“No… please, don’t hurt her…”
The soft cries pulled me out of a dream and into the very real spectacle of the woman lying beside me suffering from a nightmare.Her head turned on the pillow, sobs shaking her until the mattress vibrated.No wonder I woke up.This was why I insisted on sharing a bed for when this happened.
“Nova.”I was gentle, careful, placing a hand on her shoulder and giving her a small shake.“Nova, you’re having a nightmare.”
She had been here for the better part of a week now, after the night she fled here driven by a very apologetic Max.
“I don’t know what happened up there,” Max told me at the time, running a hand over his flat top, shrugging cluelessly.“She said she was going up to have dinner with him, and she came down crying maybe five minutes later.”
Anything could have happened in five minutes.Once I’d gotten her to calm down, she had explained some of the conversation between her and Riccardo.No big surprise.He knew exactly what was going on and tried to defend himself.I could have told her that would happen.
Since then, she had slept in my bed every night.Was it easy giving her space, refusing to take advantage of her when she was vulnerable?Hell no.To put it mildly, my fist was getting a hell of a workout lately.My dick didn’t care that she was in no position for sex when she spent half the time walking through her days like a zombie, unable to sleep even with me by her side.
Why?That was what I couldn’t wrap my head around as I woke her up, watching her eyes pop open, listening to the soft gasp of realizing she wasn’t in that parking lot, watching those women.There had to be something she wasn’t telling me, something that had reached down into her soul.
“Oh.I’m sorry.”She ran a hand over her face while I settled on my side, watching her, wondering how long it would take before she stopped running away.Hadn’t I proven yet that she could trust me?What more did I have to do?
“Same dream?”I asked after a few moments.There were still loose tendrils clinging to the sides of her face, stuck there thanks to the tears she shed before falling asleep.She has been crying a lot lately too.Was this all because she couldn’t stand the thought of her dad profiting off the misery of others?Was there more to it?
“The past few nights, yes.”Moonlight streamed in through the half-closed blinds, painting her chest silver.The sight of it rising and falling, covered by a thin tank top, was entrancing.My fist and dick were going to need another meetingsoon.
Concern over these dreams and how they affected her life during daylight hours left me unable to hold my tongue anymore.“This might come out shitty, but I have to ask.Have you considered seeing a therapist?Clearly, this is too much for you to handle on your own.And that’s not a judgment.It’s a damn fact.”
She stared at the ceiling, worry lines between her brows, her full mouth tightening in a frown.“I know you’re trying to help, but this is way too much to unpack with a stranger.”
Her response came as no surprise.“You know, you don’t have to shelter your dad.”
My statement had the intended effect.Her head snapped around, her eyes finding mine.For the first time in days, there was life in them.Fire.I didn’t understand until that moment I had missed her, working from home to stay close by while the shell of Nova Mancini wandered the house like a ghost.
“And you know you don’t have to tell me what to do,” she whispered fiercely.“Besides, that’s not everything?—”
Got her.Her cheeks darkened in the moonlight before she turned her face toward the ceiling again.I watched, saddened by the tear that leaked from the corner of her eye, glistening like a diamond as it rolled down the side of her face and soaked into her hair.
“Dammit.You’re very good at getting me to say more than I want to.”
“We don’t all need an advanced degree from a top university,” I teased.
“You are never going to let that go.”
“Probably not,” I agreed.
Her soft snort was a good sign.“It’s not only about the girls.He said something to me when I was there before I left.”
Now, we were getting somewhere.It took a conscious effort not to sound overly curious when I asked, “Your father?”
With the tiniest shake of her head, she whispered, “Nico.Nico said something.I haven’t been able to get it out of my head.”
“Tell me.”For fuck’s sake—I’d waited days for this.When would she learn it was useless, pretending she could handle all of this on her own?
Even if I had the tiniest bit of grudging admiration for her.
Drawing a deep breath, she explained, “When I was ten, my mom ran off on us.”
Not what I expected to hear, but I held my tongue.
Her chest rose and fell in a sigh.“I never did know why.I’ve never spoken to her again.That’s how Dad and I became so close.We were all we had, the two of us.It was like he worked twice as hard because he had to be both parents.”Even now, there was a note of fondness in her words.Warmth.Love.
The fact that Riccardo’s wife had run off on him wasn’t a secret around town.I remembered hearing about it now when I was around eighteen and fresh out of high school.Dad had laughed about it, shaking his head.“She must’ve found out what a piece of shit he really is.I can’t say I blame her.”Considering my mother left him for the same reason, I never did understand why he thought it was so funny.I would’ve guessed he could at least commiserate, show a little empathy.
