“Evie,” Matteo whispered, running his hands over my face and arms. “Oh God, Piccolina. Thank God you’re awake.”
“I’m not dead?”
“No.” He shook his head. “You’re not dead.”
Panicked, I looked down, my hand flying to my stomach. Matteo laid his large palm on top of mine. “Our little one is fine, Mommy. We’ve been waiting for you to wake up.”
“How long?” I asked.
“A few days. You hit your head when you fell, and you lost a lot of blood,” Matteo explained, his hands still running over me in a constant motion. “The doctor assured me you’d be fine. He said you’d suffered a lot of trauma and your body needed the time to recover.” Matteo’s eyes glistened in the dim light. “I’ve been right here, waiting to see your beautiful eyes open for me.” He cupped my cheek. “And here you are.”
The doctor came in, making Matteo stand back while he examined me. Matteo refused to leave the room, and the doctor didn’t argue with him. I had a feeling he’d already had that argument many times. When he finished, a nurse helped me settle a little, then once again, I was alone with Matteo. He never took his eyes off me the entire time, and as soon as he could, he was right back beside me, holding my hand and stroking my cheek.
“Raoul?” I asked fearfully.
“Dead,” Marcus stated, walking in. “For real this time. I put the bullet between his eyes myself just to be sure.”
I shuddered, and Matteo leaned down, stroking my head. “It’s all right, Evie. He can’t hurt you again. Baby, I’m so sorry. I failed you badly.”
“You didn’t,” I insisted. “We all thought he was dead. None of us knew. I had no idea what he looked like until he told me his name. I thought he was one of the workers. He seemed so nice,” I explained. “He told me about his wife and their life.” I shook my head. “I believed him.”
“That was how he lured all his victims in. He was the consummate actor. He’d get women, children, entire families to trust him, then before they knew what was happening, their lives were gone. They were sold as slaves or worse. He murdered the real Tom and assumed his identity. He was a new crew member, so even his coworkers didn’t know him. He planned it all very well.” Matteo shook his head. “Raoul was the worst excuse for a human being I ever had to deal with, and his death only benefits the world.”
He leaned closer, his voice low. “I hate that he touched you. Hurt you. Threatened you. I loathe the fact that you heard all those vile things he said he was going to do to you.”
“I was so scared,” I admitted, my voice shaking as the memories swirled in my head.
“You were so brave,” Marcus spoke up. “You did exactly what I hoped you would do. You bought us enough time to get to you.”
“How did you get in?”
Marcus laughed. “Raoul thought he was so smart, but Matteo is always one step ahead. There was one override code only we had to get in, no matter what. We were pulling up with reinforcements just after you jumped out and started to run. Raoul began shooting wildly at you and us.” He looked upset. “A stray bullet got your shoulder.”
“And you got him,” I said quietly.
“Yes. Four times. Added to Matteo’s six, I’m certain he stayed down,” Marcus stated dryly.
I looked at Matteo. “You shot him six times?”
“He hurt you. If I could have, I would have resuscitated him and done it again. I wanted him so bullet-ridden there was no doubt this time.”
I had no reply for that.
Marcus cleared his throat. “I’ll leave you two alone. There are guards outside, so I’m going to go home and get some sleep. I know you’re in good hands.”
Matteo stood and shook his hand. Marcus came to the bed and crouched down. “I’m glad you’re awake, Evie. He isn’t right without you anymore, so get better and go back where you belong. Beside him—okay?”
“Okay,” I whispered, my voice thick.
He left, and Matteo returned to the bed. He held my hand, stroking the bruised skin. He was quiet for a few moments, then he began to speak.
“I didn’t know if I could get to you. I didn’t know what I would find when I arrived. All I knew, the one thing I was certain of, was if you were gone, my life would cease to exist.” He raised his eyes, and I was shocked at the tears that filled them. “You are my life, Evie. My everything. I’m done protecting the world. From this day forward, I will spend my life protecting you. Our family.” A tear rolled down his face. “I will never risk you again. I cannot be without you.”