" Ma'am? We need to ask some questions."
The cop was young . Too young for the blood on my mouth and the bodies I left in an alley . His hand hovered over his gun , but his eyes kept dropping to my lips . To Alessio's blood.
I didn't wipe it off .
" My husband," I said. My voice came out raw . Used . " He's been shot three times . He needs a doctor."
" Name?" The cop pulled out a notepad . His partner was already on the radio callimg it in . " Your name and his name."
I opened my mouth. Nothing came out.
Because I didn't knew .
Not his middle name . Not his birthday. Not his mother's maiden name . I knew how his heart felt under my pain. I knew how his blood tasted . I knew he'd counted five bodies and still called me his .
But I didn't know his name .
" Alessio," I said finally. " Alessio De Luca."
The cop's pen stopped. " De Luca. Like the–"
" Like the dead one's," I snapped. " Can I see him? Please."
They let me through. Maybe it was the blood . Maybe it was the way I said please like it was threat. Maybe it was the way my hands weren't shaking anymore.
The ER smelled like bleach and fear. They had him behind the curtain . Three doctors . Two nurses . Machines beeping too fast . Too desperate.
" John Smith," I told the nurse at the desk . " No ID . Cash . No cops ."
She looked at me . At my mouth. At my hands . Still stained with him .
" Mrs.Smith," she said slowly. " Your husband lost a lot of blood . We are taking him into surgery now . You can't–"
I pushed past her . Ripped the curtain back .
Alessio was awake . Barely . Chest cut open , tube in his throat ,but his eyes found me . Black . Aware . King even on a gurney. Even bleeding out .
One of the doctors blocked me. " Ma'am, you can't be in here . Infection risk . If he–"
Alessio lifted his hand . Th eone he'd cut open for me . Still bleeding. Still marking . He pointed at me . Then at himself. Then at the door .
Get her out .
The doctor turned. " Sir , you need to calm down . You will tear–"
" Touch her," Alessio rasped around the tube ," and you die."
Alessio's hand dropped. His eyes stayed on me . Ordering me without words . Go . Wait . Stay mine .
A nurse pulled me out . The curtain closed. The machines kept beeping. One long, ugly sound that meant he was slipping.
I sat in the plastic chair outside. For an hour. Two . The cops came and went . I told them " John Smith". I told them " mugging ". I told them nothing that mattered.
My shirt was stiff with his blood. My mouth tasted like copper . Every time a nurse walked by , she stared at it . At the mark I wouldn't wipe off . At the brand I'd chosen .
Two cops tried to move me . I told them I'd scream and rip my stitches if the touch me . They believed me. The left.
Finally, a doctor came out . Tired. Blood on his scrubs. Alessio's blood .
" Mrs. Smith?" he said . " He's stable. Barely. We got the bullets out . All three . He lost half his blood volume. He should be dead."
" He's not," I said.
" No." The doctor studied me . " He's asking for you . Keeps pulling his IV out when we say no . You want to calm him down?"
I stood. My legs were numb . " Where?"
Recovery room . Private. Cash bought that much .
He was awake when I walked in . Pale as the sheets . Tubes everywhere. But alive.
His eyes dragged over me . From the blood on my shirt to the blood on my mouth. To the fact that I still hadn't wiped it off .
" Good girl," he whispered. No tube now . Just his voice, shredded . " You kept it."
I crossed to him . My knees hit the bed . " You told me to wipe it off."
" I lie." His hand came up . Slow. Shaking . He touched my cheek with the back of his knuckes . No blood this time . Just heat ." I wanted to see if you'd obey me . You didn't."
" You almost died ."
" I didn't." His thumb brushed my bottom lip . Right over the dried blood .
Possessive . Reverent . " Because you chose me . In the alley . You shot him . Not me ."
" You should have let me ."
" I would have bled out smiling ." His eyes closed. For a second I thought he was gone . Then: " Say my name."
" Alessio."
" My whole name."
I froze . " I–"
" You don't know it ." He laughed. No sound. Just breathe. " You killed for me . You lied for me. You are wearing my blood . And you don't know my name ."
Shams hit . Hot and ugly. " I'm sorry ."
" Don't be." His eyes opened. Black and sharp even now ." Alessio Kade De Luca . Kade was my mother's name . She died when I was six . My father–" Hs stopped. Swallowed." My father's still out there . Because of you."
Kade . I rolled it in my mouth. Alessio Kade De Luca . Mine now .
The door opened. A cop . The young one . He saw Alessio awake .Saw my hand on the bed . Saw the blood on my mouth.
" Mrs. De Luca," the cop said. Testing it . " We need your statement. Officially ."
Alessio's hand caught mine . Threaded our fingers. His palm was bandaged where he'd cut it for me . Blood debt .
" Tell him," Alessio said . Loud enough for the cop to hear . " Tell him who you are to me."
I looked at the cop . Then at Alessio. At the tubes . At the blood . At the name he just gave me like a weapon.
" I'm his wife," I said . Clear . Cold . " And if you try to separate us , he'll bleed out . And I'll let him . Because he's mine . Law or no law . "
The cop took a step back .
Alessio smiled. Real . Bloody . Ruined .
" That's my girl," he whispered. " Now kiss me , principessa. Let him see what happens to men who question what's mine . "
I leaned down ,and pressed my mouth to his . Blood to blood .