Chapter 45
Tiziano Constanzo
I woke to the faint light filtering through the heavy curtains in the bedroom.
The pain in my leg was constant, throbbing, but that wasn’t what caught my attention.
Bianca was beside me, asleep, her head resting on my shoulder.
Her hair was messy, falling like a soft curtain over her face.
She looked so small, so peaceful, as if the chaos of the previous night had never happened.
I slowly lifted my hand and let my fingers trace the line of her face. Her skin was as soft as I remembered, and the simple touch calmed something inside me. I was alive, and she was there. For now, that was enough.
I tried to move, dragging my injured leg to get into a more comfortable position, but I groaned softly when a sharp stab of pain reminded me of reality.
“You’re awake?” Her voice was a soft whisper, still rough with sleep. Bianca lifted her face toward me, her eyes wide and filled with concern. “How do you feel?”
“I’m fine,” I said, trying to reassure her, but the truth was that every part of me still hurt.
She tilted her head, her lips tightening into a doubtful expression.
“You don’t look fine.” Her hand rose to my face, her fingers lightly brushing my cheek.
“Maybe I just don’t want to worry you,” I replied, allowing a small smile to tug at the corner of my mouth. I took her hand before she could pull away and pressed it against my chest. “Feel that. My heart is still beating. That’s what matters.”
She gave me a shy smile, and part of me struggled against the possibility that she might betray me. I didn’t want to believe it.
I walked with the support of a crutch, my leg still throbbing, as I listened to my uncle talking to Enzo.
“Some of those sons of bitches are at the warehouse,” my uncle said.
Carlo quickly appeared beside me, his brow furrowed with concern.
“You still shouldn’t be up, Tiziano. You need to rest.”
I stopped, turning slightly to face him with the same intensity I would have used on an enemy.
“Who’s going to stop me, Carlo? You?” I asked with cold sarcasm.
“Tiziano, don’t be stubborn. Your leg needs time to heal,” he insisted, but it was obvious he couldn’t stop me.
I ignored Carlo and turned my attention back to my uncle.
“I want to go to the warehouse. I want to be the man who finishes off those rats.”
“They’re being interrogated, but just like the other one, they won’t say a word,” Enzo replied.
“I’ll make them talk, even if I have to rip every word out of them by force,” I muttered angrily.
My eyes swept over the space around us.
“Where is my wife?” I asked.
Enzo slowly lifted his eyes and looked at me with indifference.
“She went to visit her parents.”
“Very well. I’ll pay my in-laws a visit too. Then I’ll make my visit to the warehouse.”
I needed to have a conversation with Ant?nio. If there was something wrong involving Bianca, he was the one person who might know more than anyone else.