CHAPTER FIVE

Salvetti cocked his head to one side as he tiptoed silently down the hall. A persistent crick in his neck prevented him from giving his all in his battle with Brian. He laughed at the idea. When Salvetti started pounding the crap out of him, Brian curled up into a ball to defend himself.

He sighed and walked up the stairs to the space between his floor and Lanaya's. The space he had picked out for her was adjacent to his own.

Perhaps he was a pervert for wanting her close, but he knew that if she slept in his bed, he would inevitably mishandle her in her sleep. Or maybe she had a bad dream about him molesting her.

When around Lanaya, Salvetti is always so calm that he can't hurt a fly

He was about to enter his bedroom when he stopped halfway through removing his cufflinks. Lanaya was found seated at the end of the hall on the window seat, gazing out at the garden. Even though it was already 2 AM, she was wide awake. That was not something that usually happened.

Salvetti had read every available material on the subject of post-operative and post-trauma patients before undergoing surgery. They all agreed that the patient would be exhausted for extended periods and that the more time the patient spent sleeping or resting, the more progress the body would make toward recovery.

Already Lanaya had slept till eleven in the morning and ten in the evening. But why was she still conscious when her body clearly wasn't better? Unless, of course, she was going against the directives of her own body.

And that simply couldn't stand.

This is very unusual. According to Lanaya, he was whisperingly close once. Who exactly was she talking to? "It's peculiar, Salvetti, how beautifully these folks treat me. What makes this so odd?"

Hearing her say his name gave him the chills. He almost heard her yell, sigh, gasp, or groan, "Shut up!"

"Since your body isn't accustomed to it." It wasn't her fault if he sounded a little grouchier than normal.

To speak more clearly, He swallowed his saliva. They're not just being kind to fool you, Lanaya.

Salvetti felt the need to clarify. As though he needed to reassure her that she was safe and cared for in this place. Words are meaningless to someone like Lanaya, someone who has endured what Lanaya has.

A sigh escaped her lips as she leaned her head on the window. He yearned to wrap his arms around her and protect her. As he did so, Salvetti shook his head. When it came to this one little girl, he was completely out of his league.

He saw her ghostly face and gloomy eyes in the mirror.

Perhaps he was merely projecting his own thoughts.

On the other hand, maybe he wasn't, and she just had another mental block.

"Lanaya." Prescriptions are being issued.

She gazed up at him with such despair in her eyes that he felt an overwhelming urge to destroy the source of her misery. "Sometimes, I have trouble falling asleep because I can't get my thoughts out of my head. Intense clamoring from the devils."

Before her dark green eyes lit up, Salvetti had no idea why he was telling her this. In doing so, it was assisting her in realizing that she was not alone. She realized she had been wrong to feel so isolated.

But then, he had a plan almost doomed to fail.

Want to stay in and watch N*****x? Her expression soured. It has the potential to reduce the noise level.

"What makes you think I hear voices?" Her inquiry was gentle but clearly motivated by a hunger for information.

Salvetti chimed in, "Because I do too."

When she blinked, he saw a sudden radiance in her eyes that made him want to do anything to preserve it. If she is attractive now, imagine how stunning she will be after she comes out of her shell.

She calmed down, and her expression became serious, "One final question: what's N*****x and chill?"

There was a brief pause while he blinked. Surely she must have known. Didn't she have any friends who could inform her about the cruelty and mistreatment she'd suffered, he wondered? What could they possibly have in common with her?

Soon after, Salvetti regained his composure and opened his bedroom door. Lanaya gazed between him and his bedroom with wide eyes.

I'll be good, he gestured, so please come on.

He would not coerce or try to influence her choice. She was back to approaching him alone. This being the case, he entered his chambers while leaving the door open. He would know if she entered, but if not, he would let her leave.

Regardless of how much worse the demons got.

After unbuttoning the top two buttons of his shirt, he removed his blazer and vest. When he heard a noise outside, he began unfastening his gun holster. When he turned around, Lanaya was staring at his holster.

