"Yes, darling, I’m here."
She opened her eyes and tried to focus. The blurred image of a face wavered before her and she worked hard to clear it. "Frank?" She reached for him and he took her hand. She couldn’t remember where she was or what she’d been doing. His features sharpened as her vision cleared.
"How are you feeling?" he asked, concern etching lines across his face.
"I don’t know. Kind of hazy and…" She realized there was a dull throbbing in her left shoulder. "I hurt." She tried to push herself up on the pillows, but the movement cost her too much, in pain and disorientation. Scanning the room, she realized she was in a hospital.
Suddenly, memory fragments poured into her like ice filling a cup. Her pulse accelerated. Frank had come to her house. Then Hal. Frank had pulled a gun. She squeezed her eyelids tight. What had happened after that? Damn this fog around her brain.
"Angel?"
She opened her eyes and stared at him. "What are you doing here?" she asked, her voice a tight whisper. There was no one around. She was totally helpless. "When you came to my house I… You pulled a gun and… Oh, God, Frank, are you going to…?" Tears trickled from her eyes.
He dragged her hand to his lips, brushing them lightly across her knuckles. To her astonishment, she could feel him shaking. "No, Angel." His finger followed the trail of a tear down her face with heart-wrenching tenderness. "I could never hurt you. Never." His voice was a fierce whisper.
"Then why… the way you acted."
He intertwined his fingers with hers. "I couldn’t tell you why I’d come. Dennis suspected from the beginning that the informant was either Hal or… or…" He dropped his gaze to their joined hands.
A sick feeling wiggled its way through her stomach. "Or me?"
He exhaled sharply. "Yeah. When we found out Hal was on his way to see you, I went in wired, hoping he’d confess."
"So that whole thing was a trap for Hal?"
"Not just that, Angel. I hoped he’d let the story spill, then you’d be cleared, but more I was afraid… Afraid he’d kill you. Afraid I’d lose you again."
She ignored his last few words — couldn’t really comprehend them — because one thought spiked through her brain, fragmenting coherent thought. "You believed I was the informant?" She stared at him, pain lancing her heart. "You believed it all along, didn’t you? Just as Hal intended. That’s why you married me. That’s why you…" Her hands flew to cover her mouth and she glanced away. "Oh, God. That’s why you pretended to love me." It had all been an act. That much was clear. Of course, he’d pretended to love her. What better way to gain her trust?
"Angel, I wasn’t pretending."
She glanced back at him. "No?"
"How can you not know how I feel?" The agonized words tore softly from his throat.
Angel gazed into his eyes and saw love clearly scrawled across the canvas of his soul. Love. He really loves me. New tears pooled in her eyes before starting a slow descent down her cheeks. At her tears, Frank’s expression turned grim. Slowly, he started to pull away from her, but she grabbed his arm and pulled him back, her hand firmly planted on his forearm.
"Frank…" She hesitated, still feeling a little too vulnerable to be the first to speak the words.
Frank saw the moisture swell in her eyes and felt his heart breaking. Those tears told him clearly how she felt. She wouldn’t forgive him. His betrayal had severed their last chance at love. He wanted to pull her into his arms to comfort her… but he couldn’t. Right now, it hurt too much knowing he was losing her.
"I’m sorry, Angel. I had to come and explain… and ask you to forgive me. I know it’s asking a lot… after what I did. I… I don’t know of any way to make it up to you. I can only hope that you find it in your heart to understand."
Angel felt Frank withdrawing, pulling into himself. Why was he putting barriers between them?
"Frank, I knew…" She bit her lip, remembering her doubts. "I mean, deep down inside, I didn’t believe you’d gone over to the mob. And…" She licked her dry lips, knowing she had to tell him what was in her heart. "And I love you."
"Oh, God, Angel." Gently, he pulled her into his arms, careful of her injured shoulder. "Can you ever forgive me?"
"You had to do what you did. It was part of the assignment."
He nodded, stroking her hair. "I never wanted to hurt you. When you were found snooping in Vendetti’s office, I had to pretend to turn you in to gain their confidence. Blowing your cover was the only way I could ensure your safety. I hoped you’d have faith in me…" His voice trailed off. Her head pressed against his chest and his lips caressed her temple. "And you did," he whispered roughly. "Oh, God, Angel, you don’t know how much that means to me."
She gazed up at him, her eyes still brimming with tears. "Frank, I couldn’t stop loving you. I had to believe in you, in us. It’s all that kept me going."
"Angel." His voice was soft, tender, and so was the pressure of his arms as they tightened around her.
He put a finger under her chin and raised her face to look at him. His mouth slowly descended and captured her lips in a gentle caress. She found it difficult to breathe. The weight of her emotions settled heavily on her chest. He broke the kiss and pulled a handkerchief from his pocket to wipe away her tears, but new ones kept coming.
As he gazed at her, he felt his heart pulsing with overwhelming emotion. He couldn’t believe she was here in his arms, telling him she loved him, after what he’d put her through.
"I hope these are happy tears."
She nodded and spoke in broken sobs. "Yes. I was afraid we’d never be together, but I held onto the dream. Now the dream has come true."
"I love you. I have for such a very long time."
She took the handkerchief from his hand and wiped her eyes, then she let the soft cloth fall as she wrapped her uninjured arm around his neck and pulled his face to hers for another kiss. Her breathing was still laboured, but this time because of growing passion. When their lips parted, he smiled and in that smile she saw all the warmth and love she remembered. It filled her heart, thawing the terrible deep freeze she’d been in for the past month.
He stared down at her, his eyes shimmering with heat. "Angel, we’re still married, you know. That was for our cover, but I… Well, I…"
He pulled her against him, her head tucked against his chest. "Good grief, how do you propose to your own wife?"
Angel’s heart swelled with joy. She grinned and stroked her fingers through his hair. "That works just fine, Frank."
"So you’ll be my wife for real?"
"Let’s just say that I absolutely refuse to give you a divorce, and as I recall, annulment is out of the question."
His hands cupped her cheeks and he kissed her exuberantly. When he pulled back he stared lovingly into her eyes.
"Angel," he whispered, "I’m sorry about your cover… your life as Angela Tortina. I know how much it meant to you."
She smiled and shook her head. "Don’t be, Frank. For a long time, all I had in my life was a desire to get back at the mob for what they did to my parents." She glanced down. "And to me."
He stroked her cheek tenderly.
"But that was because I didn’t have anything, or anyone, else in my life." She cupped his cheek and whispered, "But now I have you. It’s time to replace that empty life with one full of love and trust. Only you can give me that."
He took her hand and pressed her palm to his lips. "I love you, Angel. And…" He patted his pants pockets, then, obviously not finding what he wanted, reached behind him to pull his jacket across his lap. She watched as he tugged a blue velvet box out of his pocket and snapped it open. She reached out and touched the tiny angel charm threaded on a delicate gold chain that lay cushioned inside.
"It’s beautiful, Frank."
He lifted the necklace and fastened it around her neck.
"I know your name is no longer Angel, but no matter what you’re called, you’ll always be the sweet Ang
el I first fell in love with."
THE END
Undercover Blues Page 19