Page 142 of Beni

More than, really.

“Oh, and we should come back around to that conversation now, too. Remember?”

He blinked, trying to bring back whatever it was she was talking about, but his brain failed. Not surprising, considering how goddamn tired he was at the moment. Once he fell asleep, he bet he would stay that way for a good day or more.

A healing body took a lot of energy.

“What conversation?”

“Your place. Me. Moving.”

Ah.

“Yeah,” he said, not hiding the happiness that was thick in his tone. “That one. Not sure now is the right time … me being in a bed, injured and all.”

August laughed lightly. “Why, because I might feel manipulated by the situation, and that’s the only possible reason I would choose to—”

“You said it, not me.”

Her cheek rested against his. “Who else is going to take care of you for the next two months, huh?”

Well …

“When you put it like that,” he murmured.

Her smile curved against his jawline before she kissed the same spot. “That’s settled, then.”

Like it had ever been in question?

“Love you,” he said tiredly, voice faint.

August’s fingertips drifted through his hair, lulling him closer and closer to sleep with every passing second. He bet it would be far better to sleep with her beside him, though. “Love you, too. Always, Beni.”

On his back, with a bullet hole in his chest, drifting off to sleep while he watched her as long as he could, and her voice filled his mind …

Life was looking damn good.

Even if right then, it also hurt.

Beni wasn’t sure when he woke up again, but when he did, he found August sleeping beside him in the bed. Turned on her side facing him as he laid on his back, her forehead pressed against his arm, warm breath tickling his skin, and her hand stayed tightly tucked in with his.

“She’s been sleeping about an hour, or so.”

The familiar voice had Beni looking to his left. There sat his father, reading a newspaper—The Tribune, it looked like—on a recliner in the corner of the bedroom. He might have been annoyed that someone was in the room with him and August while they slept, except he couldn’t find it in himself to drudge up the emotion, all things considered.

He scared the hell out of his family.

It wasn’t a shock they wanted to stick close.

“Good,” he replied, “she probably needed the rest.”

“Yes, like your mother, she wouldn’t sleep while you were out. Corrado and Les headed back to New York—they send their love, and Corrado … his threats, you know, it’s how he shows he cares, but they have to get back to Ginny.”

Right.

“How far along is she now?”

“Twenty-nine weeks pregnant. Did we tell you it’s going to be a girl?”