Are you sure you won't mishandle me again? It was as though she had to clear her throat. Salvetti would consider her seriously, but he caught a glimpse of a smile on her lips and a glimmer in her eye.

"I will do my best." He cracked a grin and then drew his weapon, setting it down on the desk. The entirety of the second story was devoted to his bedroom. One section of the space now served as a living room, with grey sofas and a glass coffee table. The far wall was divided in half by a bookshelf, and the other housed a massive fireplace. His signature style was his gray blanket and the black pillows on his bed.

A huge flat-screen television was installed on the wall across from the bed.

They planned to watch N*****x there.

To put it bluntly, he didn't give this any consideration.

Lanaya entered and took a quick survey of her surroundings. Salvetti looked at her in complete astonishment. Having her in this room with him was enough to quiet the tempest in his mind.

In other words, "You don't have much." As she approached the bookcase, she made the declaration. The question, "Who is Nietzsche?"

"In the realm of German philosophy, he attained legendary status.

His influence changed the course of history." Salvetti enjoyed reading philosophy.

Lanaya gazed at the fireplace, set to low heat, and nodded. She frowned at it.

"The maid always puts on the fire before she goes to bed." Tamara often said that the hearth's warmth could warm the cold in your soul and that nobody deserved to be cold.

To "cure his soul," as she put it, she made sure the fireplace was always lit.

The television is mounted above the bed. When he brought it up, Lanaya stiffened abruptly. "Hey, what about my word?"

Are you going to try to refrain from poking around me?" He asked her more like a question and gave her a friendly smile. With a sigh, she walked up to the bed and frowned again. To which camp do you belong?

"The one nearest the exits, obviously" Thus, he would be the primary target of intruders. The bulletproof, one-sided side was opposite the main entrance, by the glass windows. People on the outside could see them, but they were safe from prying eyes on the inside. They were also somewhat elevated. In this case, Lanaya wouldn't have to worry.

Her movements were shaky and apprehensive, but she nodded and shifted to the other side of the bed.

Is there anything you'd like to do, like take a shower? Salvetti, closing his eyes tightly, asked. Honestly, he should not have even asked that.

There's little doubt he was picturing her when he showered.

Lanaya clenched her teeth and shook her head before pulling aside the comforter and staring intently at the blankets beneath it.

Salvetti felt the rage welling up inside of him once more. Just how could her foster parents treat her that way? What about Lanaya? Did she ever have more than one blanket? To fight the need to smash something, he tightened his hands.

"There was a comforter on top and then two blankets. The final one is the sheet you lay on top of your mattress." She glanced up at him with wide, horrified eyes as he gritted out a response.

As expected, he repeated his previous error. Again, he led her to believe that he was upset with her. A gasp of air escaped his mouth.

I'm going to get cleaned up first, and then we can watch it together. She was given the controls by him.

"Select a seating area and make yourself at home. Please give me a moment; I need to go get something."

Lanaya climbed into bed and nodded, pressing her lower lip between her upper and lower teeth.

In an instant, he had left the room and entered the restroom. He would definitely pounce if he stayed in that room with Lanaya, who is so gentle and naive.

To cool himself, Salvetti exhaled deeply and doused his face with water.

He took off his shirt and slacks until he stood in his boxers. Only then did he turn on the water.

The room was filled with static and white noise in a moment, and he was standing next to the bed.

Lanaya sat carefully covering her eyes and ears, with the TV on and showing only static. A pair of remote controls lay on the floor next to the bed as if they had been flung there in haste or panic.

Salvetti turned off the television, and he was watching.

Slowly, Lanaya opened her eyes, removed her hands from her ears, and exhaled.

"It happened by chance." She closed her eyes briefly. I was at a complete loss for words.

In other words, "Everything's good!" Then, with a snarl, he fumbled with the TV controls. A few seconds later, he entered his login information into N*****x, acutely conscious of Lanaya's stony stillness.

