Marcello
I don’t sleep much tonight.
Lost in thought, I watch Elsa on the bed in the corner, the even rise and fall of her chest as she sleeps. My wife. Would she refuse?
She just needs time to think about it. If she didn’t want, she would have refused without hesitation. I hope she doesn’t take a lot of time thinking about it. I know it would be difficult to be able to deal with an asshole like me for the rest of her life but I promise I will be a better man for her.
She has been here with me for the last whole week while I laid here half-dead. Because she loves me. There is no way on earth she would have stayed to take care of me and help out with my businesses if she didn’t love me the way I love her. She could have left and gone to her family or to her friend but she stayed. She stayed because I matter in her life. She won’t refuse my proposal. I will manage to convince her.
She rolls over and stretches her long limbs. The low hospital lighting casts her in a soft glow and she is like a beautiful golden angel. My heart turns over, the love I feel for her nearly spilling out of my body.
“Having a hard time finding sleep?” I ask.
“Yeah. You too?”
“Come here.”
Instead of obeying, she puts her hands under her cheek and looks at me. “Where?”
“Come, lay down next to me.”
“Marcello, there isn’t enough room in that bed. I’ll hurt you.”
“No, you won’t. I need to hold you right now. Ti prego. Come squeeze in next to me, bellissima.”
Her gaze softens and I know I have her. She unfolds from the small bed and pads over to me. She is wearing just a t-shirt and panties, and she has removed her bra, so her breasts swing beneath the thin fabric of her t-shirt. Cristo, I wish I felt better. My dick hasn’t even twitched since I had been shot, but mentally I still craved fucking her, touching her.
Brow furrowed, she goes to my uninjured side and lowers the rail. “How is this going to work?”
I lift my good arm and try to make space for her. “Get in.”
It take her a while and I have to hide a wince or two, but she makes it work. She stretches out on her side and cuddles ever so gently to me. It is the first time I have held her since the shooting and my body relaxes, settling into the uncomfortable mattress. “I have missed this,” I murmur, closing my lids.
“Me too.” Her lips find my throat. “Don’t ever scare me like that again, okay?”
“Ti amo, Elsa. No matter what happens in the future, know that I love you with everything I am. When I was dying on that street, my last thought was of you.”
“Oh, baby.” She presses closer. “I don’t want to think about that ever again.”
“Nor do I.”
“I should should have never pressed you to meet up with Zio. I was so selfish-”
“It does no good to dwell in the past. I don’t blame you. I had plenty of time to kill Marco, but I enjoyed toying with him. I should have killed him as soon as I got him. Back at his beach house.”
We are both silent for a few minutes, the sound of the machines in the room our only companion. She finally says, “What are you planning to do to Federico?”
“Kill him when I get the chance to. He will never stop being a threat to us. He wants the both of us dead, baby. If we are to have a piece of mind, he has to get out of the way.”
“It won’t be easy, will it?”
“Of course, but now I have more than enough reasonable to detach his head from his body. We have hired snippers to deal with him. Though I would have preferred to do it with my own hands. At least it would be easier to track Federico’s movements than Marco’s.”
Elsa’s hand slides up my neck and caresses my ear.
“I know you are working hard, but all this evil planning may not be good for your health.”
“I can’t help it. I hate being locked up here. I can’t wait to go home. I will be able to catch up with with some work at the mansion.”
“Gabrielle and I are dealing with the work. Don’t worry too much about it.”
“I know. That’s why you should marry me. You will come in handy at crucial times.”
“What?” she gives me a mortified look. I can’t help the grin that spreads on my face. “What do you mean by crucial times? I won’t be staying home like a trophy wife doing nothing but doodle myself for my husband. I am going to work, Marcello. I have businesses to take care of,” she says, her tone every bit of serious.
“Does that mean that you have already considered it?” I lift an eyebrow at her. She swats my arm and I yelp in pain.
“Considered what?”
“Being my wife.”
“I was just saying. It is not going to be this easy. Being married is something more serious. You will have to actually listen to me and put my words into consideration. You won’t just boss me around. We shall have to be equal at all terms, and I know that will be so hard for you to give up you domineering self.”
“I am already trying, Dolcezza. I will get there. We will have to work up some compromises but we shall be able to adjust to them. Nothing is worth more than you saying “yes” right now.”
“Okay. I am still thinking about it, and you are not making it any easier for me. It hadn’t even been twenty four hours. ”
“You can take all the time you need. Just make sure I don’t die waiting.”
She chuckles, then buries her face in my chest.
I am too exhausted to think any longer. I close my eyes and let myself drift to sleep.