AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Days?” I shook my head which caused my migraine to throb harder. “I’m not staying here for days.” I closed my eyes and breathed through the discomfort.
“I’m going to make sure you’re doing okay,” he said over me, as if I hadn’t just told him I’m not doing what he said.
But on the heels of that… it was strange seeing this concern coming from Matteo. I’d only ever heard rumors about his brutality. And I’d experienced that when I offered myself up like a sacrificial lamb, and then found that out firsthand when he killed my father and brother.
“I don’t need any medication.” But as soon as those words left my mouth, my head pounded, creeping behind my skull and down the back of my neck, like claws digging into my brain.
I gritted my teeth and winced, hating that Matteo saw the reaction. I could see this tightening in his eyes, the way his muscles twitched in his jaw as he clamped it shut.
“I’m not a doctor,” he said in a low, irritated voice as if I were wasting his time. “But I know you have to get on top of the pain or it’s anever-ending cycle.” He reached into the bedside drawer and pulled out a small, brown, unlabeled pill bottle.
He popped the cap and poured two pills in his hand before getting me a fresh glass of water and then held it out.
When I didn’t move to take them from him, he leaned in close and forced me to press back against the headboard. I could smell him… his cologne, which was a dark and wild, uninhibited scent.
That had the pain in my head feeling more noticeable as something else came over me.
“Christ, Liliana.” Matteo’s voice was cold and hard with no hint of softness laced within it.
We held each other's gazes for a long moment, my heart beating like a drum.
“Take the fucking medication or I’ll force it down your throat.”
I wasn’t a fool. I knew when to fight and when I needed to survive.
And right now, I needed to do the latter.
“I could have hurt you, drugged you, and had my way with you ten times over by now if that was my goal.”
I knew he had a point. A valid one.
Without breaking eye contact, I took the pills he offered. He didn’t smile, didn’t act arrogantly because he got his way. He just kept that steely composure as I drank the water and swallowed the medication.
And when I was about to pull the glass away, only half consuming the liquid, he placed his finger under the glass, tipped it back, and forced me to finish all of it.
I stared into his dark, bottomless eyes as I drank every drop. And when I finished, he refilled it in the bathroom before setting it back on my bedside table.
Then he just took a seat across from me, not speaking, barely even breathing.
I didn’t know how long he sat there, but it was long enough that whatever medication I’d taken took my pain away, the edges of the world fading.
But it was the image ofhimleaning forward and bracing his forearms on his thighs, a slow smirk forming on his mouth, and the faint sound of him saying, “Jesus, you’re pretty,” that was the last thing I saw and heard as I let the heavy hands of sleep pull me in.
Chapter6
Liliana
Iwas groggy when I woke up, my mind feeling hazy, as if I were staring into a TV filled with static.
That electrical snow buzzing loudly in my head and the feeling of being discombobulated so pronounced it made me nauseous.
I got my bearings, and the first thing I realized was that I was alone in the room. My eyes were still closed, but I could sense a stillness, one that could only be linked to Matteo being gone.
His presence was like a shot of electricity through my cortex stealing all rational thoughts.
I sat up slowly, my head swimming slightly before everything became clear.
Calmer.
