Page 28 of Risking it All

When the door crept open, I let Z walk in, in front of me. I felt like it was a pretty good setup. There was a cozy living room, a full kitchen complete with a stove, refrigerator, and microwave, and of course a bedroom with a king-sized bed. Fresh pink-and-white flowers sat on the dining table, thanks to my message to the head of housekeeping. I watched as Z walked into the room ahead of me slowly.

“This is my room?” she asked, looking at me over her shoulder.

“Yeah, is it OK? I tried to get them to make it as homey as possible.”

“I love it, Sawyer,” she said, rushing over and throwing her arms around me. “I expected to keep the room I had, and I would have been perfectly fine staying right where I was before.”

I kissed the top of her head. She looked up at me with a bright smile, and I couldn’t help but dip my head and taste her soft lips. I didn’t want her to feel like I thought she owed me anything, so I pulled back so she couldn’t feel how hard my dick was getting from her pillowy titties being pressed into my chest. She turned around and moved over to the table where the bouquet of flowers were.

“These lilies are beautiful.” I watched as she plucked the card from the plastic stem and read it quietly. The words ‘welcome home, Z’ were scribbled on the card as she held it up for me to read. “You did this, Sawyer?”

“I wanted it to feel like home. I decided not to ask your favorite flower since I wanted it to be a surprise.”

“I don’t know if I have a favorite flower, but I love lilies.”

“I’m glad you like them.”

“I love it. Believe it or not, I’ve never had my own place. I even commuted to college.”

“So you’ve always lived with your parents?” I quizzed.

She nodded. “My whole damn life. It feels so freeing to just be here and not have to worry about anyone listening or watching my every move.”

Damn. Z was damn near thirty years old, and she had never lived on her own. I loved living alone. Even being at Cashville, I lived alone. It wasn’t missed on me that she mentioned being under constant surveillance. That reminded me of my own life. Well, my former life.

Being a male member of the family gave me freedom that none of my female cousins were afforded. Who the hell was she? Her family had to be mafia, but she wasn’t from anywhere around here. I knew she wasn’t ready to talk, so I didn’t push the issue.

“I know you’ve had a long couple of days, so I’ll let you rest.”

“You’re leaving?” she asked, turning to me with wide eyes.

The look on her face made me want to give her anything her heart desired. Still, I knew she needed some space to process everything. Then again, I was almost afraid to leave her alone. I’d given those pills to the paramedics, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t figure out a way to harm herself if she wanted to. I didn’t want her making any more rash decisions, even though she’d promised that she was fine. Saying she was fine didn’t mean anything if she was determined to hurt herself.

“Are you OK with being alone right now? I can stay if I need to. I just wanted to go take a shower and check in with my team.”

“I’m fine. I just thought you were staying.”

“I’ll be back later. Let’s have dinner together. We can order in. How does that sound?”

“OK.” She nodded quickly as she plopped down on the couch.

“I had Denise order you some clothes so you didn’t have to worry about that. They should be in the closet.”

“What?”

I didn’t respond before turning for the door, because I was sure she heard me.

“I’ll see you around seven, mama. Try to get some real rest.”

9

Zenia

Since Sawyer said I had clothes around here somewhere, I figured it was a good time to change into something more comfortable. The matching two-piece set he brought me to the hospital was adorable, but like he suggested, I needed a long nap.

It was just after one, and he wouldn’t be back until seven, so that gave me plenty of time to rest up. Since I didn’t see my bag, I walked over to the wardrobe and opened it. My mouth fell open as I took a step back and marveled at the packed closet. It was so full that I had to shove to make space to pull something out.

I held up the most adorable jean romper from one of my favorite plus-size boutiques. It had been a while since I bought anything from there, but I was absolutely in love. I checked the label and smiled when I saw that it was a size twenty. In fact, every single item in the closet was my size. I recalled Sawyer saying he’d gone through my bags to find out what I needed.