The Rose He Killed novel Chapter 217

Chapter 196: Family time-1

Caleb pov

“He’s very capable,” she said. “But yes, he’s five. This is a lot to carry.”

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“He’s working very hard not to show it, said. “He catches the feeling and hides it before anyone can see. But i recognize that because i did the exact same thing at his age.”

Dr. Abara looked at me steadily. “What did it take from you?”

I was quiet for a moment. “Years of not knowing what I actually felt,” I said. “And a marriage that got ruined because I didn’t know how to let someone in.”

“Is that what you want for Tom?”

“No,” I said. “That’s why we’re all here every Friday. My father taught me that showing feelings was a weakness, and I believed him for a long time.” I looked down at my hands. “Tom is not going to learn that. He is not going to learn that feelings are something to hide.”

Dr. Abara was quiet for a moment.

“You should tell him that,” she said. “Not necessarily in a session, but when the moment is right.”

I thought about Tom on the terrace, figuring out that he could see the window from outside and the outside from the window and that both ways worked.

“Okay,” I said. “I’ll tell him.”

The night Tom finally slept through happened on a Saturday, five weeks after the warehouse.

I woke up at 3:00 AM from habit, listening to him. He had moved back to his own bedroom a week ago, announcing it at breakfast like a big decision: “I want to sleep in my room now. But I want the door to stay open.”

I lay in the dark and listened. The penthouse was completely quiet. Beside me, Bella’s breathing was slow and even.

Tom hadn’t woken up.

It was just one night of uninterrupted sleep, but it meant his mind finally knew the dark was safe. All the therapy sessions, the quiet mornings on the terrace, and repeating “you are safe” were finally working. It was holding him through the night.

I reached out and took Bella’s hand as her fingers closed around mine before I had even finished reaching.

“You too?” I said quietly.

“Yeah” she said. “I’ve been listening.”

We lay in the dark together, both of us doing the same thing we had done every night for weeks.

The penthouse was completely quiet.

(Chapter 195-amily time 1

“He hasn’t woken up,” Bella said.

“No, I said.

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I turned her closer in the dark and pressed my mouth to the side of her neck, just below her ear, slow and deliberate.

She made a quiet sound. “Are you trying to seduce me, Mr. Black?”

“Is it working?”

Instead of answering, Bella turned over to face me fully. She pressed her body against mine, one leg sliding between my thighs, and kissed me slowly. Her lips were soft but teasing, hipping at my bottom lip before deepening the kiss. Her hand trailed lightly down my chest, fingers brushing over my stomach, then lower, stopping just above the waistband of my sweatpants.

She pulled back slightly, lips brushing against mine as she whispered, “You’re already breathing faster.”

Her fingers slipped under the edge of my waistband, teasing the skin there. She kissed me again, slower and deeper, while her hand continued its light, maddening exploration just above where I wanted her

most.

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