Chapter 155 Curiosity and Secrets
LEITANA
I stared at Ravial through the mirror as he brushed my hair. His handsome face was set in that intense, focused look like he wasn’t just brushing hair, but handling something precious that might break if he wasn’t careful enough. Every stroke was slow, deliberate, his fingers occasionally grazing my scalp in a way that sent little shivers down my spine.
He looked so calm and so gentle.
But my stomach kept twisting.
I sighed again, biting my lip.
Ravial’s hands paused mid-stroke. His head tilted slightly, blindfold still in place, but I could feel his attention sharpen on me.
“Say it, lamb,” he murmured, voice low and even. “Whatever is spinning in that pretty head of yours, let it out. I can hear you thinking from here.”
I smiled a little, nervous but warmed by how well he knew me. I turned around on the stool, facing him fully. My hands rested on his thighs as I looked up at him.
“Mi… mi was just wondering about Jimmy,” I said softly. “The authorities only found his goon’s body. Jimmy just… disappeared. Yu know anything about where he might be?”
Ravial’s expression didn’t change at all. Not a flicker. That same calm, unreadable mask stayed perfectly in place.
“I don’t know anything about Jimmy’s whereabouts,” he said smoothly, continuing to brush the section of hair he’d been working on. “He was a cockroach. Cockroaches scatter when the lights come on. He probably ran the moment things got too hot.”
I frowned, still watching his face. “But… mi no understand how he escaped so clean. He was right there. He shot mi. How does someone like that just vanish without a trace?”
Ravial set the brush down. He cupped my cheeks with both hands, thumbs brushing gently over my skin. His touch was warm, and steady.
“He can never hurt you again,” he said quietly, voice firm and final. “That’s all that matters.”
His gaze dropped to my bandaged shoulder, the one where the bullet had grazed me. The dressing was already damp from the shower and starting to peel at the edges. He knelt in front of me without another word, carefully peeling the old bandage away.
I winced when his fingers brushed the tender skin.
“Sorry,” he murmured, voice softening instantly. He leaned in and pressed a light kiss just beside the wound, then reached for the fresh supplies on the counter antiseptic, gauze, tape.
I watched him work, my fingers drifting up to caress his hair, then tracing the edge of his blindfold. He stiffened under my touch, shoulders going rigid when I touched it.
Before I could stop myself, the question slipped out.
“Mi Ravial… will I ever see your eyes?”
He went completely still. The air in the bedroom thickened.
For a long moment he said nothing. He just kept tending to my shoulder, cleaning the graze with careful, precise movements, applying fresh ointment, then layering new gauze.
I sighed, eyes soft as I studied his face. “Mi will not feel disgusted if mi see them, yu know. Even if they ugly or scarred… mi still love every part of yu. Mi no care what they look like.”
He remained silent, focused on securing the fresh bandage with steady hands. When he finished, he pressed one last gentle kiss over the dressing, then sat back on his heels.
“Drop it, my lamb,” he said quietly. The words were calm, but there was an edge beneath them, something darker, tighter.
I couldn’t let it go. Not this time.
“But why?” I pressed, voice gentle but persistent. “Mi your wife. Mi carrying yu child. Why yu still hide them from mi? Mi no understand….”
Ravial’s head snapped up.
“Drop it.”
The snap came sharp and sudden, his voice cracking like a whip, colder and harsher than I’d ever heard it directed at me. His hands clenched on his thighs, knuckles white.
I flinched.
He realized what he’d done the second it left his mouth. His shoulders dropped, regret flashing across what I could see of his face.
“Leitana…” he started, softer now, but the damage was already done.
I stared at him, heart pounding, the tender moment cracking under the weight of whatever secret he was guarding so fiercely.
He reached for my hand, but I didn’t pull away.
The silence stretched between us, thick, heavy, and full of everything neither of us was ready to say.
But then I sighed. Maybe he wasn’t ready to share that part of him yet, and it would be wrong of me to force it. Even though I wanted to know every single thing about him, every scar, every shadow, I could wait. He had given me so much already.
