Page 74 of Between Us

“I didn't mean to wake you,” he said softly, climbing in and reaching for her. Her heart was beating wildly inside her chest, so he held her close, petting her hair with tender strokes.

She let out a deep breath, pressing her face to his naked chest. After some time, she began to relax again.

Roman gazed up at the ceiling, his fingers feeling the soft texture of her long strands. The words spilled from his mouth almost involuntarily. “I love you, Alessa. I just... I need you to know it.”

She was quiet for a while—so quiet Roman thought she’d fallen asleep again.

“I love you, too,” she said, lifting her head to look at him. In the dimmed light, he could see the sadness on her face as she unfolded a memory in her head. “They, uh... they wanted to... before they killed me.”

The impact of her confession slammed into him so hard he could barely breathe. Logically, he knew what men like him were capable of. But hearing her say it, and knowing what could have happened to her if he didn’t get there on time, was almost too much.

He remained silent, unable to speak without sounding like a feral animal.

“I thought you should know,” she added, looking down with a small frown. She sounded almost ashamed for something that had been out of her control, and that made him even angrier.

“I'll never let anything like that happen to you again,” Roman said, his voice rough with emotion. “I swear to you.”

When she met his eyes again, hers were glistening with unshed tears. “I believe you,” she spoke softly. “I trust you.”

It was the most perplexing thing he'd heard in his entire life, and it took his brain a moment to make sense of it. After everything, she still had faith in him. It was an unexpected gift, and he was going honor it, no matter what it took.

28

Heavy rain pelted the windows, keeping a slow yet persistent rhythm. A flash of light forked the darkening sky, followed by the deep rumble of thunder in the distance.

Alessandra lay on the bed, her eyes pinned on a green branch flapping in the wind. Up and down, up and down, the branch flailed its small leaves, and Alessandra's heart mirrored the movement. It had been moments since she'd jolted awake from a nap, her palms sweaty and her chest tight with tension.

She didn't know what had awakened her—not a dream, of that she was certain. For whatever reason, it seemed that her body had once again decided to jerk her out of the peaceful slumber she had fallen into. It was the third time happening in the span of a few days.

Headlights sneaking into the bedroom and the soft purr of an engine set her into motion. Getting out of bed, she quickly padded over to the windows. She watched as Roman climbed out of his car and hurriedinside the house with something in his hand. It wasn't even six o’clock yet, and he was home.Again.

Alessandra ran an absent hand through her long strands and sighed. She appreciated his thoughtfulness and the way he took care of her, but at the same time, she didn't want him to worry so much all the time. She knew he was neglecting his duties in the organization to spend more time with her, and while she was glad to have him home so early every day, she didn't want to cause unnecessary tension between him and his father.

Things had been strained in the past week or so. Roman was trying to hide it from her, but she couldn't miss the rigidity lining his broad shoulders and the fire in his eyes whenever he finished a call with Vitaly. As much as he wanted to conceal the real reason for their conflict, she already knew that reason was her.

The sound of voices drifted up the stairs and through the open bedroom door as Roman dismissed the man stationed in the kitchen. Her husband had insisted that her new bodyguard was to stay inside the house, at least until things calmed down within the Bratva.

She removed her pajamas and changed into shorts and a tank top as she waited for Roman to make an appearance. A couple of minutes later, she heard the sound of his footsteps as he came up and entered the bedroom. Her gaze was immediately drawn to the large bouquet of pink roses in his hand.

She could count on one hand the number of times she’d received flowers—all of them for her birthday, and all of them from her brother. Men in the Mafia were simply not known for romantic gestures. Her father always bought her some type of jewelry—none of which she ever wore—and Luca had done the same in the yearsthey had been engaged.

So she stared. And then stared some more, until Roman finally spoke first.

“I wasn’t sure what you liked,” he said, kissing her cheek. “I took my chances with these.”

Alessandra accepted the roses with a smile, bending her head to smell them. “I don’t have favorites, but I love them. Thank you.”

He kissed her again, this time on the lips, before stroking her left cheek with his knuckles. “Your skin is healing.”

“Yeah, the bruises are almost gone.”

Something dark flashed in his eyes at her words, but he quickly pushed down whatever feeling of violence ignited inside of him. Pressing his lips to her forehead, he pulled her to him.

She let out a quiet laugh, moving the flowers out of the way so she could hug him back.

“I saw Nika made lasagna again. Did you eat?”

Though it was her favorite comfort food, she hadn't touched it.

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