Page 45 of His to Destroy

He barely spoke when I helped him bathe earlier. He just clung to me, eyes wide, quiet. And when dinner was brought up, he didn’t pick at it like he normally does. He didn’t push the broccoli aside. He didn’t stall or complain.

He just… ate.

Fast. Ravenous.

Like he hadn’t had anything decent all day.

Like he wasn’t sure when he’d be allowed to eat again.

That broke me more than anything.

I stroke a hand over his soft curls and lean down to kiss his temple. I don't want to leave. I want to curl up beside him and hold him all night long.

But before I can slip under the covers, a quiet voice cuts through the silence behind me.

“You planning to sleep in here now?”

I glance over my shoulder, even though I know who it is.

Gaspare stands in the doorway, arms folded loosely across his chest. The hallway light casts a soft amber outline around his bare torso. He looks tired. Bruised. But the softness in his eyes cuts straight through me.

“I just wanted to be near him.”

“I figured.”

I look back at Luca, my voice barely above a whisper. “He ate like he hadn’t been fed all day. He didn’t even argue about the peas. Just wolfed everything down in minutes.”

Gaspare moves closer, slowly, like he’s approaching something fragile.

“He was scared. Kids don’t know how to say it out loud, so it comes out like that. In silence. In appetite.”

I nod, throat tight.

“I didn’t want to wake him,” I murmur. “But I didn’t want to be away from him either.”

Gaspare steps up behind me, places a hand lightly on my shoulder. “You need to sleep too.”

“I can sleep here.”

“You won’t. Not well. Not like this.”

I don’t respond.

So he crouches beside me.

“He’s safe, Almeria. He’s home. And he needs you to be okay, too.”

His voice is gentle but firm.

It’s enough to get through to me.

With a sigh, I rise from the bed, pressing one last kiss to Luca’s forehead.

Gaspare threads his fingers through mine and leads me quietly out of the room.

Back in my room, I hesitate for only a second before crawling under the sheets. Gaspare slides in beside me, surprising me. But I’m grateful he doesn’t leave.

The silence wraps around us, heavy and full of everything we’re not saying.

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