Chapter 43: Hard but can't be caught

The sky outside was beginning to pale with the first hint of dawn when Antonio stirred. Blinking the sleep from his eyes, he looked down at the woman nestled against him. She was sleeping peacefully, her breathing even and soft, like a child in the arms of safety.

A faint smile tugged at his lips. Her skin felt like silk beneath his palm, her slender frame curling instinctively into him. She looked so innocent like this—serene, untouched by pain.

Yet, he remembered her tears, cries, the storm of hurt hidden behind those fierce eyes. And something twisted inside him—a need, fierce and unfamiliar, to protect her.

Antonio followed the instinct of his fingers that brushed the strands of her hair off her face.

She looks so beautiful, so peaceful—soft, like an angel in slumber, like one who never gets upset. His smile broadened upon remembering her angry, cute faces, but his face dropped when he also recollected the pains, the fears on her face, and her cries.

It was strange, it was un