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"Please be okay, Tony," she whispered, not thinking anyone could hear her.
But I did.
And it made my heart crack inside my chest.
Antonio had to be okay. I would do whatever it was in my power to make it so.
For Alexis.
For all of us.
22
ANTONIO
Eight Years Earlier
"Again," my uncle ordered, despite the blood dripping from several wounds on my arms and torso. He didn't care that my chest was heaving. Nor that I probably had a concussion. He wanted me broken, bloodied and battered until I knew what real pain was like.
Thefamigliadidn't show pain. They didn't show weakness. They didn't break even under the most dire of circumstances.
That was what he wished me to learn. The reason he had Cormac kick my ass into the mat almost every day: because it made me a stronger alpha; a more powerful leader for the family.
Cormac grit his teeth but finally nodded. But not before he mouthed, "I'm sorry."
It wasn't his fault. He had to follow Uncle’s orders or be punished.
I wiped my forehead with the back of my hand, and it took everything that I had not to wince as my sweat mingled with blood and stung one of my cuts.
"Now, Cormac, or I'll see you flogged."
My bodyguard and best friend didn't hesitate again.
* * *
The memories swamthrough my mind as I waded through the unending sea of darkness. But I heardhervoice. I always heard her. Those smooth lyrical tones always made my heart beat faster.
She never ceased to amaze me.
And she never left my mind, even after our years apart.
"Tony, please. Just be okay."
I'm here,Tesoro.I'll be back for you,I thought desperately the moment before the darkness took me under again.
* * *
Five Years Earlier
"Are you sure about this, Antonio?" Cormac asked as he moved to my side.
I barely paid him any attention. My focus was on the beautiful omega exiting the supermarket across the street. Fuck, she was even more gorgeous than when I left her five years ago. She smiled as she walked up to the flower stand beside the store, purchasing a single calla lily to take home. The elderly woman running the stand spoke animatedly to her, their familiarity evident. What I wouldn't give to know myTesoroonce again.
"Antonio?" Cormac repeated my name, drawing me out of my intense focus on Alexis.
"I just needed to see her," I whispered, my eyes closing as I fought back the flood of emotions that seeing her brought out in me. I didn't think it would be so difficult to see her. But not being able to talk to her, touch her, to feel her in my arms, was more than I could take.
We weren't ready yet. My uncle’s health was declining fast but hadn't named me heir yet. He refused to believe he was dying.
