Chapter 66 Almond
Something inside Damien softened completely.
“I can do that,” he said.
She rested her head back on his shoulder.
They stayed like that until the light outside the window dimmed and the room fell into evening.
The door creaked open softly.
Darcy stepped inside.
Her eyes went immediately to Jasmine, curled slightly into Damien’s side like a child seeking warmth. Darcy’s face softened with something close to grief and tenderness all at once.
“Oh, my sweet girl,” Darcy whispered.
Jasmine lifted her head, startled. “Darcy…”
Darcy crossed the room and sat beside her, pulling her gently into her arms. She stroked Jasmine’s hair the way a mother would soothe a frightened child.
“You’ve been through too much,” Darcy murmured. “Too much for one heart to hold alone.”
Jasmine didn’t fight it.
She leaned into Darcy’s chest, and the tears she had been holding back finally spilled.
Darcy rocked her slowly. “It’s all right. You’re safe now. You’re not alone anymore.”
Jasmine closed her eyes.
For the first time in days, she felt something she hadn’t known she was missing so badly.
A mother’s comfort.
Her voice cracked. “You feel like my mom.”
Darcy kissed her temple. “Then let me be that for you.”
Damien watched them from the side, his chest tight. He had spent his whole life protecting his mother and now he saw her protecting the woman he loved. When the clock crept past midnight, Darcy stood.
“We should let her sleep.”
Damien rose too. Darcy leaned close to him and whispered, “Stay with her tonight.”
Damien shook his head gently. “She needs space. I don’t want to push her before she’s ready.”
Darcy smiled, pride glowing in her eyes. “You’re learning”
He turned back to Jasmine.
“Are you okay?” he asked softly.
She nodded, though her eyes were heavy. “Just tired.”
He pulled the blanket over her carefully, tucking it around her shoulders like she was something precious and breakable.
“I’ll bring your favorite pastries tomorrow,” he said quietly. “The almond ones.”
Her lips curved into a small smile. “You remembered.”
“I remember everything about you.”
For a second, she almost said it.
Stay.
I want to back with you
Don’t leave.
But the words stayed in her chest.
Instead, she whispered, “Goodnight, Damien.”
He hesitated, then bent and pressed a light kiss to her forehead. “Goodnight, tesoro.”
When the door closed behind Damien and Darcy, the room felt strangely peaceful. A moment later, Richelle slipped inside.
“You okay?” she whispered.
Jasmine nodded.
Richelle kicked off her shoes and climbed into bed beside her, wrapping an arm around her hand.
“You don’t have to sleep alone tonight.”
Jasmine squeezed her fingers. “Thank you.”
They lay there in silence, the world finally quiet.
~
I drove to Raymond’s house the morning after everything went down. Sleep had barely touched me. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Jasmine’s bloodied lip. I heard her voice shaking when she tried to be brave. I felt again the way her body had trembled in my arms when she told me what he had done.
My hands clenched tighter around the steering wheel as the sun rose ahead of me, pale and cold. I had promised her I would be calm.
But that didn’t mean I would be weak.
I parked a short distance away from Raymond’s house, choosing the sidewalk instead of the driveway. I didn’t want to announce myself. I didn’t want to give him time to prepare excuses or run.
I stepped out of the car and shut the door quietly. The morning air was eerily still. Birds chirped somewhere far away, but around his house, everything felt wrong. Too quiet. Too empty.
I walked toward the gate and immediately noticed something that made my stomach tighten.
It was unlocked. My calls to him last night had gone unanswered. Every single one. Straight to voicemail. I had told myself he was hiding. Seeing the open gate made it real.
I pushed it open slowly. The hinges creaked.
I froze for a second, scanning the yard. Every instinct in me sharpened. Every muscle prepared for violence. The house stood there like a hollow shell—curtains drawn, no lights on, no movement inside.
“Coward,” I muttered under my breath.
I closed the gate behind me and walked up the path. Gravel crunched under my shoes, loud in the quiet morning. I reached the front door and rang the bell once.
Nothing.
I rang it again.
Still nothing.
I waited.
One minute. Two.
Five.
No footsteps. No voices. No shadow passing behind the curtains. I stepped back and looked toward the driveway.
Raymond’s car was gone.
My jaw tightened. “So you ran,” I whispered. “After what you did”
I walked around the house, checking the windows. All dark. All silent. It looked abandoned, as if he had vanished overnight.
He almost cost me my tesoro, and he thinks he can disappear
My fists clenched at my sides, but there was nothing to confront because Raymond was gone, for now. I turned back to my car and slid into the driver’s seat. My anger battled with something softer in my chest—something fragile and dangerous.
On the passenger seat were three large paper bags. Pastries, tarts, croissants, jam cakes, chocolate rolls.
Everything sweet I could find.
Earlier that morning, before coming here, I had stopped at the bakery. I promised to bring Jasmine pastries and I made sure I did.
The baker had been a small old woman with silver hair and flour on her apron. She had watched me pace back and forth between the shelves, picking things up and putting them down.
“You look like a man in trouble,” she had teased.
“I don’t know what she likes,” I had admitted quietly. “So I’ll take one of everything.”
She had laughed and filled three large bags. “Your wife must be very special.”
I had paused. “How did you know it was for my wife?”
She smiled knowingly. “Because you look terrified and hopeful at the same time.”
A small smile tugged at my lips now as I remembered it.
Jasmine.