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“I’m not hungry,” she said, not wanting to accept anything else from him. It was starting to get a bit ridiculous. She needed him to just go home.
Her stomach took that opportunity to growl loudly as if to make sure Rafe knew she was a liar – that she most certainly was hungry. She hadn’t realized how famished she was until the aromas from whatever had been delivered assaulted her.
“Come on, Ari. Sit up and eat your soup and bread,” Rafe said, an obvious smile in his tone.
She didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of doing what he wanted, but her stomach decided to growl again, and she was too starved to play further games. With frustration and great effort, she tossed off the pillow and slowly propped herself up to a sitting position.
Rafe placed a tray across her lap and she practically drooled when she looked down at the bowl of soup and warm bread. Without further hesitation, Ari ripped off a piece of the soft bread and dipped it in the soup before lifting it to her lips and taking a bite.
Her taste buds exploded as she carefully swallowed and then dove further into her meal, appeasing her hunger. When she cleared everything from the tray, she realized her head wasn’t pounding at all anymore, though exhaustion was quickly consuming her. She didn’t care. She could sleep a while longer, and when she woke, it would be a new day with hopefully no pain, and definitely no Rafe.
Carefully, she laid back down and closed her eyes. Just as Ari began drifting to sleep again she heard Rafe on his phone. She barely heard his last words, thinking they weren’t anything other than a dream.
“Ari, we have to move to my place. I have work I have to attend to, and I’m not leaving you by yourself. The pills I gave you take the pain away, but they also make you drowsy, so I don’t want you shocked when you wake up in a new bed… Ari… are you listening?”
Ari mumbled something, though she had no idea what. Thankfully sleep took over and she passed out, not having to feel any further pain.
Chapter Thirteen
Ari awoke feeling better, but still not at a hundred percent. Stretching her arms above her head and arching her back, she didn’t realize she wasn’t home until she turned and felt the cool satin beneath her fingertips.
There was no way she was sleeping in her own home. Had she died and was now feeling what heaven was like? The sheets were amazing and she felt like she was sinking into a vat of cotton, the bed was so comfortable.
Opening her eyes, Ari was bombarded with natural light as she looked across the huge room and out the opened curtains of at least eight foot high window panes.
“I was beginning to think you were going to sleep the entire day away. ”
Ari jumped at the words and whipped her head around to find a young woman in her mid-twenties, standing next to the bed.
“Um, where am I?”
“You’re at Mr. Palazzo’s residence. He said you may still be a bit unsettled when you woke, that you’d been drugged. I’m so sorry you've had to go through this. The doctor looked at you again this morning and said your fever is down and you’re almost back to full health, but he also said you needed to be looked after for another twenty-four to forty-eight hours. ”
“Forty-eight hours? What day is it?” Ari asked as panic began to set in.
“It’s Monday, just past ten in the morning. You’ve been here for two full nights, but you spiked a fever yesterday and the doctor gave you a heavy dose of pain relievers and antibiotics. Your coloring looks much better now. ”
“I have to go! My boss is going to fire me,” Ari exclaimed as she jumped from the bed. The room began to spin slightly with her quick movements and she found herself falling back, thankfully landing on the soft mattress.
“Whoa, slow down. Mr. Palazzo already called into your work and they know you’ll be out for a few days. ”
“He doesn’t have the right to do that. He certainly doesn’t have the right to abduct me from my home!”
The woman looked at Ari like she was mentally ill. Maybe she was, but she was angry that he’d swooped in and taken over her life. She refused to be in debt to the man. Thinking back over the events of the last few days, and the hospital incident, she couldn’t seem to get away from him. She couldn’t afford to owe him anything more.
“It’s okay, Misty. I’ll take care of Ms. Harlow now. ”
Ari’s head turned sharply and her breath caught at the sight of Rafe standing in her doorway. Without giving her eyes permission, they drank in his massive frame. How she could despise everything the man stood for and still feel attraction for him – she didn’t understand – but every time she was in his presence, she found herself fighting just a little more to keep her hormones at a neutral level, especially after that dream.