The Don’s Soulmate

37. Carlotta

Chapter 37

Carlotta

My heart thunders beneath Ettore's arm as I sit frozen on the couch, barely daring to breathe. Soulmates. The word echoes through my mind, refusing to settle.

The idea seems too unbelievable, too romantic for the rational world we live in. I can't help but question how such a concept could even exist, especially since I’ve never been one to believe in what I have no evidence for.

If it were any other man, I would laugh off his claims as absurd, foolish even. I might have called him crazy in my head and run in the opposite direction.

But when Ettore tells me this, something inside me hesitates.

When his gaze locks onto mine, the rest of the world fades away. His touch ignites a fire within me, burning hotter and brighter than anything I've known.

Being with him feels like coming home.

I swallow hard, my throat tight. I recall how my heart races and my palms sweat every time I think of him. I thought I’d been in love before, once in high school and once with a small fling in Paris that broke my heart. But with Ettore? What I thought was love fades in comparison to how I feel about him.

"Carlotta, are you alright?" Ettore asks concerned. His expression is so soft and unlike him. He looks like an entirely different man. Is this what soulmates do to each other? Can they bring about change even in the most hardened of hearts?

"I...I don't know," I admit, feeling vulnerable and exposed. "It's just...soulmates? It sounds so...unreal."

Ettore chuckles lightly, a rare sound that catches me off guard. "Believe me, cara mia , I understand how you feel. But how else can you explain everything? Your vision, the people I described, how do we know them to be the same? The fear of being torn apart from one another, the mark we share…think, Carlotta. On everything that’s happened."

I bite my lip, reflecting on how our lives changed from the moment we met. He saved my life at the bank, and the very next day, he saved me from Ugo Caputo.

Even after discovering we were enemies, we couldn’t stay away from each other. He rescued me the night at the exhibition, and I was there to have his back when the assassin came for him at the nightclub.

How was it that when danger found its way, we were always there? A small voice in my head, impossible to ignore, reminds me of how much it physically hurts when I don’t know where he is or fear he’s in trouble, that he could be snatched away from me in the blink of an eye.

The thought itself makes my heart clench, and I reach for his hand.

And how can I forget that mark we share? When I touched his back, the small raised heart, blackened by some dark magic, it electrified me. And in the past, our ancestors were killed by assassins? Only for us to fall in love, generations down the line, with three brothers at Ettore’s heels? None of it makes sense, but put together, it’s a puzzle that’s been solved.

"Everything about you feels familiar, like...like home," I admit, my words barely audible as they escape my lips. As much as I try to deny it, I cannot shake the knowledge that Ettore is more than just a man I’m falling for; he is the missing piece I've been searching for.

He gives me hope, unlike anything or anyone else. “Soulmates,” I whisper, tasting the word. And suddenly, something deep awakens within me – memories of dreams filled with love and loss, stolen glances that seemed to hold the weight of a thousand lifetimes, tears poured at the loss of lovers, life after life.

And these memories seem more real than life itself.

Our gazes lock, and the intensity of his blue eyes sends a shiver down my spine. It's as if he can see straight through me, laying bare every secret, every desire I've ever had. My heart races, its pounding echoing in my ears, drowning out all reason and logic.

"Look at us, Carlotta," he urges softly, lifting my hand to the rays of light flickering through the window – showing me how easily I fit in his palm. "We were made for each other."

I swallow hard, trying to fight the overwhelming pull I feel towards him. His touch is electrifying, igniting a fire that can’t be quenched by anyone but him.

Against everything I've been taught, against the warnings that scream inside the rational part of my brain, I find myself nodding in agreement. The memories are strong, of men I’ve lost, lifetime after lifetime. The thought of denying what we share seems impossible, like trying to hold back a tidal wave with nothing but my bare hands.

"Soulmates," I whisper again, surrendering to the moment’s truth. In this moment, with Ettore's arms around me and his heart beating in time with mine, I feel safer and more complete than I ever have before.

The air crackles with electricity as Ettore's fingertips trace a slow, deliberate path up my thigh. My breath catches in my throat, and I struggle to focus on anything but the burn beneath his touch. He steals the very air from my lungs.

"Carlotta," he murmurs, his voice a seductive whisper that wraps around me like a lover's embrace I always yearned for and never knew. "You have no idea how long I've waited for this moment."

Tears prick at the corners of my eyes as everything suddenly makes sense. This connection – this soul-deep yearning that has always drawn us together – is more than just a product of chance or circumstance.

Ettore is my other half, the missing piece that makes me whole. He is the one person I could spend eternity with, who understands the darkest corners of my heart and loves me anyway.

And suddenly, overwhelming fear rains over me. I can’t help but think of the countless lifetimes I’ve loved and lost. I couldn’t possibly relive the curse again. My entire body hurts, to think of him being ripped away from me once again.

"Promise me," I ask, my words rushed with urgency, my fingers tracing circles on his forearm wrapped around me, "promise me that this time will be different. That we'll survive whatever comes our way, survive whoever tries to come between us again."

Ettore presses a soft kiss to my shoulder, his breath warm against my skin. "I promise, Carlotta. Nothing and no one will tear us apart again. Our bond is stronger than anything the universe has thrown at us before. I know for I just feel it, in my very bones."

I turn my head to meet his gaze, searching for any hint of doubt or fear in those endless blue eyes. Instead, I find only fierce determination and a love that burns brighter than the sun.

"Swear it," I whisper, needing to hear the words that will cement our commitment to each other and our shared destiny.

" Per l'eternità ," he swears solemnly, his voice steady and unwavering. "I will fight for us until the end of time. Lifetimes of horror have trained me just for this. All that loss, it couldn’t have been for nothing," he says, with wild passion and pain. “It had to have meant something. And in this lifetime, I will put an end to our wretched curse.”

Wrapped in his arms, I rest my head on his chest, listening to the steady rhythm of his heart – a soothing lullaby that chases away the shadows of my past.

"Thank you," I whisper, struggling to express the overwhelming gratitude that fills me.

"Non c'è bisogno di ringraziarmi" - There's no need to thank me - he murmurs, his fingers gently stroking my hair. "I would do anything for you, mia anima" - my soul .

As I drift into a peaceful slumber, safe in Ettore's embrace, I know that I have finally found my true home – the place where my heart belongs, forever bound to his.