He felt bad about his earlier snarl when he turned to give her the remotes and demonstrate the functions. Salvetti, however, became aware of her staring intently at his midsection, her eyes wide, her mouth open, and her face flushed scarlet.

Frowning, he suddenly saw that he was only wearing his underwear. However, Lanaya didn't appear to bother as she admired his six packs and biceps. There was a slow burn under his skin from where Lanaya's eyes had touched him.

Does she realize how much her innocent stare affects him?

Her gaze traveled from the tattoo on his biceps to the tattoo on his neck. She blinked, shocked that Salvetti had caught her in the act.

After letting out a sharp breath, Lanaya lowered her head so that her long black hair draped over her flushed face.

Salvetti bit his cheek to suppress a grin and handed her the controls.

She looked up, her eyes darting anxiously around the room before landing on his torso and said, "Lanaya, let me show you how to manage the controls."

Her lips were pursed as she nodded. Watching Salvetti spend the next several minutes instructing her on the proper use of the remote was hilarious. Lanaya listened with full concentration, but she would lose it the second she saw that he was wearing nothing but a pair of boxers, forcing them to restart.

It was quite cute to Salvetti. For him, too, the temperature was excruciating. To be sure, he'd had his share of ladies, but never one who admired him quite much. No one had looked at him with the rosy-cheeked naivete that would make his skin glow and make him feel truly alive.

He felt no burning from any of them.

With a determined expression on Lanaya's face, he left for the bathroom once he had finished explaining everything to her.

Exhaling deeply, Salvetti stepped into a chilly shower that lasted far longer than it should have. Seeing her face flush, he almost went outside wrapped in the towel. The majority of the time, he went to bed undressed.

But he was smart enough to wear a spare pair of boxers to the restroom.

He would only go so far as to make an exception for her in the case of the boxers.

Salvetti got up from bed and ruffled his hair again before going to check on her, where he saw her sitting up with her bottom lip pressed firmly between her teeth and a frown etched across her face.

The remote seemed indecisive between what appeared to be a stereotypical romance and a cartoon featuring a robot and a few kids. His brow was furrowed.

"Trouble?" His question was harsh.

She frowned even deeply and shook her head.

I was surprised to learn that there were so many. Her voice was gentle. Salvetti had found that the more time she spent with him, the less she stuttered and hesitated.

Turning his head to one side, he unzipped his own bedcover. When Lanaya's head whipped around, she pinned him to the ground. The intensity in her eyes was intimidating.

Salvetti tried to reassure everyone that he was safe to be around by keeping his hands visible. Lanaya stared at him for a moment before covering her face with her hand.

Instead of smiling, he bit the inside of his cheek and crawled into bed. He cleared his throat and moved to the center of the bed, making sure Lanaya would have to lie next to him.

"So," he paused, "do you like cartoons?" It seemed like Lanaya was trying to reconnect with him through her questioning.

However, he dismissed it with a shake of his head. "I just didn't see the point. When her expression darkened, he said, "But that little baby girl loved them. Even though she wouldn't sit down and watch them with me alone."

Yes, Lanaya thought as her fingers hovered over the remote, looking for the Play button. Her eyes became slits in ten seconds, yet that was plenty of time for her. Salvetto\sfrowned.

When asked, "What did the remote do to you?" He made light of the situation.

With a smile that wasn't quite there, she faced him.

Salvetti pondered whether or not she just did not feel comfortable smiling in his presence or whether a traumatic experience had rendered her incapable of doing so.

I can't get it to work as I want it to." Her voice was soft and tender as she spoke in a whisper. Then she looked at the screen as the credits rolled. An expression of awe spread across Lanaya's face, and her eyes gleamed. A grin spread across his face. He'd sit through every cartoon only to see the expression on her face in animation.

After staring at her for an eternity, she finally gasped, and Salvetti realized he was being a creep. He grudgingly looked at the TV, but he missed everything. His entire being responded to Lanaya's every expression, gesture, and sound.

