Damien hesitated, thinking. He was a deeply suspicious man with his human years spent in war and his fledgling years spent in warring, paranoid company, so the idea of trust didn't come easily to him. Now that Rachel had become something more to him, his suspicion that anyone else could care for her as considerately and as intimately as he could was unmeasurable. Certainly, he trusted Pierre, Jenella, and Finny to keep their eyes on her when the time came for Damien to run the empire that was the Aquillia family, but these were temporary things with people he had known for years.
What she was suggesting was a thought he had avoided for a long time. What if this person, this new person, betrayed them and sold her to Laurent? What if this person was lazy, became sloppy? What if this person couldn't do the job properly, to Damien's standards?
There was a long moment and a sigh in between the time she asked her question and the time he answered. He was nervous for her, scared even. Having lost Lucretia had made him value the time he had with Rachel - now that he had gotten over most of his own awkwardness around dating her - and it was something he was never really willing to compromise.
"It would allow me to get you out of my hair during the day," Damien said cautiously with the hint of a smile. It wasn't an acceptance of the idea, but he liked the idea of her out in the sun where she was supposed to be as a human. Caution, discomfort, distrust all leaked into his bloodstream and echoed in all parts of him like adrenaline. "I don't know about this, Rachel." His voice was low and worried, and she would be all too familiar with the anxiety that colored his tone. "It's not like he can't go out during the day. What would happen if he found you? I wouldn't know or be able to help you at all." Damien sat up on an elbow now, his position becoming inadvertently tense with the illogical need to return to a state of control.
