A Touch of Sin |18+|

42

ALANI

The next morning, I woke up feeling well rested.

Valerio made sure that happened.

My appreciation for him was immeasurable. With everything that happened, my health—mental and physical seemed to Valerio's main concern.

Although I had told him countless times that I was okay, Valerio didn't care. He had driven us to his house on the opposite side of the city, carried me all the way to his bed and tucked me in with a kiss on my forehead.

I could tell that he was stressed about the Alonzo situation but it didn't show in his behaviour towards me. Which was a fucking relief.

I opened my eyes, my hand immediately stretching across the bed in search for Valerio. I scowled sleepily when I found the space empty, void of his warm body.

I lifted my head to scour the room. Empty. I dropped my head back onto the pillow, waiting a few seconds before pushing myself up.

When I looked at the clock, it was earlier than I expected. Around eight am. Usually, Valerio was still in bed that time. He had started to sleep in with me, or he would lie awake to just hold me while I slept.

That morning, I was all alone.

I yawned, covering my mouth with my hand as I turned my legs to settle my feet on the carpet flooring. When I was fully up, I paused—straining my ears for any noise. It was consolation that I desperately needed when I heard his voice coming from a room in his house, presumably his office.

I released a breath, heading over to the en-suite to freshen up while listening to the muffled conversation he was having.

When I was done, Valerio was no longer talking.

I left the room, walking down the hall and to his office. I knocked once, letting Valerio know I was entering before pushing the ajar door open. Valerio was sitting at his desk, a laptop placed down in front of him.

He had his elbows propped up on the desk, his hand clasped together and a thoughtful look on his face. When I entered, he lifted his head and the stoic gaze disappeared, his entire mood visibly lighting up.

He smiled, gesturing with two fingers for me to approach him. "Good morning, beautiful. You're up early."

"Good morning," I murmured, striding towards him with a small smile. "How long have you been awake?"

"A few hours," he said, watching me walk around him. I bent down, giving him a hug from behind and I laid a peck on the side of his neck. I took a deep breath in, letting out a sigh of content as his mere presence warmed up my insides.

I couldn't stay away from him and waking up without him felt wrong.

Valerio turned his head, his lips meeting my own in a soft and firm kiss. His hand grasped my chin when I tried pulling away, holding me there because it felt as if he needed it a bit longer. I did too. When our lips departed, we both grinning.

I gave him one last kiss before going back to hugging him. "Why?"

Valerio looked back at his laptop, his screen a bunch of binary codes that I couldn't understand. "I was restless and didn't want to wake you, amore."

"What's wrong?" I asked, but the question didn't seem appropriate. Besides our relationship, everything was wrong. Alonzo was missing. Santino was a suspect. Even his parents couldn't be trusted.

Nothing was going how Valerio wanted it to be going and I hated that he had to be the centre of other peoples fucked up mess. It never failed to anger me but for my own sake—I tried not to let it get to me...too much.