Sold to the Capo-Chapter 71: JUST A TOUCH

ADRIANA’S POV

Time seemed to have slowed down as I stared at him, my nails digging into the couch where I sat.

The gun was still pressed to his head, and the look in his eyes was almost pleading, but I couldn’t tell what for.

Was he pleading that I forgive him? Or was he pleading that I give the go-ahead to help him stop the guilt he felt?

Either way, the scene gave me goosebumps and my mind worked fast. "Vincenzo..."

"Yes?" He asked, his eyes calm, his finger steady against the trigger.

I stood up against my will and almost staggered, the action making Vincenzo lower his hand and quickly stand to his feet to rush to me, his arm around my waist to steady me as he made me sit down.

"Calm down, don’t stand up again, you have an injury, don’t hurt yourself" He frowned to himself, his gaze fixed on my legs that he gently checked in his hands, his eyes narrowing on the gunshot wound.

I watched him silently as he knelt at my feet, gently handling my legs in his hand, his fingers lightly tracing along my leg almost subconsciously and I immediately made a decision. This isn’t who I was.

"Don’t do it," I suddenly blurted out, and he paused to look at me.

The gun was lying on the ground at a distance where he could easily grab it and he stole a quick glance at it before looking at me, his hands forgetting the exploration of my leg.

"Does that me..." He broke off, knowing that I would understand what he was trying to say even if he hadn’t completed this statement.

"Yeah, I forgive what you did then... it’s not worth it now; you’ve done enough for me, and while it may not erase the past, I’m tired of the grudges; it’s not who I am," I muttered, retracting my leg from his hands.

A part of me hoped that he would say something immediately but he took his time, still kneeling on the floor, his eyes on me. "Thank you" he finally whispered.

I couldn’t believe what I had just done. I cleared my hatred for the man in a few minutes when I had held it close to my heart all this while.

Now that I had thought about all this now, it seemed like I had only succeeded in hurting myself all those years that I had been keeping grudges, I was always thinking about it and fuming about it but now, it seemed those simple words I had just uttered had lifted a weight off my chest and I felt much lighter.

Maybe I couldn’t forgive him completely now but I knew that this was just the start.

His phone lit again and this time, he grimaced and grabbed it off the table, unlocking it while sending me an apologetic glance.

"Did you put your phone on silent?" I wondered aloud as I reached forward to grab my orange again.

"Maybe," He muttered, frowning at the message he had received; he typed out something furiously and hit the send button before pocketing his phone.

"Who’s that?"

"Valentina. She said they’ve gotten our guy who planned an assassination on Master LaRosa, and I’m supposed to go there right away, but.." He smiled and shrugged.

"Oh c’mon, you have to go" I urged, realizing that was the message he had ignored when he was called earlier.

Did he really choose to stay with me instead of doing something as important as that?

"Nope. I have gotten it under control, though; just take care of yourself and let me take care of you too, okay?" He was waiting for a reply which came in the form of a simple nod.

He stood up and nodded to my plate. "C’mon, you have to eat your food; I’ll get you the painkillers," He announced, stretching his limbs, a light pop sounding as he groaned.

My food was still warm enough to be eaten, but I had a feeling that it would still disgust me, so I immediately protested. "No, I think I’ll just grab more fruits from the kitchen" I suggested, taking a bite out of the orange.

He shook his head at me, a small smile on his face. "No, eat your food, Adriana. You’ll feel stronger after that and then you’ll take your drugs"

The atmosphere between us was awkward after what had just transpired between us, but none of us brought it up; we were just trying to remain as casual as possible and not draw any attention to the current issue on the ground.

"When you’re done taking your painkiller, you’ll take a bath and then you go to bed"

"What about your guy that you said tㅡ..." I stuttered.

He simply gave a mock bow of appreciation for his expertise. "Like I said, I have it all under control," He said with a small smile still on his face.

He wasn’t in any way acting like someone who had been on his knees a few minutes ago asking me to give him the go-ahead to end his life as punishment.

"Okay then, I’ll eat now" I muttered, picking up my spoon which I used to quickly eat a few spoons of my food and unlike how I had envisaged it, it tasted like real food, not the ashes that I had expected, no voices to torment me, the guilt had reduced to a minimal level also already.

As I was eating, he walked up the stairs again to grab my drugs which I had left on the bedside table before he came back downstairs just as I pushed my plates away.

"I’m not hungry anymore; this will have to do," I muttered, looking up at him.

Vincenzo looked at my plate and gave a smile. "Okay, here are your drugs; when you’re done taking that, come take a shower upstairs, okay?" His voice was soft and smooth as he spoke to me, the sound of his voice like a soothing blanket over my troubled soul.

"Okay," I said, grabbing my glass of water while I popped two pills from the drugs the doctor provided, and I swallowed it, not letting it linger for any moment longer than necessary.

Just as expected, he was right there, checking and watching me as I took the pills, a concentrated look on his face. "Good girl" he muttered as soon as I swallowed the pills, his eyes filled with concern and what seemed to be uncertainty.

The look on his face was like he couldn’t believe what was happening. Well neither can I.

"Thanks" I gulped down more water before setting the glass to the table. "I’ll take this to the kitchen" I suggested, struggling to rise to my feet, but the pain from my foot made me fall back to the couch.

"Ouch..." I whimpered, looking down at the leg.

"Don’t worry, it’ll get better with the drugs as the days go by" He casually assured me once more.

Nodding, he helped me to my feet and up the stairs and never for once did stop for a breather as he practically pulled me along gently.

"C’mon, go take a shower so I can tuck you in bed" He nodded to the bathroom door when we got to the room.

"Okay, thanks" I nodded.

I wanted to get out of these clothes so bad but Vincenzo was still standing at the door, an unreadable look on his face.

"What?" I had to ask as I stumbled to the bed, a sigh escaping my lips as I stared at him. "Why are you looking at me?", I repeated again when he kept staring at me with that look on his face.

He cleared his throat, suddenly looking sheepish. "I just can’t believe that you spared my life today" He muttered, his tone actually surprised.

I shrugged like it was nothing much, but I knew that it was much; he had expected me to kill him; the old me would have done that, but I just kept knowing more about him, and I wanted to know even more, which is why I had spared his life.

Wait, that came out wrong. I shouldn’t have thought like that because that wasn’t just the reason I forgave him; I did so because I wanted to, and he deserved it. He was a different person from what the world painted for everyone to see and I had begun to admire that about him.

"Don’t worry about me; I just did what was right. I should go shower." I looked at him, waiting for him to leave the room, but he didn’t. He just kept staring at me.

"What?" I inquired.

My heart rate spiked up when he suddenly waltzed into the room fully, heading straight for me.

My eyes were wide with anticipation as he came to stand in front of me, his huge frame towering slightly over my sitting figure on the bed.

"What?" I asked again, but this time, my voice was just slightly above a whisper.

"Can I...hold you? Just touch you; I want to know you’re real, you’re not just a fleeting memory; I want to know the second chance you gave me is real," He pleaded, crouching down to my level. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

"Where do you wanna touch mㅡ" I never even got to finish the sentence because he cut in, his eyes blazing.

"Everywhere, I need to feel you... only if you’ll let me. One minute. I swear, I just... I was scared out of my wits that day and I thought I had lost you, I just want to be sure" He begged, his eyes filled with remorse and a silent plea.

He was giving me a choice and I had two answers to what he said but I knew what to pick.

I knew what I wanted.