Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 83881 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83881 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
We needed a good storm to clear the air.
And I wasn’t sure I was just talking about the weather.
Chapter Thirteen
BRIANNA
I woke up, startled. It took me a moment to realize a storm was raging outside and my patio door had opened and was banging in the wind. I jumped out of bed and grabbed the door handle, shutting and locking it. I peered outside. It was raining hard, the thunder rolling low and angry, the lightning illuminating the sky in jagged shards of electricity.
My heart was beating fast from the scare, and I turned back to the bed and frowned. Roomba wasn’t on the mattress. Storms didn’t usually bother her, but perhaps the sound of the door hitting the frame had startled her. I turned on the light, peering under the bed, but she wasn’t there. I looked everywhere in the room but couldn’t find her. She always slept beside me at night. I sat down, racking my brain, suddenly worried. Had she been beside me when I went to bed? My mind had been so consumed with Dante, the way he made me feel, and what was happening between us, I hadn’t noticed.
I had a horrible thought. What if she was still outside? Had Dante shut the patio doors, not knowing she wasn’t in the house?
I jumped off the bed and headed downstairs, the marble cold under my feet. I checked the living area and the kitchen, looking everywhere, but she never appeared. I opened the patio doors, peering into the darkness and rain, and called for Roomba, raising my voice to be heard over the rain. If she was outside, she would be wet and cold. Probably scared. Perhaps too scared to come to the sound of my voice.
I went outside, immediately soaked by the pelting rain. I called loudly and searched, panicked. What if she had run? Would she be lost? Were there any wild animals here? I had never asked Dante that. I felt the tears fill my eyes, and I called again, my imagination working overtime.
I was so upset I didn’t watch where I was going. One minute, I was running, looking for Roomba, the next, I was airborne, grasping at nothing and hitting the surface of the pool. I went under, frozen in shock. I kicked my way up, splashing and gasping for air, going under once again. I had landed in the deep end of the pool this time. I couldn’t see where the surface was, the dark engulfing me. I inhaled some water, terrified. I tried to fight my way up again, but my arms and legs felt like dead weights. I began to panic, thrashing harder when there was a disruption of the water around me, and strong arms grabbed hold of me, pulling me up fast.
“Jesus Christ!” Dante yelled. “What the hell?”
I gasped for air, clinging to him. I sobbed in relief, and he held me tighter. “I’ve got you, Brianna. You’re safe.”
“Dante,” I cried, unable to think clearly.
He cradled me in his arms, carrying us to the steps. The rain beat down on us, the storm making me shiver.
“What the hell are you doing out here?” he asked as he climbed from the water.
“Roomba,” I gasped as the air hit us. “I can’t find her. I think she’s lost.”
“Your damn cat is asleep on my bed. Where she is every night,” he snarled. “No matter how often I put her out of the room, she comes back.”
Relief filled me, even as disbelief set in. “On your bed? But she’s with me when I go to sleep and wake up!”
“Well, she visits as soon as you’re out.”
“If you hate it so much, then shut your door,” I said snidely.
He held me closer. “I leave it open for you, Little Bee.”
He set me on my feet inside the villa, shutting and locking the doors behind me. I was shaking from the cold, the shock, and the entire situation. Dante cursed again, scooping me into his arms and racing for the stairs.
“Water,” I protested. “We’re getting everything wet.”
“Fuck that,” he snapped.
He headed to his room, setting me on the floor again. I was shaking so hard, my legs barely held me up. He muttered something, going to the bathroom, snapping on a light, and returning with a towel. He stripped off my shorts and shirt, and I was too tired to protest as he briskly ran the towel over my body, his actions bringing some much-needed warmth to my skin. He towel-dried my hair, frowning as my body continued to quake. He wrapped his arm around my waist, lifting me as if I weighed nothing, and deposited me on his bed, throwing the covers over me. I shook, my teeth chattering, watching with wide eyes as he yanked off his sleep pants, dried off his chest, and crawled into bed with me.