Bound to the Crime Lord (Dark Mafia Tales #2)

Chapter 31

Manuel POV

T he gentle beeping of the heart monitor filled the room. The afternoon rays filtered into the room, warming the tiled hospital room.

I sat by her bedside with my hand in hers as I had done for the last two days. I had remained rooted in this position from the moment she came out of surgery.

I stared down at her body that had been hooked up to all sorts of wires and machines. Her face was so pale, and her eyes had dark circles under them. The doctor had assured them that the surgery had gone well, and she would wake when she was ready to, but it had been two days and she was still in a comatose state.

I brushed my thumb on the back of her hand and willed her to wake up. But no matter how much begging and pleading I did, her eyes remained closed.

I was losing hope.

It had only been two days. But that was the thing. It had been two days. She should have opened her eyes by now, and yet she’d kept them shut.

“Come on, amor . I need to see those beautiful eyes of yours. I need to hear you yell at me for the most mundane things.”

I wondered if she could hear me. The doctor had said that all patients were different, and some had said they could hear everything around them while others just stayed sleeping.

“You promised to stay safe, Juliette. You have to wake up now.” I had never done so much pleading in my life before. She was the only person that I had ever begged to. But I felt powerless.

There was nothing that I could do to remedy her state. All I could do was hope and pray.

A knock came at the door.

“Come in,” I muttered under my breath.

My mother walked in with a lunchbox and a coffee mug. As she had promised this morning, she was back again with more food.

“Mama,” I groaned, already knowing that she was going to try and force-feed me the food. “I told you I’m not hungry. I will eat when she wakes.”

She walked into the room quietly, as if she were afraid to wake Juliette. She placed the lunchbox of homemade food on the side table and kissed the top of my head. Even sitting down, she was barely taller than me.

“ Mijo , you need your strength. You have to eat.” She gave me a pointed look before she looked at Juliette. A somberness came over her, and whatever joy she had entered in with, vanished. “How is she?”

“The same since you last saw her.” She wasn’t getting worse, but she also wasn’t getting any better. She was just the same. I didn’t know if this was any better than her getting worse.

It was like she was caught in the in-between. Not dead, but also not living.

“She’ll pull through, she’s a fighter.” Mama offered me a small smile, but that did nothing to ease my pain. The only thing that would soothe the turmoil ravaging my system would be seeing her blue eyes open.

Silence washed over us, taking up the entirety of the space.

I had often reveled in the silence, but as of the past two days, I hated it. Memories of the forest would filter into my mind, and I would analyze all the things that I could have done better. All the ways I hadn’t protected and saved her.

She had been my responsibility, and I had promised her when she agreed to our deal that I would keep her safe. Now here she was, lying in a hospital bed, fighting to stay alive.

Her last words would haunt me for the rest of my life. The way her eyes had stared into mine with so much resolution and peace.

She had accepted death for herself, but I refused to accept it for her. I refused for life to rob me of her.

If I could trade in my life for hers, I would do so in a heartbeat.

“I didn’t tell her, mama,” I finally spoke after the prolonged silence. “She told me she loved me, and I didn’t say it back. I didn’t want her to tell me yet. I wanted to… fuck! ”

I was a blubbering mess.

I wanted to tell her that I loved her. Of course, I loved her. I had loved her from the moment I had laid eyes on her. She had been mine from that very night. And still, I had stopped her.

“And now she may not make it, and she won’t know that I—" I couldn’t even bring myself to finish that sentence. There was no world I would have been okay living in where she wouldn’t be with me in it.

“ Mijo .” _My mother pulled me into her side and kissed the side of my head. “She will live, and you will get to tell her that you love her, too. Okay? Don’t cry, my love. She’ll be okay.”

I shook my head, the heaviness of my heart drawing down to the deepest pits of depression.

I had seen a lot of violence and death in my life. I had taken lives as many as I had spared. I was used to my hands being tainted red with blood.

But never in my wildest imagination had I ever thought that her blood would taint my skin. Never did I think that I would cradle her in my arms while she clung to life with all her might.

I had power, money, and more connections than the President of the United States. And yet, here I was—powerless. There had never been a time in my life when I had felt so helpless.

My mother held onto my hand with an iron grip. “She will live, mijo . She will live .”

“I hope she does.” That was all I could say. There was no guarantee, my mother didn’t know, and I sure as hell didn’t either.

I could do nothing for her except wait and pray she woke up.