“Mi sorry,” I whispered, reaching out to touch his cheek. “Mi no mean to push. Whenever yu ready… mi will be here. Mi would never judge yu, mi Ravial. Never.”
He didn’t answer with words right away. Instead he leaned in and kissed the tip of my nose, then gently bit it.
I chuckled, the sound bubbling up despite everything. “Yu silly.”
I cupped his face and kissed his lips, slow and sweet, pouring all my love into it. When I pulled back I rested my forehead against his.
“Whenever yu ready,” I repeated softly. “Mi promise.”
Ravial exhaled, the tension in his shoulders easing just a little. His thumb brushed my lower lip.
“You already see more of me than anyone ever has,” he murmured, voice low and rough with something deep. “That’s dangerous enough, my lamb. But thank you… for not pushing when I need you not to.”
I smiled, heart warm. Then a new thought popped into my head.
“What about family?” I asked, tilting my head. “Do yu have any? Brothers, sisters… parents?”
He went quiet for a second, fingers still stroking my arm.
“A long time ago… I did,” he said carefully. “But they all left me.”
My chest squeezed. I took that to mean they had died, maybe in some terrible way he didn’t want to talk about. “Mi so sorry,” I whispered, hugging him tight. “That must have been so hard.”
He hugged me back, but there was a small, secret smile in his voice when he spoke again.
“There is someone I would like to introduce you to one day.”
My eyes went wide. I pulled back to look at him. “Who? Tell mi!”
He shook his head, that teasing smirk I loved so much curving his lips. “No.”
“Tell miiii,” I whined, dragging the word out like a child, poking his chest.
“Noooo,” he echoed, mocking my tone perfectly before leaning in and biting the side of my neck, playful but firm enough to make me squeal.
“Mi Ravial!” I laughed, squirming in his lap. “Yu no fair! Yu can’t say something like that and then bite mi instead of answering!”
He licked the spot he’d bitten, then kissed it. “Exactly. Keeps you curious… and close.”
I melted a little, butterflies fluttering hard in my stomach. “Yu wicked man.”
“Your wicked man,” he corrected, nipping my earlobe this time.
We stayed like that for a minute, just touching and teasing, until reality crept back in.
“Mi, Avery and yu are supposed to go see Leroy’s family today,” I said, tracing circles on his chest. “They probably panicking right now, thinking they’ve been taken hostage or something.”
Ravial huffed a quiet laugh. “They were not taken hostage.”
I burst out laughing. “They were! Yu men just showed up, bundled them into cars and drove off. Of course they think they hostages!”
He shrugged, completely unbothered, depositing on his lap. “Well, for hostages they are having the time of their life in my safe house. Private chef, swimming pool, every movie they could want. The kids haven’t stopped smiling since they got there.”
I covered my mouth, giggling harder. “Yu serious? Yu kidnapped them and now yu spoiling them like VIP guests?”
“Technically relocated for their safety,” he said, voice dripping with fake innocence. “And yes. They’re safe, comfortable, and very well fed. The mother even asked for seconds of dessert last night.”
“Mi Ravial!” I smacked his chest lightly, still laughing. “Yu can’t just kidnap people and then bribe them with cake! Dem probably confused and scared one minute, then wondering if they won some secret lottery the next.”
He caught my hand and kissed my palm. “Better confused and safe than dead and sorry. Charles won’t find them. That’s what matters.”
I shook my head, still smiling. “Yu impossible. But… thank yu. For protecting them. Even if yu method is a little… dramatic.”
“Only a little?” He arched a brow, blindfold making the gesture even more playful.
“Okay, very dramatic,” I admitted, leaning in to kiss him again. “But mi love yu for it.”
He kissed me back, deeper this time, hands sliding down to squeeze my waist.
“Get dressed, my lamb,” he murmured against my lips. “We leave in an hour. And try not to look too happy when we sneak out. We’re still pretending this marriage is falling apart, remember?”
I grinned, pressing one last quick kiss to his mouth before sliding off his lap.
“Mi will try, but mi no promising anything.”
Ravial chuckled, low and warm, watching me with that quiet intensity that always made my heart race.
My wicked, protective, impossible man.
And somehow, he was all mine.