RUN FROM ME

CHAPTER NINE_ LINES THAT START TO SOFTEN

CHAPTER NINE — LINES THAT START TO SOFTEN

SERA

I noticed something I didn’t expect.

Alessandro didn’t always speak like he was ordering the world anymore.

Sometimes… he spoke like he was just talking.

Not often.

But enough that I started noticing the difference.

Like earlier, when he found me in the hallway and told me the garden lights would stay on longer tonight because I liked reading outside.

He didn’t make a big deal about it.

He just said it.

Then walked away.

And I stood there for a long time after that.

Because it shouldn’t have meant anything.

But it did.

That night, I couldn’t sleep again.

So I walked downstairs quietly.

The estate was dim, most lights off.

I found him in the main sitting room alone.

No guards.

No phone.

Just silence.

He looked up when I entered but didn’t speak immediately.

“You’re awake late again,” I said softly.

“You’re doing the same.”

I nodded slightly.

Then hesitated.

And for some reason I didn’t understand, I sat down on the opposite couch instead of leaving.

That surprised both of us.

Silence followed.

Not heavy this time.

Just… there.

Comfortable in a strange way.

“You don’t sleep much,” I said quietly.

“I don’t need much.”

“That’s not the same thing.”

He looked at me for a moment.

Then—

“I sleep better when you’re not afraid of me.”

That made my chest tighten unexpectedly.

I looked away quickly.

“That’s not my fault,” I murmured.

“No,” he said softly. “It isn’t.”

And somehow… that was the first time I believed he wasn’t blaming me for anything.

The room stayed quiet after that.

Outside, the wind brushed softly against the windows while shadows moved gently across the walls from the fireplace.

I looked down at my hands.

“You confuse me,” I admitted before thinking properly.

The words slipped out too easily.

Alessandro stayed still across from me.

“How?”

I hesitated.

Because I didn’t fully know myself.

“Sometimes you make me feel trapped,” I said quietly. “And then sometimes…”

I stopped.

His gaze stayed on me carefully.

“Sometimes what?”

I swallowed softly.

“Sometimes you don’t.”

Something shifted in his expression then.

Small.

Almost impossible to notice.

But it was there.

And for some reason, that made my chest feel too tight again.