Page 141 of Savage Don

Pacing back towards the bedroom, I peak in through the half open door. A soft pale strip of moonlight washes over Francesca’s huddled mass, and there’s nothing I want more than to join her.

“Maybe you’re right,” I sigh. “Send me a message when the recordings are decrypted. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Sleep tight, big guy.”

We end our call, and I practically throw my phone to the ground before slipping back into bed with my sleeping beauty.

I’ll worry about the recordings later. Right now, all that matters is her.

I just want to sleep next to her, hold her, reassure her.

Tomorrow, I’ll have to leave to deal with my Italian problem once and for all.

But until then, I want to pretend like we’ll never be apart again. Francesca needs to feel me, even in her sleep.

No matter how angry she gets, I need to make it clear.

I’m not letting her go anywhere.

31

Francesca

The first time I wake up, Ray’s heavy arm is wrapped over my shoulder and his hard body is pressed up against my back.

The warmth of his weight is cozier than any blanket, and after the exhaustion of a restless night, I don’t have the strength to pull away from him.

My body sighs and my eyelids flutter closed again.

The second time I wake up, though, Ray isn’t in bed next to me. I don’t even have to roll over to know it. I can feel the emptiness he’s left behind. There is no hulking body sinking into the mattress, no intoxicating warmth drifting into my nostrils, wrapping around my heart, slipping between my legs.

He lulled me to sleep last night like I was a toy. The whole time, I was desperately angry and upset. But that didn’t mean I could do anything about it.

Those fingers of his worked their magic on me, and so did his words. Because of him, I let myself believe that everything that had been said up until we get onto bed was part of the same twisted nightmare, and that I only needed a good night’s sleep, and then I could wake up in a world that had changed for the better.

Well, I didn’t get that good night’s sleep. My corrupted mind was invaded by countless nightmares. Nightmares that I can’t remember, but that I can still feel.

Still, the only reason I got any sleep at all was because Ray was there. Each time I woke up, I could feel the heavy glow of the man who was sleeping next to me.

Even after a fight, I sensed his protective aura. No matter how mad I might have been at him, it was still impossible not to sink beneath his muscular shield and drift off.

Despite all the madness he’s brought into my life, he’s also the only person who’s ever truly made me feel safe and protected.

Fuck.

Almost every little bit of me wants to give in to Ray. He’s taught me so much, and he’s showed me even more. We’ve hardly left this room together more than a handful of times, but it still somehow feels like he’s shown me the world, and my future, all through his passion and desire.

He wants us to be great. He wants us to be one.

But how do I know this is real?

How do I know he’s real?

What Sonia said last night definitely triggered something in me. And Ray’s vague explanation didn’t do much to assuage my worries.

Even as he ignored his ringing phone and rocked me to sleep with his magic fingers, even as he made me feel like I was the only thing that mattered in this entire world, I couldn’t get rid of the thought that I wasn’t his first. Not like he was my first.

How many girls had he given this spiel to before? What’s happened to them? Do they all turn out like Sonia? Bitter and cruel and ruthless?