Page 60 of Dreadful

“That’s not my name!” I shout and shake my head. “I mean…it is. But…”

“Okay…so you want me to call you Talia?”

“No…” I groan at how crazy I sound. “Tallie is fine, I just…”

I drift off as that realization registers. When I adopted mynonni’slast name, they encouraged me to pick my first name as a way to get some control back after I’d lost everything else. Ever since then, they’ve been the only ones to call me their nickname to my face and lived to tell the tale, so to speak. And yet, I’ve never once corrected Sever.

Just now, though, it was the fact that he wasn’t calling me by myoldname that got to me, and I don’t know why. “Chiara” has never felt right after I escaped, and in this moment, it still doesn’t feel right. He’s never even known me by that name, either. So, what the hell am I doing?

“What just happened?” Sever’s words grate out with the same question I have. I shake my head again because I don’t fucking know.

He sits up and winces before lightly placing his hand over the wound on his chest.

His wound…the one I just helped him patch. The stitching is some of the best work I’ve ever done, but the skin is a puckered and angry red. Gio will get antibiotics tomorrow, and as long as Sev didn’t lose too much blood, he’ll likely be just fine. His life was in my hands, and I helped save it.

Why?

“I don’t know, Sever,” I mumble and back away.

“Sever?” His head tilts to the side. “And how do you knowthatname?”

I frown. “Uh, because it’s your name?”

“No…I told you my name was Sev. But you called me that last ni—” I narrow my eyes at him as he clears his throat. “I mean, you called me that just now. How did you come up with Sever?”

I rack my brain for when he could’ve told me, but he’s right. He never did. I got his other nickname from a phone call that I wasn’t supposed to hear.

Merda.

“Lucky guess, I suppose.” I want to focus on what we’re talking about. It could screw me over if I say the wrong thing, but my mind is still hooked on what just happened between us.

He narrows his eyes. “Really lucky fucking guess. You should play the lottery.”

“Yeah…maybe I should…”

I search around the room for something to clean. Everything is in order, though, except for the mess that’s surrounding Sever—Sev—and there’s no way I want to go close enough to tidy that.

A song builds in my mind, but I push it away. My feet start to walk in a circle, physical proof of the thoughts swirling in my mind.

“Talk to me,dolcezza.”

His voice is calm and forgiving, and the truth begs to spill from my lips. I turn to face him, but the words dry up as soon as I try to release them. The confusion marring his handsome face matches the emotion that aches inside my chest. I don’t know how to explain what’s going on even to myself, and I certainly can’t with him.

Everything I just did is at odds with all that I’ve worked so hard for my entire life. I’ve spent countless hours trying to avenge that little girl. For me to go and forget everything she went through for even a moment to do something like this…

A low hum builds in my chest, and I shove my hands in my hair.

“Tallie?”

The tune gets louder in my head, but the words only echo around and hide behind my lips. I skip the notes for the names I don’t need anymore, but I emphasize the last one in my head, so I don’t forget. I can never forget.

“That song…what is it? You keep skipping in and out—”

Fuck.

I thought it was all in my head, but apparently he can hear what I hear this time.

“It’s n-nothing,” I stutter. “You should…you should go.”