47. Zola

Chapter 47

Zola

I t was almost lunch when I awakened. I had dreamed of Sarah and Matthew. A confused dream that I couldn’t remember properly, but I felt guilty for their deaths. Not so much for Sarah, especially if she had betrayed me, but definitely for Matthew. He had been tough, quiet, and kept to himself and I had felt reasonably safe in his presence. But then a single bullet shattered that all to pieces.

I wouldn’t even be alive if not for Dante. I turned to look at him. A few weeks ago, I would have been hard-pressed to find anything favorable about him, but now his strength had become a pillar for me to lean on.

I watched him.

There was a regality about him that couldn’t be denied. I couldn’t help but also note his vulnerability. And if I looked even deeper, a strange innocence and purity. Like the lotus plant that grows in filth and yet its flowers rise above the mud, spotless and unsoiled.

When he was awake the force of his presence prevented me from seeing him as anything other than intimidating, but now, in his unguarded state, I could see traces of the man/boy I first met years ago. The deep urge to touch him arose but I didn’t want to wake him.

A crazy thought occurred to me and I froze with fear. I don’t know why I never thought of it before, because it was the most obvious thought. No one else had a bigger target painted on their back than Dante did.

Without thought my hand went to the strand of hair falling over his eyes.

His eyelashes fluttered in awareness and I could almost feel the change in his body.

“Sorry,” I whispered. “Go back to sleep, don’t mind me.”

We looked at each other.

“Are you alright?” he asked. “How’s your neck?”

“It’s completely better.”

“Then what causing the crease between your brows?” he asked.

“I was frowning?”

“Mmmm.”

I got to the point. “Ugo wants to kill you. How can you remain so calm?”

He looked straight into my eyes and his voice was cool and detached.

“A man can die many times or he can die once. I decided long ago to die only once. I learned to make peace with the idea that in the blink of an eye, I could lose everything. Even my life. So, what’s there to be scared of?”

I looked at him and could feel my heart rate picking up, a very clear indication I hadn’t made peace with losing him whatsoever.