Chapter 35 – Rae
Everything was warm. Soft. Safe. I drifted on a pillowy cloud, muscles liquified, soul content. The soft rush of…something lulled me.
My eyes snapped open.
That something was Nico breathing softly beside me.
Or perhaps the better description was around me.
One thick, tree trunk-esque thigh was slung over mine.
My head was on his chest. The arm under me wrapped possessively around my body, while the other cradled my shoulder so that his hand splayed on the back of my head.
I was stuck.
And while the window was still dark around the blinds, I knew we’d slept for a while.
How the hell am I going to get out of here?
Carefully. Quickly!
But I moved like molasses in January. Sleeping Nico was an entirely different creature. Gone was the fierce countenance. His face was smooth, still devilishly handsome, but the softness was intoxicating.
What I wouldn’t give to stay right here, to study the ink on his body.
It almost matched my own, like we were two marked creatures that finally found one another.
The cross design on his ribs was damn near identical to the one worked into the sleeve on my arm.
We both even had the famous SPQR, although his was tangled in an eagle’s talon, whereas mine was in a cartoony little green, white, and red heart.
Once free of his hold, I paused for a heartbeat to stare, drinking him in. A girl could get used to this. And when I stepped off the bed, and my muscles protested from their earlier use, I smiled. Yeah, spending the night with him was definitely something I wanted to get used to.
A shiver skated over my bare skin.
I plucked the dress from the ground but remembered it was torn.
Sneaking around was going to be hard enough, and the last thing I wanted was to be caught wearing that.
I padded across the carpet to the closet, grabbed the first shirt I felt in the dark, slid it over my head, and then took off like a shot.
I didn’t risk looking back at the slumbering giant.
If I did, my body and heart might rebel against my head.
And I had to leave.
It was a safer path to take the front stairs and avoid the staff quarters.
As I crept through the foyer, the grandfather clock in the parlor chimed four times.
Relief swept through me. No one would be in the kitchen for another hour!
I was safe. Also, that meant Nico and I had slept for a solid three, maybe four hours together.
That was really nice.
Full of plans to repeat last night’s adventure, I hurried to escape to my uncle’s cottage. I rushed around the corner of the hall and bumped into something.
That something screamed.
“Hush, hush, hush!” I hissed, swallowing my own start of surprise. Warm wetness soaked the front of my shirt.
Arabella sagged against my hold. “Mama mia! You scared the shit out of me, Rae!”
Did she just…swear? “What are you doing?”
Arabella turned the light from her phone on. “I was hungry!”
Milk dripped on the floor, and the sandwich she fisted was squished. Letting out an exasperated growl, I bent and swiped at part of the puddle on the hardwood floor with the bunched-up dress I held.
“Your shirt—” She stopped.
I looked up at her. There was no good way to explain any of this. The harsh light blinding my eyes made her invisible. It was impossible to see whatever was written on her face.
“You can turn that off now,” I snapped.
Arabella bent, unwrapped the paper towel from her sandwich, set the food on top of her glass, and mopped up the rest of the spill.
I didn’t miss the fact that fisted tight in her left hand was one of her dark glass tincture jars. I needed to figure out what the hell was in those, and why she carried them around.
“I’m not allowed to eat these fatty meats, but Franky leaves them for me, and I eat them most nights after the Grimaldis are in bed,” she explained. “I was too tired from the party to get it, though. I woke up and remembered.”
I remained squatted in front of her, looking at her in an entirely new light. “They monitor what you eat?”
She snorted. “You think I’m a bird like the signora?”
That woman picked at her dinner, never finishing anything except the veggies and salads.
“I had no idea,” I breathed. “Do you want me to sneak you a burger sometime?”
Arabella groaned. “That sounds heavenly.”
I was usually a better judge of character. She wasn’t the spoilt princess I first thought. I couldn’t believe I misjudged this woman, how off I really was about her. I hadn’t wanted to believe her kindness was genuine, but the small interactions had added up, and I finally saw her for what she was.
Someone stuck in a nightmare.
Arabella reached out, and I went still. She smiled softly as she brushed her fingers over my cheek.
“You still have your party glitter on, Rae.”
The shimmery highlighter? That wasn’t the worst of it. The smokey makeup around my eyes was probably smeared to look like a raccoon.
“Did you have fun?” Arabella tipped her head to the side and took a bite of her sandwich. “You caused quite the fuss, you know,” she said around the bite of cold-cuts and bread.
I nodded. “So much fun.”
“Good. I’m glad.” She plucked her milk off the ground, balancing it in the hand that held the phone. “Better hurry and get your face cleaned. I don’t want anyone finding out it was you,” she added.
“Thanks.” I rose.
“Don’t mention it. You’re good for us, Rae.” With that, the younger woman hurried away.
I resolved right then and there to help her. I didn’t know what that would look like, but there had to be something I could do. Even if it was just being her friend and bringing her treats.
By the time I reached the servants’ cottage, the kitchen light was on. Biting my lip, I peered through the window. Whoever was up wouldn’t stay there for long, giving me just enough time to sneak past them and make it to my room.
Franky stood at the stove, rubbing his hands as he listened to the news on the transistor radio. Uncle Theo was always the first one up, but I didn’t see him. Just when I was pretty sure I would have to climb into my bedroom through the window—which I knew was locked—a step sounded behind me.
I rounded and came face to face with my uncle.
Who was holding the carving knife between his fingers.
“Care to explain why this was in the grass?” He arched a brow. “Or why Signor Dominico’s car was still running, stalled on the lawn?”
I winced. I’d been busted plenty of times before. But having a single parent, who was a junkie, meant that I usually could blow off whatever was happening. This? This felt different.
My chest knotted with real, deep feelings. “There was a break-in,” I began. “Nico came over, but we couldn’t find the guys. And then he took me back to—to, um—”
“Yes, I can induce the rest from you wearing his clothing,” my uncle muttered, sounding like something salty coated his tastebuds.
I shrugged. “I don’t know what else to say.”
My uncle puffed up his chest with a deep inhale. “I do.”
Great, here it comes.
“Be careful with Nico. He doesn’t have the luxury of choice like you do.”
I opened my mouth then shut it. That wasn’t what I was expecting him to say.
“Tell him his car is in the staff lot, keys on the dash,” my uncle added as he walked to the front door of the cottage.
“Wait, hold up!” I stepped in front of him. “Are you saying I shouldn’t be with him?”
Theo let out a short laugh. “On the contrary, I think you two are meant for one another. But other people won’t think that.”
“So what? I should end it because they don’t approve?
” He wasn’t acting at all like a totalitarian authority figure.
His reasonable approach and calm demeanor were throwing me off.
My mom would have screamed at me. Any number of her boyfriends would have gotten physical and threatened me enough to make me disappear for a few days.
But Theo just stood there, calmly watching me.
“No, I’m simply asking you to be careful,” he explained. “It won’t be long. The people who won’t approve of you two—their journey on this earth is nearing its end. When it does, yours can finally start.”
With that, Theo went into the house. He said something to the cook, who muttered and blustered. Together they went into the garage. That was my cue to run upstairs, grab my things, and lock myself in the safety of the hallway bathroom.