Chapter 59. Failed Escape

“And because I sleep better when I hold you,” he added. Calla’s breath hitched.

For a second, she thought she’d imagined it, that her mind was playing tricks on her. But no, he’d said it.

Her lips parted, yet no words came out. Her chest tightened, her heart thudding painfully against her ribs. She lay still, afraid that even the smallest movement might break the fragile air between them.

He… sleeps better when he holds her?

The thought sent a strange warmth through her stomach, one she didn’t know how to handle. This was Rico, the man who barked orders, who never said more than he needed to. He wasn’t supposed to say things like that.

Her eyes stared into nothing, blinking slowly. She didn’t dare turn around to look at him.

Instead, she just lay there stunned, confused, and fighting the pull of something dangerously soft inside her.

She was so deeply lost in her thoughts that she fell asleep again.

When she woke up, those hands weren’