Chapter 53 – Alana
Chapter
Fifty-Three
ALANA
Ilie back against the pillows and let out a long, slow breath. The balcony doors are open, and a beautiful breeze is dancing over my skin. The doctor was waiting for us when we got home, along with a fretful Magda.
The doc checked both Lucia and the baby over first. Luckily they are both fine—physically at least. I, on the other hand, have a concussion, a broken rib, and two fractured fingers.
Various parts of me are now strapped up, my cuts and bruises cleaned and dressed.
The treatment helped, but nothing feels as good as just being safe. Being back here with my husband.
Alejandro watched me like a hawk from the moment we got back into the house. I feel his eyes on me at all times and wonder if he’s waiting for me to have some kind of breakdown.
I’m not going to, though. At least I don’t think I am. Maybe I’ll have some kind of delayed reaction at some point, but right now all I feel is gratitude for making it home in one piece. Not everybody was that lucky, I now know.
I was heartbroken when I found out that Hank and George were killed.
George was new, and I didn’t know him that well.
Although Hank was a grumpy ass at times, he was in my life for seven months and always protected me.
The fact that it ultimately cost both men their lives is difficult to think about, but I have to remind myself that it was Carlos and his men who killed them. It’s not my fault, or Lucia’s.
I was so relieved to find out that Hugo is alive and recovering in the hospital. Alejandro promised we can visit him as soon as I’m back on my feet.
There’s a lot to think about, a lot to process. My life has been a rollercoaster for a while now, but as I lie here safe in my comfortable bed, in the beautiful home I share with my beautiful husband, my overriding emotion is happiness.
I am strong. Stronger than I ever knew. I survived that basement and those men. Whatever the coming days and weeks might bring, I know that I’ll cope with it—especially with Alejandro by my side.
He insisted I stay in bed while he settled Lucia in her room. He also posted a bodyguard outside her door. I guess it will make him feel better just as much as it might make her feel a little safer. There’s a lot to unpick there, but again, we’ll do it together.
He walks into the room and I smile at him. He needed fourteen stitches in his hand from where he grabbed the knife from Carlos, but he hasn’t grouched once. “You okay?” he asks for the hundredth time in an hour.
“Yes. I’m fantastic. I told you a million times,” I roll my eyes. I’m guessing he just heard the same from Lucia, and it makes me giggle. Maybe the drugs are kicking in.
“Oh, Alana, did you just roll your eyes at me?” he says as he starts to unbutton his shirt.
“I certainly did,” I reply. “And there’s not a thing you can do about it. You have to be nice to me. Doctors’ orders.”
“Hmm, is that so? Seeing as you’re high on some heavy-duty meds right now, I’ll let it slide.” He grins as he pulls off his suit pants and climbs into bed beside me. He lies on his back, and I rest my head against his chest as he wraps one of his huge arms around me.
“I’m sorry, princesa,” he says as he runs his hand up and down my arm, sending goosebumps skittering over my skin. There’s no medication on earth that would make me immune to this man and his charms.
“I know you are. But you’re not responsible for your uncle’s craziness, Alex.”
“But still…” he sucks in a breath. “I’m sorry that I didn’t find you sooner.”
I lift my head, wincing slightly at the pain, and look into his eyes. “I knew you’d come. I knew you’d move heaven and earth to find me. I never lost faith. Alex, and that got me through.”
He strokes my hair back, and his eyes roam my battered face. “I wish I’d got there sooner though. I know what you must have endured…”
I remember Carlos’s words to him not long before he died. I need to put his mind at rest. “What your uncle said about his men, about them violating me. That wasn’t true. He only said that to hurt you,” I say softly.
“Alana, you don’t have to spare my feelings.” He frowns at me. “This is not about me.”
“I’m not saying it to make you feel better. I’m saying it because it’s true. If I had been raped by those men, do you honestly think I would lie to protect you? They didn’t touch me. Well, one tried. I suppose…”
He scowls. “What did he do to you?”
“He tried to make me suck his… thing. But I bit him. I think that’s how I got my concussion. The other one hit me because of it.”
“You bit him? You bit his dick?”
“Yes. Like it was a corn dog. An especially disgusting one. I went for it. He screamed like a baby. There was blood and everything.”
I feel his chest moving rhythmically beneath me, and I realize he’s laughing. I giggle too. I suppose it is strange to be laughing after everything we’ve been through, but maybe because of that, it feels right too.
“That’s my chica,” he says as he leans down and kisses me softly. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Yes,” I sigh against his chest. “Like I said, I always knew you’d be there. That was what we kept telling them. In the end they gagged us so we wouldn’t keep going on about how you were going to find us and kill them.”
“I would have burned the whole world to the ground to find you,” he growls.
“I know. And even in that horrible basement, I didn’t regret for a single second marrying you. I need you to know that.”
He places his hand under my chin and tilts my head up to look into his eyes. “I do.”
“You rescued me, Alex, in more ways than you can even imagine.”
“No, princesa,” he says, his voice a low rumble. “It’s you who has rescued me. I think that my father has been wrong all along. Love isn’t a weakness. You are my greatest strength, Alana. I can do anything when I have you by my side.”
I smile as I snuggle my head against his chest. “Te quiero, Alex.”
“Te quiero, Alana.”