“You were dying,” she says. “I watched him attack you, and I knew…” She shakes her head. “I just knew.”
She knew I would die, so she left the protection of the safe room for me.
And if something had happened to her, it would be on me.
“I had Vito’s gun,” she says. “Nick was with me, so it’s not like I was defenseless.”
The memory sharpens through the fog.
Her face in the dark.
Her mouth forming my name.
Not a hallucination.
“You shot him,” I whisper.
She does not look away. “Yes.”
Any other woman might say it with horror. Caterina says it directly and with no remorse.
Oddly, it makes me proud.
The fact that she can say it with her head held high. Not that she had to kill a guy on my behalf.
I squeeze her hand.
I am tired.
Suddenly, violently tired.
The room starts fading, and so does Caterina.
No.
I just woke up.
I need more time.
I need too many answers.
I need to tell her—
What did I need to tell her?
I hear her voice distantly as I fight sleep.
“I’m here,” she says soothingly. “I’m not going anywhere.”
I force my eyes open one more time.
She is leaning close, her hand around mine, her dark eyes wet.
My eyes close again, and this time, I can’t fight it.
Love you.
Chapter Thirty Eight
