“I could stay,” I suggest, the words escaping my lips before I can stop them.
Shut up, Liliana.
“What?”
“For you to fall asleep again. It’s my fault you woke up. Maybe I could help you sleep again?”
He looks hesitant, cautious.
“Don’t worry, I won’t slit your throat while you sleep. I even left Eliana in my bedroom.”
Confusion flares for a second before it clears with realization.
“You named my knife, Eliana?” he questions incredulously.
“It’s mine now,” I remind him.
“Why’d you have to name it Eliana?” he grumbles.
“Just go to sleep, Rafaelle,” I say with a smile.
He rolls his eyes but there’s no denying the humor in his expression. Eventually he falls onto his back and I shift close to the edge of the bed, giving him some room. He turns on his side, watching me for a couple of seconds.
“This could be so much more fun if you were naked,” he starts. “I promise I’ll make it worth your while.”
“Sleep,” I scold.
He sighs, “If I start thrashing again, just wake me up. If I say anything weird, ignore it, okay?”
“Yeah.”
Then I start humming quietly under my breath. It’s one of the lullabies I wrote for Mila. She falls asleep faster whenever I sing it.
There’s so much emotion in his eyes right now, I don’t know where to begin to deconstruct them. I glimpse surprise and gratitude and other things I can’t explain.
The look in his eyes is intense enough that I feel like I could burst into flames the longer I spend in their depths. But he eventually spares me by closing them.
I’m not sure how long I spend there. Against the headboard in Rafaelle Vitale’s bedroom, singing to him as he sleeps. Eventually, his breathing evens out and his body relaxes. I watch his face smooth over and I keep watching as sleep claims him.
About an hour passes before a soft yawn escapes me. It would be so easy to lie on the bed and go to sleep at his side.The bed is comfortable and the heat from his body wafts over, beckoning me.
But I know it would be a mistake.
Falling asleep with the devil at my side is tantamount to giving him my soul. Or even my heart.
So despite how beautiful he looks right now. Or how appealing, I manage to slide out of the bed. My feet are as silent as I can make them as I walk towards the door. I open it gently and close it, exiting the room like I was never there.
As I walk back to my room, I can’t help but think about the name he called out from his nightmares.
Who is Tara? And what was she to him?
I have a feeling she’s the reason he’s the way he is. Tara might be the clue to unlocking all of Rafaelle’s secrets. To finally understanding his jagged edges and the obscurities.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
RAFAELLE
Growing up, there’s not a lot of things that I wanted that I couldn’t have.
