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She frowns at me for a second before her eyes grow wider with understanding. She smacks my shoulder, and I grab her hand with a laugh and lead her down the stairs.
“You, Valen Ward, are trouble. If I were wearing panties, they’d be soaked right now.”
I stop mid-step and slowly turn to face her. She grins from ear to ear, looking very proud of herself.
“Well played.”
She curtsies, holding the skirt of her dress with one hand.
With a shake of my head, I walk her down the rest of the stairs, grabbing her jacket from the hook, and out to the garage. “Which one shall we take?”
She purses her lips before pointing at the Range Rover.
“I thought you’d go for something faster,” I admit as we walk over to the car, and I hold the door open for her.
“Nah, I went something with plenty of room in the back,” she says casually as she sits in the passenger seat.
I curse when I close her door, adjusting my cock before walking around the car and climbing into the driver’s seat.
“You did that on purpose.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She looks at me innocently.
I narrow my eyes at her, making her laugh, before I start the car and head out. She seems lighter today, more carefree, despite her earlier scare. I’m not sure if that’s because she feels safer now, but it eases something inside me. Her forgetting me has been the worst fucking thing in the world. Every time I’ve felt her pulling away, I’ve held on tighter.
But now that she’s relying on me, even if it’s using me to feel safe, it means one more string binds us together. And right now, I need all the strings I can get. I need to tie her to me so intricately that even if she wanted to leave, she couldn’t.
I take her to a restaurant that’s an hour away. The Cove sits right on the water’s edge and is a place that has some sentimental value to me. When we pull up, I walk around to the passenger side of the car and help her out before guiding her inside with my hand at the small of her back.
She leans into me slightly, and it makes something in my chest pull tight. It’s something she’s always done—something I’ve always loved. I’m protective of her. I can’t help it. There is something about this tiny woman that draws out all my protective instincts. She makes me feel like a fucking god when, to everyone else, I’m the villain.
“This place looks amazing. Have you been here before?”
I look down at her as I open the glass door. “Yeah, Rue, I’ve been here before.”
I don’t say anything outright, but the tone of my voice must have given me away because she stops and swallows, a look of pain on her face.
“I’ve been here before, too, haven’t I?”
I trail my fingers across her cheek. The smooth skin beneath my calluses always seems so delicate and fragile. I’ve seen the same cheek littered with bruises and streaked with tears. Even then, I’ve never been able to keep my hands off her.
“I’m sorry. I know I hurt you every time I don’t remember?—”
I cut her off with a soft kiss. “You don’t get to take on my pain too. We will work through it and come out stronger on the other side. It’s just hard being so fucking in love with someone when they still look at you like you’re a stranger.”
A tear slips free and slides down her cheek. I catch it with my thumb as a cough draws our attention.
“Sorry, sir, but do you have a reservation?”
“I have my own table here.”
“Sir—”
“The name is Valen Ward,” I tell her before she continues. Her eyes widen a fraction before they move over me, her interest flaring at my name.
I roll my eyes and ignore her, taking Rue’s hand and leading her past the hostess and out to the veranda. I pull out a chair for her, and instead of sitting opposite her, I move the other chair so that I’m sitting beside her.
A waiter comes out as soon as I sit. “Mr. Ward, can I get you and your guest something to drink?”
