Page 50 of Under His Watch

“Something is happening between us,” I admitted, “but it’s complicated. She’s naïve and innocent. Inexperienced. And I’ve made it my mission to see to her safety and happiness.”

“But what if her happiness includes this ‘something’ that’s brewing between you?”

I sighed, wishing I knew how to better word it. “She wants to be close to me. I can tell. But it might not be the same as what I feel for her.”

“Because I care about you, a lot, Romeo. And I don’t want to consider being separated from you.”

I’d replayed Tessa’s words in my mind over and over on repeat. It sounded promising, but her affection was likely gratitude, not true interest.

“She cares,” Danicia guessed, nodding like she was an expert at reading people.

“She told me that she cares about me. But she might have said that only for the sake of expressing a form of hero worship.”

Danicia smirked at me.

“If we’d met in any other circumstances, I don’t know if she’d feel the same.”

The tall woman smiled smugly, like she knew something I didn’t. “Then maybe it’s time to ask. And find out.”

I rolled my eyes, turning away to walk out of the gym. I’d had enough of this introspective bullshit. It was hard enough to be in my head all the time, obsessing about Tess and feeling confused on how to make things smoother between us.

I didn’t need to borrow Danicia for any shrink time. Besides, I hadn’t revealed to her another and bigger point that I was hung up on.

I can’t fail her.And I almost had. If Tessa was making progress of adjusting to life after the trauma of being raped, I wasn’t any better off. I constantly took hits of stress and guilt when I thought back to how I’d almost lost her. Seeing those two Giovanni men trying to break in and get to her arrested my heart, and I hated the mere thought of failing her. Of not looking out for her.

I'd failed my Mafia brothers, and I couldn’t let it become a pattern and allow her to be wounded or killed as well.

Explaining any of that would be tricky, and until I knew how to approach the woman, I was determined to watch her from afar and let her come to me.

And finally, she did. When I walked past the hot tub later that night, grabbing my phone from where I’d left it at the rooftop terrace area where I’d sat and had a call with my father, she cleared her throat.

Seated—alone—in the swirling hot bubbles of the tub, she set her sights on me.

Fuck.Just the vision of her warm and wet… My self-imposed restraint would slip fast.

“Want to join me?”

Yes. Fuck yes. Yes a thousand times.“Should I?”

She nodded. “Please?”

I clenched my jaw, holding in a growl of desire. As I gazed into her dark-blue eyes and saw the longing in them, I lost control.

I’d been waiting for her to approach me, and with this invitation to soak with her, she had. I couldn’t be choosy. I had to take the opportunities that arose, no matter how unlikely having a sincere conversation would be with us both lacking clothes and sharing the same space in water.

“Yeah. I’ll join you.”Fuck me.Just saying it felt like a risk. I only had sweats on over my swim trunks, having soaked earlier. I took them off and stepped in, feeling her gaze on me but refusing to make eye contact. If she was looking at me with smoldering desire that she didn’t know how to act on, I’d be a goner. And I had to at least explain my hesitations before being stupid and giving in.

Sinking into the hot water felt good, but I was careful not to lower my arm all the way into the water. The bandages were minimal now, but I knew better than to expose the stitched area to the heated water.

“Romeo?”

Fuck, I love it when you say my name like that.Soft, slightly nervous, but braving it anyway.

“Yeah?” I opened my eyes and looked at her, noticing the signs of apprehension on her sweet face. Blonde strands stuck to her skin, and as she brushed them back, she licked her upper lip, teasing me without being aware.

“Are you…”

I tensed, waiting on the edge of my seat.

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