Protettore.

Chapter 10.

Enzo's POV

The nightmares finally stopped around three in the morning. She would wake up screaming and it got more and more difficult to snap her out of it the more tired her body got. I hoped she had exhausted herself enough to put herself into a dreamless sleep. It had been a rough night for all of us. Even Tank would wake up whining when Nora's nightmares got the best of her.

I brushed her hair out of her face and combed through her long tendrils with my fingers. She sighed contentedly into my touch and I pulled her closer to my side. I'm getting much too attached to you my flower, but I'm in too deep to back out now.

Despite the terrible sleep I'd gotten, last night had to be one of the best I'd ever had. She leaned on me like I was exactly what she needed. I was able to calm her down and get her back to sleep. Being there to support her was the best occupation I could have taken.

When she awoke, she looked around frantically and her hands grasped at my shirt. When her eyes found mine, she settled. "You stayed."

"I promised you I would." I pressed my lips to her hairline.

She loosened her grip on my shirt and brought up her tiny fists to rub the sleep out of her eyes. "No, no baby girl. You're going to hurt your eyes." She just groaned and pressed her face into my chest. My hand automatically came up to cup the back of her head.

"Do you have to go to work today?" I could feel the tension in her body and she was holding on to my shirt like a lifeline. She doesn't want to be alone.

"No sweetheart. I'm staying home today. I think I've earned an easy day at home with my girl." Her body relaxed after I told her this.

"I'm your girl?" She became extremely interested in the stitch work on the hem of my shirt and refused to look at me. I had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from chucking at her. I didn't want to make her feel more self-conscious when I spend so much time trying to build up her self-esteem.

"You're my everything." I told her simply. She stayed quiet but she was running her hand absentmindedly along the plains of the abdomen, so I knew I hadn't scared her. I figured I would spare her having to think of the correct thing to say and get out of bed. "After breakfast, I have to do some work in my office downstairs, but after that, I think we should have a movie day. What do you think?"

"I think that could be a lot of fun." She smiled as she sat up, but that smile quickly turned into a grimace of pain as she felt the tug of her stitched.

"Let's get some breakfast in you so you can take some acetaminophen." I offered her a hand to help her out of bed.

"Can't I just take some now?" she whined slightly, and I had to keep myself from smiling.

"I'm sorry my darling, but if you take it on an empty stomach, it'll just give you a tummy ache." I explained.

She only pouted in response.

I entered my walk-in and pulled out a comfortable shirt for her to wear today that wouldn't press against her stitches. I'll be damned if she was going to spend the day in another man's shirt, even if it was only Fiero.

"Now, take this and go get washed up and dressed and we'll meet back down in the kitchen." When she stepped out into the hallway, she looked both ways as if she were crossing the street, but I knew she was scanning for intruders. "Come on sweetheart. I'll walk you to your room."

She took my hand without my prompting and we entered her room together with Tank leading the way. I took a look around as I had last night and gave her the okay. I went back to my room and showered quickly, dressing in sweats and a cotton shirt. I went downstairs and started prepping things for omelets, and she was down the stairs shortly after me. She didn't look around this time, trusting that I wouldn't let her walk into danger. She let Tank out into the yard through the back door.