AllFreeNovel
Share Us
trying to take us down. What do you say?”
My eyes met his as I considered the offer laid in front of me before taking a breath.
“Why would you do this?”
“I owe you for your loyalty, for you kept my secrets safe and discarded them at a serious personal loss to yourself. Not to mention, I have been worried about your situation ever since I found you with a gun to your head. I can
never forget how it made me feel - knowing what I know, the thought of something happening to you makes me sick, so I want to keep you safe and ensure nothing like that ever happens again.”
The air around us seemed heavier than before.
We stayed quiet for a while before he broke the silence again, this time with a soft, emotion-filled voice.
“Do not worry,ragazza coraggiosa; I will keep your secrets safe too.”
I wish I could tell him my secrets. Here he is, trying to help me, but I’m still lying to him.
The thought makes me nauseous, and all my emotions purge like misdirected rage.
“I can’t be saved,” I remind him. “Not by anyone, not even by you.”
He steps back as if he has been hit, and his eyes search mine desperately for understanding.
“What do you mean? Your collector is dead. Your ex is god knows where. You are safe now.”
I shake my head slowly. “It’s not about them. I can take care of myself, and I don’t need your charity or protection, Felix. I have a plan for the future, and all I am asking from you is a chance to prove myself... alone.”
There was an intensity in my words that betrayed my trust in him - despite all, he had done for me, no matter how much danger we had overcome together - as if it would all be pointless if he didn’t understand me now.
“Do you have anyone else looking for you out there?” he asks.
I shake my head slowly. What can I say? I have to lie.
“Are you worried about your ex? I can handle him... just give me a name.”
Finally, I relent and grimace with my answer. “I am not worried about him,” I say at last.
“If I can help you then-”
I interrupt him again with a loud and urgent tone that cuts into his with the weight of my desperation.
“I’m different!” I exclaim, feeling strangely hypnotized by the emotion my voice has held.
“I know I am different, but I need you to understand that it’s not because of him. I am different from you too. I don’t feel like I belong anywhere...”
My stomach aches, and my voice is raw like the air has been sucked out of the room.
I wait for him to respond.
I don’t know what to expect, but I know that it’s all up to him from now on, and no matter what he says or does, this is the closest I have ever come to telling someone my truth.
Something crashes in my mind when he takes one step towards me, slides his elbow behind my head, and kisses my forehead gently, with a kind of firm warming that feels too good to be real.
His protecting, fierce, possessive tenderness is all reflected in this gesture, and I close my eyes when he pulls away, tripping over everything I need to say to convey myself with the right words he will understand.
“I understand,” he almost whispers, “but I need you to understand that no matter how different you are, you belong here with me,ragazza mia.”
He cups my face between his hands and looks deep into my eyes with his own.
