CHAPTER 174: CHAPTER 174 THINK ABOUT THAT

*LORENZO*

I pressed a soft kiss in her hair and shifted her onto the bed, then covered her with the duvet. Her plait snakes across the pillow, and for a moment I considered untying it and freeing her hair, but she mumbled something unintelligible, and I don’t want to wake her. I wondered once more if I haunted her dreams like she haunted mine.

“Sleep, beautiful,” I whispered, and switched off the light before I stepped onto the landing. I closed her door, anxious that the glare shouldn’t wake her, then turn out the hall light and strode into my bedroom, leaving my door ajar.

Just in case she needed me...

I pressed the electronic closer for the blinds, which descend over the French windows facing the sea. In the walk-in wardrobe, I stripped off my clothes and found a pair of pajamas that Dante had brought over from the main house and slipped on the bottoms.

At my apartment, I rarely wore pajamas, but here, with all the staff present, I had no choice. Leaving my clothes in a heap on the floor, I headed into the bedroom and climbed into bed. I turned off the bedside lamp and stared into the inky darkness.

Tomorrow would be a better day. Tomorrow I’ll have the lovely Danica to myself. I lay in bed questioning my judgment. I had taken her away from all that she knew. She was destitute, friendless, and totally alone. Well, she had me, and I had to behave myself.

“You’re going soft in your old age,” I muttered, and fall into an exhausted, dreamless sleep.

It was the shrill sound of her scream that woke me.

It took me a couple of seconds to orient myself, and she screamed again.

Fuck.

Danica.

I flew out of bed as adrenaline fueled my body, bringing all my senses to attention.

Punching the lights on in the hall, I burst into her room. Danica was sitting up in her bed. Her head whipped around at the sound and light from the hallway, her eyes wild with terror.

She opened her mouth to scream again.

“Danica, it’s me, Lorenzo.”

Her words rush out in a torrent: “I was...I couldn’t...so dark.”

What?

I sat down beside her on the bed, and she launched herself at me, nearly knocking me over and wrapping her arms around my neck.

“Hey,” I soothed her once I had regained my balance, and I held her, stroking her hair.

“Oh God...I couldn’t...I don’t like...” She murmured as she clung to me, trembling like a newborn foal.

“Calm down and talk to me.”

“The dark,” she whispered against my neck. “I hate the dark. It is so dark here.”

Oh, thank fuck.

I’d imagined all manner of horrors and was prepared to fight any number of monsters, but I relaxed at her words. Keeping one arm around her, I leaned over and switched on the bedside light.

“That better?” I asked but she didn’t let go. “It’s okay. It’s okay. I’ve got you,” I repeated several times.

After a few minutes, her trembling ceased and her body relaxed. She sat back, and her eyes met mine.

“I am sorry,” she whispered.

“Hush. Don’t worry. I’m here.”

She glanced down at my chest, and a slow flush pinked her cheeks.

“Yeah, I normally sleep naked. Count yourself lucky I put these on,” I quipped.

Her mouth softened. “I know,” she said, and peeked up at me through her long lashes.

“You know?”

“Yes. You sleep naked.”

“You’ve seen me?”

“Yes.” Her smile was unexpected.

“Well, I’m not sure how I feel about that.” I was grateful that she was back from whatever terror she was facing in the dark, but she continued to glance around the room anxiously.

“I am sorry. I did not mean to wake you,” she said. “I was frightened.”

“Was it a nightmare?”

She nodded. “And when I open my eyes and it is...it was so dark...” She shivered. “I didn’t know if I was dreaming or awake.”

“I think that would make anyone scream. It’s not like the mainland here. There’s no light pollution. The dark here is...dark.”

“Yes. Like the...”She stopped and cringed in revulsion.

“Like?” I whispered. The teasing amusement in her eyes had vanished, replaced by a harrowed, strained expression. Turning her face away, she stared down at her lap.

I rubbed her back when I was met with her silence. “Tell me,” I prompted.

“Like that night...I fought with him...” Her words are barely audible.

“Fuck,” I said under my breath, and folded her in my arms again. She seemed a little more reluctant to hug me this time, probably because I was shirtless but I was not going to leave her to face these gruesome nightmares on her own. In one swift movement, I stood, cradling her against my chest.

She gasped in surprise.

“I think you should sleep with me.” And without waiting for a response, I carried her into my room, flick on the lights, and deposit her on the floor beside the walk-in wardrobe.

Inside I found the pajama shirt and hand it to her. I pointed to the en suite. “You can go and change in there. You can’t be comfortable sleeping in your jeans and that sweater.” I grimaced at her green woolen pullover.

She blinked rapidly.

Shit. Perhaps I had really overstepped the mark.

And suddenly I felt a little self-conscious.

“Unless of course you’d rather sleep alone.”

“I have never slept with a man,” she whispered.

Oh.

“I won’t touch you. This is just sleep...so the next time you scream, I’ll be right there.”

Of course, I’d like to make her scream in a different way.

Danica hesitated, looking from me to the bed, and her lips pursed with what I thought we resolve. “I want to sleep here, with you,” she whispered and she marched into the en suite, not shutting the door until she had found the light switch.

Feeling relieved, I stared at the closed bathroom door.

She had never slept with a man?

I was not going to think about that right now. It was after three in the morning, and I was tired.