll love you until I’m buried six feet under—and even then, I’ll find you in every lifetime after. ”
I suck in a breath. Words evade me. “I… I don’t… But… You never said.”
Enzo has the gall to laugh. “Neither did you.”
I search his face—looking for the deception. I find none.
“You love me?” I clarify, needing to hear it again.
“I’m so in love with you it hurts, Cuore mio.”
A smile breaks out over my face. “You love me.”
He nods, bringing his face towards me and kissing my cheeks, my forehead, then finally, finally, my lips. “I love you.”
Doc clears his throat, shattering the moment. I’d forgotten he was even here. Enzo pulls his hands from my face, the warmth of his touch lingering.
“I’ll go grab the discharge paperwork,” Doc says.
I offer him a small smile. “Thank you.”
And then it’s just Enzo and me again.
“So,” I begin, my voice cracking, “what happens now?”
He takes my hand, his thumb gliding over my knuckles in slow, absent strokes. “Now, I take you home and look after you.” He grins, but there’s a warning in it. “Then—when you’re better—I’m going to punish you for running from me.”
I swallow hard.
“Punish me?” The words escape as a whisper.
He leans in, his breath ghosting over the shell of my ear. “And you’re going to love every second.”
Despite the pain, despite everything, a sharp ache pulses between my thighs. My clit throbs at the promise in his voice.
I draw in a shaky breath. “Oh.”
“You’re never leaving me again, Cuore mio. You’re mine—and I’m never letting you go.”
There’s a hard set to his jaw, a determination in his eyes. He means it.
Perhaps it should frighten me.
I twist my neck just slightly, brushing my lips against his. “Good.”