Sinbound (18+) | ✓

51 | when you come home

51 | when you come home

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"How long are you going to be gone?" Monique questions. She's seated in between my legs as I hold her hand in mine.

Pressing a kiss to her ring finger — one I plan to adorn even further when this entire Santiago mess is over — I pull her back closer to my chest.

It had turned out that Santiago fled the country. He'd been spotted in Norway — and while his disappearance might be temporary, I'd rather catch him when I can. With that, I have to leave Monique in Spain to do what I have to do.

I don't want to but after telling her what was going on, she insisted that I go without her because she's still healing.

I sigh, "I don't know."

"Oh, yeah," She snickers, sarcastically, "I forgot there's no time table to kill someone."

I roll my eyes playfully and press a kiss to the back of her head, "Some of the men are going to stay here to keep you safe. I trust them to do just that."

"Hmm." She moves my hand to rest on her wounded stomach. She exhales when my cool fingers lightly drag against the stitches, "Then I trust them too."

Monique has been home for three days and she tells me the pain is gradually subsiding but mentally, that's a different story. She often wakes up in the middle of the night, breathing heavily and crying as she relives that night. All I can do is pull her into my arms and hold her tightly until she soaks my shirt with her tears and goes back to sleep.

"I can't believe it's escalated like this..." She trails off, picking at a loose thread in the thigh of her onesie, "We haven't lived in peace since I got here and that's all because of one person and his obsession with you and power and taking something he didn't work for."

She leans back to look at me, "I love you and I don't know what I'm going to do if you get killed so please don't get killed. Couples have multiple matching things but I'd rather ours not be matching gun shot wounds."

Her words are grave but I can't help the smile that grows on my face. Removing a small piece of lint from her cheek, I kiss her, "I think that'd be cute."

I can tell she's trying not to laugh because she purses her lips, "You're so annoying, Matteo."

"Am I?" I ask, jokingly.

While the moment is serious, I've made it my mission to make her smile as much as she can while I'm with her.

If anything is to happen, then at least I'll leave knowing I made her smile more than I made her cry.

Her eyes meet mine. I cradle her cheek gently.

"I love you, mi amor." I tell her, "Thank you for coming into my life when you did —"

As I was about to go off on a tangent, she shakes her head and cuts me off with a kiss, "Tell me when you come home."

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Standing in the jet hangar, my arms wrapped around the woman I love, I'm bogged down by the fact that I don't want to let her go.

Not now, not ever.

I have half a mind to pick her up and throw her on that plane with me but I know she'll be safer out of harm's way. She'll be safer without me.

"Call me when you get there." She whispers into my ear. With my arms wrapped around her waist and my back hunched for her to have her arms around my neck, I bury my face further into the crook of her neck, inhaling her scent of coconut and shea butter.

I peck her skin and hum, "You smell so good. That's reason to stay, right?"

This makes her laugh, "I would like to say yes but I don't know how your dad would feel about that."

I know she's referring to my father who is staring at us from a distance, making me chuckle and kiss her neck again.

"Fuck all of that, you're the only person that matters to me."

She draws back to meet my eyes. Her hands cup my cheeks before pulling me down to kiss her. Our tongues clash, the taste of strawberry lip gloss invading my mouth. It's only moments before I can taste salty tears coming from Monique.

Pulling back, I cradle her cheeks and wipe her tears away, willing myself not to cry too.

"Don't cry, princesa." I try to calm her down with my words only for her to shake her head and bite her bottom lip, avoiding my gaze, "Look at me, Monique."

She blinks for a moment before looking up and meeting my eyes, "You need to come back to me, Matteo. I mean it — I need to see you in front of me, I need to hold you and see and feel that you're breathing."

"I will come back and when I do, I promise I won't leave you again." I swear to her, watching as she nods at the reassurance.

"I don't want to say goodbye." She exhales shakily.

Wrapping my arms around her neck and pulling her into a warm embrace, I kiss the side of her head, "Then don't. Say I'll see you later."

just so y'all know - this is VERY FAR FROM THE DIRECTION I ORIGINALLY WANTED THE STORY TO GO 💀💀💀

but we just rolling w the punches rn cause this wild

hmmmm, should i give y'all a happy and calm ending orrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr chaotic ending?

*cue evil laugh* mwahahahahahahhaahahah