Lanaya covered her mouth with her hands in horror as the villain was unveiled.

"But of all the possible villains, he was the one I expected the least!" It was an argument she made.

Those who are least likely to be guilty almost invariably turn out to be responsible. After hearing his response, Lanaya sent a threatening glance toward Salvetti.

"Victims are always suspects," she asked. Her tone betrayed pain.

That's not true; anyone can be the bad guy.

Even after the women stuffed so much food into my mouth, why did I still feel swollen? From her lips dripped incredulity and indignation.

It took a while for Salvetti to figure it out.

Inquiring, "The mothers?" He laughed aloud as he saw that she agreed. Because no one would ever suspect them, "Yes, they can be culprits."

"But I -"

"Salvetti interjected, clearly relishing the debate: "The first thing males do in my culture is abducted women and children, holding them as hostages or slaves. Because guys have a preconceived notion that women are fragile. To deal a fatal blow to a man, we train our women to be as cunning as possible, act the part, and get as near them as possible."

Her pupils dilated in shock.

I said, "Do you mean... do you mean that they can... that they can commit murder?" Salvetto\snodded. Lanaya, her eyes as big as saucers, returned to the movie.

She left during the closing credits to use the restroom. Again, Salvetti believed he had ruined everything. She remained silent during the rest of the movie, hardly glancing at him.

Taking a deep breath, he exhaled it. Every time things were looking up, he'd either be a jerk or reveal some unflattering fact about his life that ruined the relationship. Perhaps she just didn't belong there.

A severe negative expression appeared on his face as he shook his head.

It would break his heart to watch her go, but he would let her if she wanted to walk and help her in any way he could. His breath caught in his throat at the prospect. But a small voice within his skull kept telling him that Lanaya was more than capable of ruling alongside him. She was much stronger than people gave her credit, something Salvetti was well aware of.

Most of the male companions he had that night a week ago were convinced that Lanaya wouldn't survive. He felt like the world had ended when she passed away in his arms, but when they arrived at the hospital and Doc hurried them into a room and zapped Lanaya's chest, and she opened her eyes to stare at him, he knew. He was aware!

She should have perished long ago from the cumulative effects of the years' worth of injuries; even Doc himself conceded as much. She was in a coma for a week, and her recovery was the slowest and longest he had ever experienced. The days were long, gloomy, and meaningless, and the food tasted terrible.

Salvetti had slept in the chair beside her bed every night, wishing she would wake.

After that, he finally felt like he could take a deep breath.

So, certainly, he would let Lanaya go away if she needed time to accept him or if she needed to realize her own power. The topic had been discussed with Travis, who had first raised the issue.

Though he wanted to strike him, Salvetti replied his query that he would wait a year for her and then find her.

He then struck Travis with a blow to the face.

Salvetti wiped a palm across his face and realized that Lanaya had been gone from the bathroom for eight minutes. With his breath caught in his throat and his heart frozen, he opened the bathroom door.

Lanaya was posing for a selfie in front of the mirror, her hands resting on either side of the sink on the marble counter. Her body was shaking, and she was breathing heavily. She was staring down at her collarbone and muttered something to herself.

It's time to get it together. To herself, she mumbled.

Saying, "You're fine, he's fine, you're fine, I'm fine," etc.

She kept saying this over and over again.

He closed his eyes tightly. The fact is, he botched the job.

"Lanaya."

The little scream she let out caused her to leap forward and accidentally tumble over her two feet, wearing fluffy blue socks. Before she could even contact the floor, he had already made his way across the room and held her safely in his arms.

She yelled at the top of her lungs, her hands flailing as she fought with every ounce of her body. Lanaya's eyes sprung up, and her body became hard as Salvetti wrapped his arms around her to keep her from falling, but then her eyes rolled back in her head, and her body went lifeless.

He got to his feet, still holding her in his arms, and glared at Travis. The first time Lanaya shouted, Travis had just walked in.

