AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Talk to me.”
She holds my hand. “I have to go back for Starla. Whatever this is—I can’t stay.”
“We’ll go back together.”
She shakes her head. “And then what? I bring my sister back to the club? No, Sergio, I can’t do that. I won’t do that. I just… I don’t want to talk about this right now. We just had the most perfect moment ever, and I don’t want to destroy that.”
She nestles herself in the crook of my arm. I love the way she feels lying next to me. What we shared was amazing. What we shared was life-changing.
You don’t just go back to the way things were when life itself has been altered.
But I know she's letting her fear get the best of her now.
"I don't trust things that are good," she says simply. "Things always go wrong for me. I hate talking like this, I hate being negative. But it's the truth. Whenever I had a friend, my friend was taken away. Even my pets. I don't want to talk anymore about what happened to me, but I'll just say that I've become... guarded when I find happiness."
I hate that for her.
And I know then that, for the first time in my goddamn life, all I want is the one thing I can’t have…her.
"You've been taught to ignore your own needs. You've been taught that you don't matter. I want to spend the rest of my life showing you that you do matter and making it my life's mission to give that to you."
When she leans her head on my chest, I stroke her hair. It’s as soothing to me as it is to her. I know she’s crying. I can hear the hiccups and see her wiping her cheeks. Eventually, she quiets and her breathing slows and steadies.
She’s fallen asleep.
I close my eyes and try to imprint this moment on my mind.
With me, she’s safe. With me, she’s secure. No one will hurt her.
She deserves more than that, though. She deserves to be treasured and understood, respected and loved.
Loved, goddammit.
Here, in the safety of this cocoon, she’s laid everything down for a while. I want to give her protection and safety that lasts forever.
And there’s only one way to ensure that.
So I tuck the blanket around her and push myself out of bed.
I turn my phone back on.
I have one text. From Mario.
I found him.
My fingers fly over the keys as I respond.
What the hell are you doing working while you're supposed to be recovering?
My pulse gallops. My vision blurs. The screen I’m staring at shakes because I’m shaking with fury, because I know who he found and what I need to do.
Dude, I can’t stare at a fucking wall one more second, I’m fine. Anyway, Gloria helped, thanks to you. Do you want me to assemble a team?
I grit my teeth. I stare at Eden, sleeping peacefully in the bed.
You’ll have your peace, lovely.
No matter what.
