Page 64 of Something Borrowed

“I’ll get it ready for you now.” He says, standing up. He kisses the top of my head before he leaves. My heart melts for him.

I really love him.

I wish I was certain about how this all ends.

After soaking in a hot bubble bath, sprinkled with dried rose petals and lavender and ylang ylang oil I am so relaxed that I can’t think. Which is amazing.

Rufino pulls the bed covers back so that I can climb underneath them and snuggle up against him. He wraps his arm around my waist and pulls me close, holding me.

“Rest, my love. Tomorrow is a new day, and we’ll figure it all out - I promise. No matter what happens it’s you and me together.”

I close my eyes and the world sinks away from me.

My father is holding a gun to Rufino’s head, and I am blinded with rage and fear.

“Let him go.” I scream.

“You should have made a different choice.” My father snarls at me.

Behind him a dark shadow is rising like thick black smoke. It creeps forward, dragging the room into darkness.

“Rufino.” I scream, fighting to get to him. But the shadow becomes thick and oil and I can’t breathe. I can’t speak anymore. It pours into my throat and I’m lying on the ground choking for air.

My father’s laughter comes from somewhere in the black ooze that’s drowning me.

“You should have made a different choice.” He says again and a gunshot fires, snapping through the air and making my body jolt with fright.

“Red.” His name is stuck in my throat, tight and locked away.

I crawl along the ground and my hands are sticky. When I look down at them, I see that blood has covered them. Blood that rises up around me.

“Red.”

But I know he’s gone. Somewhere in the back of my mind I know he’s not in the world anymore.

I wake with a fright, bolting up in bed I fight against the blankets that are tangled around my legs. I kick and scream and gasp for air.

Something grabs me and I turn to fight that too - but its Rufino.

He grabs my wrists and pins me down to stop me from lashing out.

“It was a nightmare, Verity. It’s me, it’s ok.” He says.

I blink against the dark room and take several deep breaths.

“You were gone.” I shudder at the memory.

“I’m right here.”

“But you were gone.” I whimper, choking back the tears.

He pulls the blankets lose from around me and readjusts them, then holds me, rocking me until I drift off to sleep again.

I don’t have another nightmare, but the memory of the first one won’t leave me alone. Even when I wake up the next morning, my chest is tight with fear.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Rufino

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