As in, "What keeps you awake?" Through sheer determination, he succeeded.

To which the question "Why are you?" is posed. As he avoided Salvetti, Travis threw back. Salvetti carefully placed Lanaya in the bed and wrapped the covers around her.

"Travis, when your mom calls and wants to know where you are, this is what I'll say,"

Why am I dead and buried in a ditch because I was the underboss' closest friend ever? Travis made fun of Salvetti, interrupting his threat.

Salvetti shot him an angry look. A moment from now, I will cut your throat.

As he said this, Travis let out a hearty chuckle. Travis would have been dead a long time ago without knowing Salvetti from birth.

He was a damn good soldier, which was the only reason he was still alive. In addition, his constant probing brought out Salvetto's greatest (and worst) qualities.

I don't think she'd be into that. Travis stated, indicating the bed where Lanaya had started to stir.

Her body straightened, and she sat up. "W-what?"

"You've been thinking in circles again." While Travis was out of earshot, Salvetti explained.

You almost fell and banged your head on the marble floor, but luckily I was there to catch you.

After a moment, Lanaya bit her lip again. Was it me who hit you?

He didn't say a word.

As tears welled up in her eyes, Lanaya became overcome with emotion. Did I do that?

As the first tear fell, she covered her mouth with her palm.

The sight of her tears tore him apart even more than the sight of her dying.

He cupped her face between his palms in an aggressive move, catching her tears with his thumbs. His contempt for her grew when Salvetti saw that she didn't cry out or make any other noises.

I implore you to hear me out. Perhaps I was being a bit harsh, he admitted. "Whenever you feel like lashing out or expressing emotion, never apologize for doing so. Just why do you think I can take it? That's why I'm prepared to handle whatever comes my way; just don't go silent on me! Is that it?"

Her lower lip quivered as she wiped away her latest stream of tears.

Salvetti thought he'd shattered her again, but she took a deep breath and nodded, her sobs finally calming. He groped for the box of tissues Tamara always left beside his bedside in the cabinet.

Just in case you come down with a cold, honey.

He reached out and touched her with his forearm, burning his arm in contact with her warm skin. As her warmth spread to his boxers, he gritted his teeth. He ignored it, which was probably not a good idea, and brought out the box, from which she removed some tissues to wipe her eyes and nose.

The sound reminded him of the purple elephant from the stuffed animal narrative she used to like as a little child. He laughed as he tossed the tissues in the trash and put the rest of the supplies away.

Good to go? His voice was rough, perhaps because of the boxers, he was wearing.

She gave a hearty affirmative nod and leaped forward. This came as a total shock to him. With her arms around his neck and her face buried in the crook of his neck, Lanaya had tackled him to the ground.

"Certainly, and you're welcome!" Her expression was one of utter delight.

This was something Salvetti just had to do. His arm swung around and lightly, tenderly caressed her hair as it fell down her back. It's tempting to just punch the air and - he swallowed hard. Simply put: "For what?"

Thank you "for still believing in me." Her voice shook his entire body as she murmured on his neck. You stayed and comforted me when I started crying instead of running away.

"That makes no sense," I thought. Though he inquired, he already knew the answer to why she could have felt that way.

When I was a child, my foster father would beat me over the head with a heavy object and lock me in a closet if I cried.

The man's hands clenched. At moments like this, he wished he learned witchcraft or knew someone who did, so he could kill those two again.

"Absolutely not, Lanaya. Never!"

Her capacity for sensing was expanding, and her body was trembling with joy as she held on to his embrace for an extra second. Then, just as quickly, she stopped moving, recoiled, and pretended to be burned.

He sat in a daze of confusion to see that her face was once again flushed with anger. No matter how hard he tried, she would not meet his gaze.

She saw through his tattered boxers or concluded that he was nearly nude. In any case, her innocent temptress flush had returned.

Salvetti beamed as he saw Lanaya make herself at home next to him in bed. However much she could without physically touching him, which was very little.

He selected the next film and hit play.