I was not one for praying. In fact, I was almost certain I had been crossed off the heavens list a long time ago. But I was so out of hope that I was willing to turn to the heavens. I would have bargained my own life if the heavens let me.

The first tear fell from my eyes and landed on the back of my hand that held my mother's. I could not remember the last time I had cried before the day she was shot. I had held her in my arms as she fought to keep her eyes open.

She’d wanted me to promise that I would take care of Ethan, and I promised I would. But she didn’t keep her promise to me. She promised me that she would survive, that we would live a long life together.

My entire heart shattered at the thought of losing her. I couldn’t lose her. Because if I did lose her, then the world would burn for taking her away from me.

My mother left shortly after I had finished my lunch. I knew she would be back in time for dinner, to make sure that I ate again. I was thankful for her. Had it not been for her and Rigo, I would have completely fallen apart.

I grabbed her hand and sat beside her again. I brought her knuckles to my lips and kissed each one gently. “I’m sorry, amor . I’m sorry I dragged you into this life. I’m sorry for not protecting you. But above all of that, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you that I love you too. You set my world on fire in a way that warms it instead of burning it. You are my polar opposite in every way, yet you fit with me perfectly, and I with you. I shouldn’t have taken you. I shouldn’t have wanted to claim you as mine, but I was selfish. And even now, I cannot be selfless. Not when it comes to you. I’m too jealous of a man.”

My throat tightened, and I tried to control.

“Don't stop now,” a hoarse voice filled the room. “You were on a roll.”

I lifted my head and caught her barely opened eyes.

“Juliette?” I jumped out of my chair, flinging it to the floor. “ ?Ay, Dios mio! You’re awake! You’re actually awake!”

I couldn't believe my eyes. Was this what happened when prayers were answered?

I wanted to throw myself on top of her, but I was aware that she was still in a very fragile state.

She looked up at me with that same gentle gaze that had me hooked from the moment I laid eyes on her. Even though she had been lying comatose in a bed and she had likely just cheated death to come back to me, she looked every bit as gorgeous as she always had.

“You almost died, Juliette.”

She gulped, and a flash of pain crossed her eyes before it melted away. “I know. I also held a gun for the first time.”

“You did.” I reached for a small strand of hair and tucked it behind her ear. I palmed the side of her face and she leaned into my touch. “Don't ever do that again. You took away a good ten years off my life.”

A tired smile made its way to her lips. “Don't worry. I’ll stick to mending the wounded instead of becoming one from now on.”

I couldn’t wait any longer.

I kissed her with everything I had in me. I poured my entire heart and soul into that kiss. All the love that my body could muster, I transferred it to her. I wanted her to know, to feel, that I was all hers and she was most definitely all mine .

When I finally pulled away, I was out of breath, and the heart rate monitor was going crazy. I pressed my forehead against hers and our breaths mingled together in a hot, plummy cloud.

She laughed and I joined in with her, loving the fact that I could hear this melodic sound again. There was a moment when I thought that I would never hear her voice, see the blue in her eyes, or taste the sweetness of her lips again.

“I love you, Juliette Ballard.” Finally, I could tell her the confession I had been holding onto for weeks. “I love you with every breath, tear, and laugh. You are my entire universe.”

Her eyes softened. “Took you long enough.”

A low laugh rumbled from the middle of my chest. “The timing wasn’t quite right.”

“Me taking my last breath wasn’t the right time to tell me you loved me back?”

Though she said those words in a teasing tone, they had never been truer.

“I almost lost you, amor .” That reality alone was far too terrifying for me to even imagine. Who knew that being in love was like having your heart ripped out of your chest, exposed to the world and all its terrors?

“I’m here, Manuel. I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere for a long, long time, okay? Because I love you too, and I can’t think of living a life without you.”

That was sweet music to my ears.

I pressed my lips to hers and chuckled when I heard the heart rate monitor spike again.

“I think I better stop. We don’t want you going into cardiac arrest now, do we?” I went to move away, but then she circled her arms around my neck and pulled me back down.

“No, don’t ever stop, Manuel Gomez. Don’t you dare stop.” And then she captured my lips in another kiss.

And that was just the start of many we would share in our lifetime.

My life would never be simple. I was the mafia king of Chicago. I still had enemies at every turn. And there would be more blood spilled in my name and the Brotherhood.

But as long as she stayed by my side, I knew that I’d be able to withstand whatever storm came our way.