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Marco came back to the hospital about an hour later, and finally Cate headed back to the villa.
However, she was back at the hospital and by my side later that day. “What are you doing back here so soon? You could have only had about three hours sleep.” She had obviously showered and changed her clothes, but she still looked exhausted.
“Someone’s got to keep an eye on you to make sure you don’t overdo it.”
“That someone doesn’t need to be you.” I didn’t know why I was saying these words to her.
“Well, it is me, so you better get used to it.”
She sat back down in the chair next to my bed and emptied a bag of grapes, magazines, and chocolate.
“I need my phone,” I said to Cate.
“Marco said you’re not allowed your phone until you’re better.”
“For crying out loud, I’m a grown man and I’m hardly going to overexert myself looking at a few damn emails.”
Cate, however, wouldn’t budge on this. So instead I flicked through the TV channels, letting my frustration simmer.
***
I woke up from a nap a bit later to find a nurse in the room with me. “Your wife has just gone to get a coffee and something to eat. She’ll be back soon.” I didn’t say anything to the nurse, who was fussing around my room and trying to tidy up.
After the nurse left, I sat and thought. There was nothing else to do in this place, especially as I didn’t have my phone and couldn’t work. Having time to think wasn’t a luxury I usually had and going over in my mind what had happened, I realized that what didn’t feel right anymore was having Cate here.
The thought hit me like a ton of bricks.
That was what had been causing me to feel uneasy since I had come around after my surgery.
She wasn’t part of this life. And it wasn’t fair of me to keep her in it.
She’d made herself a life away from the Fratellanza, and she’d done that for a reason—for her safety and for her happiness.
It had taken all this happening to make me realize that I had been a fool to think this could ever work.
I picked up the landline phone next to my bed—at least Marco hadn’t thought to have the phone removed from my room.
Without thinking any more about it, I did what I knew I had to do and dialed the number of the lawyer who acted for the Marchiano family.
After talking to the lawyer and ending the call, I sat in bed thinking things over until Cate returned to my room.
“The doctor said he will discharge you later on the proviso that you have complete bed rest back at the villa. He has given me all your meds and the schedule of when you need to take them. I’ll remind you when it’s time for you to take your next dose.”
“You don’t need to do that. It’s not your job,” I said in an emotionless voice.
“Of course it’s my job. I’m your wife.” Cate spoke in a matter-of-fact voice.
Christ, I had been fighting Cate over these last few weeks to get her to accept her place as my wife. She had battled me over this at every turn and now that I was ready to set her free, she was suddenly happy to be called my wife and act like one—was she kidding me?
“You don’t have to be my wife for much longer.” My voice was hard and flat.
Cate stilled and fixed her wary gaze on me. “What do you mean?”
“I know that you want this marriage annulled, and I’ve phoned our family lawyer to set it in motion.”
Cate blinked rapidly. “I don’t understand…”
“You said that you didn’t want to be part of this life, that you didn’t want to be part of the Fratellanza anymore, that you had already lost too many people to it. It shouldn’t have taken something like this happening for me to realize that you shouldn’t have to go through it again. The doctor tells me that it was pretty touch and go, that my heart stopped during surgery and that they weren’t sure if I’d regain consciousness afterward.”
