In Your Arms.

Chapter three.

Leon’s POV:

From the day I awoke from my coma, which is now three weeks ago today, I have hardly got a wink of sleep. There are several nightmares that have repeated themselves every night since then, I wonder if they are all scenes from that fateful night. I do not believe in sleeping pills, I rather think they’ll weaken me, slow me down so I do not dare to use them. Tonight’s nightmare is different-Eduardo is in it and he is hovering over my unconscious self muttering strings of words with men beside him, whom I do not recognize. I jump out of sleep at that, maybe the medications I am on are messing with my head, because it felt all too real. The curtains are swaying a bit too violently tonight almost like the window was left ajar, but it is not like Alessia to leave it open and so reaching for the gun under my bed, I walk towards it with the help of my crutches and force the window closed. I scan the room, and go over to her side. She is sound asleep in the bed beside mine. I let my fingers caress the dark curls of her hair down to her cheeks. I may not remember why I feel so drawn to her yet, but it doesn’t need rocket science to know that she is special, she didn’t pull away from me that night, but she hasn’t looked me in the eye since then either. I had no problem with sharing a bed, but she insisted on having one brought in for her. I don’t mind really, as long as she stays close to me. I know there is more to her than she lets on but maybe I am not ready to hear what she has to say, the truth. I walk towards the bathroom to wash my face and clear my head, at the sink, I notice cufflinks that I surely know isn’t mine and that is when a strong whiff hits me, one I know all too familiarly remember, I bite hard and clench my fists as my realization sinks in, Eduardo was here. By sunrise, I’m already up. Frankly, I never went back to sleep, I am in and out of my head with impatience as I wait for reports from my men on anything they can find about him. Alessia, she is awake, I notice the dark circles around her eyes, but a glint of mischief and spite dancing in them. I feel stronger, it is almost like she understands and I do not doubt that I can trust her. I do not care about how long it takes, I will seek out that wretch and tear him apart with my own hands if it isn’t the last thing I do.

Alessia’s POV:

I held my breath when I once again heard him walk into the room, I listened for the voices of the men he stood with, but they spoke in hushed tones, in a foreign language that I didn’t understand. This wasn’t the first time Eduardo has done this. Creep into our home while Leon was asleep, I first believed it was because he wanted clarity on his brother’s death but when he kept coming nights after the accident I got the sick feeling that there was more to these inappropriate visits. I once plotted to murder him one of the nights he came but I failed miserably, he stabbed me over again where I was shot, explaining why my stitches still open. I knew better than to let him know that I was in pain, so I cried silently, biting down hard on my pillow. The men leave and soon it is just Eduardo hovering over him, where my bed is positioned is the darker part of our room and so I can see them, but I am hidden. I don’t learn because while under my covers, I reach for my gun under my pillow, removing the safety to try and aim at him but he’s gone, my hands are now trembling with anticipation and that is when I feel hands cover my mouth from behind, my heart drops. His breath reeks of gin as he says to me “I am tired of counting the days until he will come looking for me, tell him I am waiting, doesn’t he know yet about the pregnancy you lost that night?” I feel the rage down to my bones and in a flash before I may fight back, he is gone. I attempt to follow after him. I assume he came through the window where the wind was blowing violently, but Leon jumped out of sleep moments after. I am pained that I cannot tell him anything, not like this, there has to be a plan. I cover myself up and pretend to sleep as I have all the nights before. I keep an ear on his movements and hear everything including him by my bedside as his hands gently caress my face. My mind drifts back to our kiss that almost happened three weeks ago, I willingly welcomed the tension strongly felt between us. It's then that I knew that we hadn't completely lost our marriage. Noting that he did not go back to bed, I am comforted because neither did I. Night turns into day, I pretend to awake from a deep slumber as I often have, something tells me that he sees right through my pretense still and maybe politely does not ask questions. I have always felt drawn to Leon but meeting his eyes this morning it is clear that we thirst for the same thing, revenge. Eduardo brought both our families to ruins, which wasn’t enough. Leon has always blamed himself for the murders, doesn’t know that I am Cortez's last born daughter who also lost her family in the fire and now his brother is the reason I lost my pregnancy that I had no chance of sharing with him. I do not mind the alternatives Leon turns to bring destruction upon his enemy, I know that I did not leave his side ten years ago and I am not about to now.