Page 74 of The Celtic Resolution
“You were sick yesterday as well.”
“Because the sandwich you brought was foul.”
He doesn’t look like he believes me and he stands suddenly while holding out his hand. “Come on.”
“What?”
“Come on. I’m taking you out of here for fresh air.”
My cheek distantly throbs from the strike he gave me the last time I left this room so I hesitate. I’m hot and grumpy and not in the mood to be struck again. “I’m fine.”
“No, you’re not. Being cooped up in here for two months or so isn’t good and you’re clearly coming down with something. So come on, I’m taking you to get some fresh air.”
He meant it.
After taking his hand, Bruno leads me out of my cell and up multiple flights of winding stairs that grow more and more exhausting by the flight. Just as I’m about to complain, he pushes open a heavy door and the most glorious cold breeze washes gently over my overheated face and body. I close my eyes in bliss and allow him to guide me until a railing brushes against my bare forearm. Opening my eyes, my stomach suddenly lurches.
We’re higher up than I anticipated and a great ocean spreads out away from me, twinkling like a thousand diamonds under the clear moon above. Directly beneath us are sharp, twistedrocks that crash against one another and above me is a gigantic light slowly rotating.
“We’re in a lighthouse?” I gaze upward with my mouth open while Bruno’s hand tightens briefly around mine.
“Yeah. Across the bay there—” He points behind me to where the large docks are visible in the distance. “My father has me monitoring the shipments that pass through there as well as some of the smaller boats that don’t require a full docking. So when I insisted on staying with you and he wanted you on one of his properties, he put you here.”
“Wow. What a dick.” Gripping the railing, I close my eyes and breathe deeply as sea air floods my lungs and eases the constant tension that’s burned in my chest since I first arrived. “The water smells amazing though, holy shit.”
Each deep breath feels like my first ever breath and the cool air is wonderful against my burning skin. It’s something so small and yet when I look at Bruno, gratefulness swells in my heart. “Thank you.”
He nods but his brows remain knitted. “I still think I should get you a doctor or something. You don’t look right.”
“Like your father would allow that,” I scoff. But his words make me concerned.
Is it my baby? Being cooped up in here hasn’t given me access to any of the regular medications my doctor wanted me to take, nor have I been in a stress-free environment. Keeping it a secret this long has only worked because my pregnancy is cryptic but I have no idea how much longer that will last. Eventually, there’ll be no hiding that I’m pregnant.
“Come on,” Bruno says, guiding me back inside. “Let’s get you some real food.”
Instead of escorting me back to my cell, Bruno leads me to where he’s been staying on the second floor of the lighthouse. A far cry from the underground basement I’ve been kept in.
It’s a modest room with a small bookshelf in one corner next to an old chair, a simple dining table set up and a small kitchen. Up two steps at the far end is a door leading to a bedroom and an adjacent door leading to a bathroom. Rather cozy, all things considered.
“This is where you’ve been living?”
“Yup.” Bruno leads me toward the chair but just as I get there, weakness steals down my legs and I nearly sink to the floor. “Shit, hold on.” Without a word, Bruno scoops me up into his arms and carries me the rest of the way.
Being in his arms after so long sends my heart racing for a completely different reason. Since learning how his sister’s life remains in Domenico’s crosshairs, it’s been much easier to face him. I understand his predicament and with this long to think over everything, I even understand his desperation for acceptance from his father. I think I would do anything to have my own father recognize me once more.
“Easy,” Bruno says as he settles me on the couch.
“I’m fine,” I insist, although without the coolness of the wind to keep it at bay, the heat is returning.
“I know. You stay there.” Bruno vanishes and returns with a bottle of water, then he heads into the bathroom, where the sound of rushing water follows. Over the course of the next hour, he runs me a bath and cooks a delicious pasta dish while I soak all my aching, tired muscles in the old tub. Eating is just as relaxing as it’s the first warm, cooked meal that I’ve had since I arrived. Everything else definitely came out of a packet or a tin.
“Saoirse,” Bruno says after our plates are cleared away. “I hope you know how sorry I am that I caused this.”
“I understand.”
“I know how much you hate and I can never— wait, what?” His mouth falls open slightly and he stares at me with that puppy-dog look I remember from our first night together.
“I said I understand.”
