Sensual Redamancy

Chapter 18

•SOFIA•

I woke up as if sleeping had become a vicious threat to my well-being, my heart thudding so hard in my chest that I almost felt it leap out of my heaving chest.

Beads of sweat trickled down my panicking face, eyes glazing over the enormous room I was yet to fully familiarise myself with.

His absence was the first thing I felt and noticed, the warmth of the blanket around me less warm than the one I'd gotten used to over the past few days.

I wasn't sure what was worse, the nightmare I'd just had or the absence of my husband's embrace.

"Dom," I called out, looking over at the en suite bathroom with squinted eyes.

As I expected, there was no response, pushing me to peel the blanket off my body and step barefoot onto the fluffy rug next to the bed.

I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes, checking the digital clock on the wall for the time. It was just a few minutes past four in the morning. There was no way he would have gotten out of bed and left for work already.

I lazily picked myself up from the bed, dragging my feet across the carpet towards the door.

Memories of the previous night slowly trickled back into my mind as I opened the door and stepped out of the room.

I didn't want to fight with Dominic. I'd seen so much of his good and warmer side that I didn't want to lose that sensual connection and deeply desired to explore all of his depths deeper.

It couldn't all end just like that because of a lousy evil man with wicked schemes.

I took a couple of steps down the carpeted hallway, my eyes roaming over the visible rooms. "Dominic," I called out softly, peeking into rooms with open doors.

"Dominic," I called again, opening the door to the gym room and searching for him.

I sighed heavily, my shoulders sinking. My heart dropped with every fruitless call to him. Where the hell was he?

I stopped calling out to him, resorting to silently searching for him instead.

I trudged down the stairs, softly yawning and hugging myself loosely. I hadn't slept properly overnight and I felt exhaustion in every pore on my skin.

I reached the bottom of the staircase, my eyes narrowing down at the bubbly, energetic and quite unfamiliar brunette approach me.

I stopped dead in my tracks, trying to hit the pause button in my mind and stop speculations from springing in and sinking my heart even further.

"Mrs. Bernardi," the neatly black pant-suited lady chirped, approaching me even closer with a radiant smile.

The politeness rooted in me instinctively propelled my lips to stretch a little, despite the cold embrace I felt from being addressed as a Bernardi bride. That was undoubtedly a first and I didn't know how to take it.

I took a step forward still, squaring my eyes at the smiling woman standing a few inches taller than me. "It's just Sofia," I corrected with the most polite smile I could muster, "and you are?"

The young lady stretched out her hand to me, her smile seemingly growing wider if that was even possible. "Raquel Martinez, ma'am, your new bodyguard, personal assistant, secretary or whatever you might feel like turning me into as long as I'm of service to you."

For a few seconds, I froze, absorbing the information she'd just given me before wrapping my hand around hers when I realised the silence had stretched longer than comfortable.