Chapter 65: Chapter 65

LUCIA AMATO

THEY said when your turn to die came, you could feel it in your bones. Feel it in the way you faded into nothingness not knowing what was beyond death.

When that bullet had hit me, somehow that feeling had latched onto me. The feeling of welcoming death and saying goodbye to everything.

Yet when I opened my eyes, light stinging my eyes with a vengeance, the last person I expected to see was the love of my life glancing down at me like an answered prayer.

“Hey, princess”

The smile he wore was enough to tell me everything was okay. I wasn’t dead. We weren’t separated, everything was going to be okay yet…

My hand searched for my tummy, the IV needle injected to my hand hurting far worse than a bee sting.

“Hey, hey, he’s fine. The baby’s fine”

I didn’t realize there were tears in my eyes up until he said that.

And when the first tear fell down my cheeks and the rest came crushing like hail, my throat throbbed as I whispered “Sorry” over and over again.

I jumped in front of him, I took a bullet knowing very well there was a life inside me that depended on me, knowing very well I was carrying his baby inside of me.

He must have hated me now. for my carelessness, for my recklessness.

“I’m alive because of you, Lucia. You took a bullet for me…literally. I’m one of the luckiest men to have you in my life, baby and don’t be sorry for that”

The tears weren’t stopping.

“You don’t hate me?”

“Hate you? Princess, I’ve been going fucking mad at the thought of losing you. I couldn’t sleep because you weren’t in my bed asking me about the most random shit you always ask about.

I couldn’t move an inch away from the hospital without thinking that you’d somehow give up because I wasn’t here- “

I reached for his hand tugging it tightly like how my heart felt at his words.

“I didn’t give up because I love you. I love both of you”

He stood from the metallic chair that was two sizes too small for his frame. He leaned closer to me, kissing my tear-stained cheeks, kissing my nose and finally reaching for these lips that had missed him so much.

I opened myself for him, my heart pacing, the beeping machines getting louder as our tongues danced in a rhythm only both of us knew of and when he pulled away, I wanted to yank him by the collar and kiss him again like my life depended on it.

“It’s not the right place to do this but I can’t wait to officially make you mine, Lucia Amato”

He pushed the chair away, going on one knee.

My heart galloped.

“Jace—what are you? What are you doing?”

I knew. I knew what he was doing but I just couldn’t believe it.

He fumbled with something from his jacket and when it came to sight, a whole stampede raced through my stomach making me queasy.

The red velvet box gleamed and when he opened it, the most beautiful carat diamond stared at me. My eyes went wide with awe and amazement and everything a woman in love, chained to a hospital bed could feel.

“Lucia- “

“Yes!” I clamped a hand over his mouth.

“I had a whole speech prepared, honey”, he chuckled, I straightened my hand out to him, wiggling my ring finger at him.

“I don’t care about the speech because I love you, I want you. I want us married. Please put the ring on me right now and kiss me”

“Yes, ma’am”

JACE ‘JR’ ASHER/ TRIGGER

GOOD GUY Jace was trying his best not to lose his cool when Jimmy came to visit Lucia in the ranch.

And by Good God I hoped that ring was big enough to be seen from outer space so that every man who walked by saw my name stamped all over her forehead.

Jimmy and his friends, said some funny shit to Lucia, I was out of the room before I lost my shit and let jealousy stand in the way of Lucia’s recovery.

I was well on my way to getting a bottle of beer when a familiar head of red hair greeted me on the way in.

We locked eyes, she was the one to look away and I was the bastard who still wanted his sister to talk to him after everything he’d said to her a few weeks ago.

“She’s happy. I can tell”, Cassie said holding her glass of fresh mango juice like it was the last thing she wanted to drink.

“Are you…happy?”

She wasn’t. after everything that had happened to her none of us expected her to bounce back like everything was fine but this was Cassie. Keeping things inside was where she shone best.

“Am I happy that your fiancé isn’t dead because of me? I am-“

“Cassie, I didn’t mean everything I said to you that night. Part of it, maybe but none of this was your fault. Accidents happen”

She swiped her hair from her face, her eyes watery but her body trying its best not to let go of the tears that were visible even from a far.

“I know and everyone keeps telling me it’s not my fault but why do I feel like it is?”

“Because you are human? Because that’s who you are and that’s who you’ve always been. Between the two of us, you were always the kind one Cass. Crying because Lulu got sick that one time, crying because old man Pogo lost his son when we were kids. I’d be surprised if you didn’t cry after everything that happened these past few weeks”

She sniffed back tears; I stood in front of her taking her in my arms and hugging her.

“I’m sorry Cass, for everything and whether you know it or not, if it was not for you Connor and I wouldn’t have found each other”

And whether deep down I wanted to hate Connor, he was my brother.

“Hey, he is your brother. The only person who’ll tolerate you when we are gone-“

My father’s words rung in my ears and I chuckled lightly remembering what an asshole I was as a kid and yet despite everything, Connor stuck by me. That nice kid tolerated me when we were five.

“I hate him”

She whispered.

I could only smirk.

“No, you don’t. I saw the way you were looking at him earlier and it’s the same way he was looking at you”

“Whose side are you on Jace?”

She whined and this was the sister I knew. The one I loved to no end and the one who loved me the same way.

“How long are you planning to make him suffer?”

Because the dude…my brother looked like he was suffering every time Cassie failed to look his way or smile at him.

“Till I feel better? He won’t leave me for a second. He brought me this mango juice because apparently, he read in an article mangoes are good for the baby”

Kade Hawkins searching about mangoes? Oh yeah, he was desperate. Desperately in love like how our father was when our mother rejected him over and over.

“And you love mangoes”

“I know, that’s what makes this hard. He’s making it hard to be mad at him”

“Then forgive him because the way I see it, he’s not giving up on both of you Cass”

“I’m scared of getting hurt. I can’t go through the pain of trying to forget him again”

“And you won’t, this time everyone in this house knows he’ll treat you right. Everyone except you Cass”