In Damien's Keeping

Chapter 23

My eyes shot open, like an alarm inside me just woke me up. Rubbing my eyes, I sat up and glanced at my surroundings. The room ware barely lit with the sunlight escaping from the barriers of curtains.

Something was wrong, my senses told me.

The other side of the bed empty, making me think where Damien went at this early in the morning. Throwing the blanket to one side, I got out of the bed and went to look for Damien. Where could he be?

He should have woken me up before leaving. This man can be so dense at times...

Quietly, I walked through the living room and kitchen, spotting no one. Obviously, everyone was sleeping at 6:00 in the morning except for Damien. I ran my gaze around and stopped at the door of one room, the room Damien told me to not trespass or be near it.

Biting my lip, I began to walk away but then I thought better of it and turned around. With shaky steps, I walked towards the room. The light escaping from beneath the door told me there was someone inside, unlike other times when the room was dark.

Afraid, I would alarm the person inside if I knocked or made a sound, I slowly turned the knob and found that it was, to my surprise, unlocked. Slowly, I pushed the door open and stepped into the light. Seeing inside the room, I found that the room was barely decorated. A number of shelves lined the wall at the left and on the right there was a beige colored couch and a passage leading to right.

Click!

The door of the room closed and I almost had a mini heart attack when I heard the door shut. Surely, if anyone was in this room they must had heard it too. What if wasn't Damien who was here? They would know that I was here and if they harm me or Damien, what would I do?

Holding my breath, I peeked through the edge of the wall. A hand shot out from the passage and in a sudden blur, I found myself pushed against the wall by Damien.

"Aaaaa!"

Pressing my hand against my heavily thumping heart, I panted with relief.

"What are you doing here?" He asked with an angry frown marring his forehead.

Pushing him away, I took a deep breath. "I was just looking for you, how did you know it was me?"

He scoffed and said, "Only you could be so noisy while snooping in."

With my hands on hips, I directed a glare towards him. "Whatever." I said and averted my eyes from his which then landed on his naked, glistening chest. What caught my attention wasn't his taut chest but the scars that marked his chest. A scar ran from his right shoulder blade to the mid of his chest.

Feeling my eyes on him, he turned his back to me, and presented me with a few scars on his back. He started to put his shirt back on when I grabbed his hand and halted the action.

"How?" I asked and looked up at him, to find him avoiding my eyes.

"Some things are better not revealed." He said and I frowned.

"B-but when?" I stared at him with wide eyes.

"Do you want me to shut you up?" He asked and raised an eyebrow.

"What? Why!" I asked in confusion.

He gathered me closer with his hands on my arms, and asked again, "Do you want me to shut you up?"

The hold of his hands told me nothing but the intensity in his eyes did tell everything.

"N-no! Never. You're not going to do that again. Ever!" I said while pushing him away.

Dare he try to kiss me again, I will slap the living daylights out of him...

"What about last night? Huh?" He started to button up his shirt, hiding all those scars from my gaze. Scrunching up my face, I asked, "Last night what? What happened?"

He raised an eyebrow with a smirk slowly making its way on his face. Scared of his intentions, I took a few steps back. My foot lost its balance and so did I, falling backwards on the carpeted floor.

To my utter embarrassment, while I was lying unceremoniously on the floor, he stood laughing at me. A blush covered my cheeks and for a moment, I wanted to strangle the life out of him but the smile on his face stopped me from doing so. Muttering profanities on my lack of concentration, I got up and dusted off my clothes.

"I hate you!" I shouted at him and turned to leave the room when he clasped my wrist in his hand and stopped amid stride.

"I hate you too." He said with a mischievous glint in his eye, and made me frown.

"I am glad, now leave my hand." I said and tried to pull my hand out of his.

Instead of pulling me towards him like he did before, he took few steps towards me and stood closer. Staring into his eyes, I could feel something was coming. I had no idea what was coming but his eyes told me he was serious, the type of serious I would run from.

"We talked last night, right?" He asked and I nodded. "And you told me that you can't live without me."

Warily, I nodded.

"Lia, I am going Italy..."

I stared at him like he had uttered something in foreign language.

He was going Italy, leaving this place, leaving me...

"What?"

He closed his eyes for a second, then opened them and took my face in his hands.

"Do you want to come with me?" He asked in a breathless voice.

Never had I ever considered that I will be travelling to Italy. Now, what he was asking wasn't only out of the blue but also shocking.

"Answer me, Lia." He asked gently and bit his lip.

If it wasn't romantic then I didn't know what it was. He was being so sweet unlike the Damien I was used to and my heart was soaring with happiness.

"I will come with you." I answered and a smile lit up his face.

"Great! Our bags are packed." He said and glanced at his wrist watch, "We are departing tonight."

The dreamy expression on my face soon turned into a frown. "What are you talking about?"

"We are leaving tonight." He said and began to walk out, towards the lounge.

Following him, I said, "But I just agreed and you had my bags packed. How?"

"I knew you would. Now go and see if there's anything you want to leave behind." With that said he went outside and soon I heard the car engine's noise.

For a moment, I was rendered numb. Was this the same man who had took my face in his hands and asked me to come to Italy with him?

My mind was jumbled and I was restless. The fact that I was going to Italy was resonating in my ears like a broken record.

Italy... Italy... Italy!

I am going to Italy...

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