he says with regret.
“You did what I wanted, Anthony. You always did what I wanted.” I take his hand in mine and press his palm to my cheek. “I need you now more than I ever did. I’ll beg until you cave. I swear I will.”
He looks at me for a long time and I remain still, waiting for his verdict. My heart pumps slowly in my chest as though it’s prepared to stop beating if he denies me.
“Come here, kitten.” I crawl up to him, loving my pet name. I nestle into his side, careful not to hurt him. “You’ve been very disrespectful,” he says, staring into my eyes. “And you disobeyed me. You left me, and then disobeyed me again. You put yourself in danger.” His admonishment makes my shoulders droop in shame. What’s worse is that it’s all true.
“I’m sorry, Anthony.”
“Don’t be,” he says, taking my chin in his hand and tracing my lower lip with his thumb. “If you come back to me now,” he says, “I’ll never let you go.”
My heart swells in my chest and I push my lips to his. My tear-stained cheeks heat as he kisses me back with the passion I know he has for me. I break our kiss and finally breathe.
“Never let me go, Anthony.” I look into his tortured eyes and I hurt so much for him. For everything he’s been through, but also because I know leaving the way I did hurt him, and I fucking hate that. “I love you.” I’ll say it every day until he believes me, although I’m not sure he ever will.
His forehead scrunches and he takes in a deep breath. He swallows thickly and looks out of the hospital window. Finally, he looks back to me and says the words I want to hear every day for the rest of my life. “I love you, too. But that’s not even close enough to describing what I feel for you. I want you to remember that. Always.”
Anthony
Months later
I’ve been looking for Catherine everywhere and I’m trying to push away the feeling that something’s wrong. I keep waiting for her to leave me again, no matter how many times she says she loves me. She says I just need time to accept it, and maybe that’s true. I don’t care what holds us together, so long as she never leaves me.
I almost pass by the pile of two-by-fours and cans of paint, but then I catch sight of her out of the corner of my eye. She’s curled up in a ball on the reading nook I built for her. Each wall is a shelf for her books and there’s a giant window with a bench that I plan on padding for her. She’s curled up on the wood, napping.
“I gave you a fitting pet name, kitten,” I say as I pet her hair. She blinks a few times and yawns. She’s been tired from the move and from all the changes, but the one thing that stays the same is the look of devotion I get from her every waking moment. The move’s been good for her. She said she needed to be close to family. My familia. Our familia.
I have to admit it’s been good for her. For me, too. Which is surprising. Even Vince seems to be as happy as a pig in shit. And Catherine and Elle are thick as thieves when it comes to planning these fucking get-togethers she forces me to attend. Apparently having a girl that gets along well with everyone looks good for me and makes me more approachable. I’m still on my own when it comes to work, but that’s the way I want it.
I’m about to whip her ass though and she should know it. “You were supposed to be upstairs twenty minutes ago,” I tell her with a hard voice. She knows it’s play though. There’s a time for that side of me to come out, and right now, it’s time. She wanted to play, and so did I. She should’ve been there to greet me on her knees.
Her eyes go wide and she’s quick to pick up her phone. She checks it and shakes her head as she taps the screen and looks at her alarms. She winces and holds the phone up for me to see. She never turned the alarm on.
“I really hate to have to do this,” I say even though I fucking don’t hate it at all.