“So she doesn’t remember anyone? Her dad? Kaylee…me?” I choke over my last word.
If I were honest, I’d admit I’m not overly worried about her forgetting me. Memories can be recreated minus the nightmares that taint them. If she doesn’t know who I am, she doesn’t know the lengths I went to make her mine. To her, I’m not a killer or a once-life inmate.
I’m just a man crushing on a beautiful woman.
It’s kind of perfect when you truly think about it.
Rocco halfheartedly shrugs. “She knows of her dad and Kaylee, but they skimmed over the bad parts like how they died and why. Dr. Nesser believed Demi’s mental stability was as important as her physical capabilities. When he noticed a drastic change in her temperament after hypnosis therapies, he realized unlocking her memories could be more harmful than her living without them.” He licks his lips before hitting me with the big stuff. “He believes Demi did the same thing as a child. It’s why she couldn’t remember Kaylee.” He leans in even closer to ensure his words are only for me. “Do you remember Demi telling you the story about how she ran after her father and Col got into a tussle at her family home?”
I jerk up my chin.
“Did she happen to mention she stumbled onto Kaylee’s body?”
As I shake my head, my heart pains for Demi. That was years after Kaylee was taken. She would have been badly decomposed.
“After she came to—”
“She passed out?” I butt in, too shocked not to interrupt.
Rocco shakes his head. “She was knocked out by one of Col’s goons.” Air whizzes out of my nose as I struggle to keep my emotions in check. “But when she came to in the hospital, she had no recollection about anything that had happened that morning and many before it.”
“So her dad protected her by keeping them locked away,” I fill in, finally clicking on. When Rocco nods for the second time, I ask, “Is that why she doesn’t know who I am? Are they saying I’m a bad part of her life?”
“No, Ox,” Rocco replies without pause for thought. “I would have killed the fucker if he even hinted at that.” His eyes reveal he isn’t lying. “But I can understand how it would have been hard for them to explain how influential you were to Demi without introducing all the bad stuff. That’s why they figured it was best to wait until you couldshowher instead of telling her.”
“They?”
I assume he’s talking about Dimitri and Smith but am proven wrong when he nudges his head to the sidewalk outside. Although her face is hidden by a large umbrella, Agent Machini has an identifying aura. It’s been even more blistering since Kendall was returned stateside two weeks ago, and it could go head to head with Caidyn’s natural charisma. He’s standing at her side with begging, please-don’t-kill-me eyes.
“They didn’t want to keep this secret from you, Ox, but at the end of the day, they had to do what was best for Demi. She had to come first.” I drift my eyes back to Rocco when he mutters, “Just like you needed time to get your head screwed on straight before I dropped this bomb on you. If I had brought you here the instant Smith unearthed Demi’s location, you wouldn’t have gotten the reaction you did from her because for some fucked-up reason, she finds this more attractive…” he whacks me in the chest, “… than this.” He waves his hand over my face, doubling my smile.
I’ve endured blow after blow after blow the past five years, but all the sorrow lifted the instant Demi’s eyes locked with mine.
She made me whole again.
“Will her memories ever return?” I ask after a couple of seconds of quiet deliberating.
Rocco shrugs, truly unsure.
His shoulders land back to the original spot with only a second to spare. Demi has arrived at our table with a tray of coffee. It almost topples out of her hand when she spots Agent Machini and Caidyn outside.
My emotions don’t know which way to swing when Caidyn brushes off Demi’s wordless invitation for him to join us with a shake of his head before he mouths to her that he’ll see her tomorrow.
She pokes her tongue at him before she lowers her eyes to mine. They’re grinning with mischievousness, but lust doesn’t form in them until our eyes collide. “Don’t pay him any attention. He’s a little weird with out-of-town folk.”
“Weird or jealous?” I ask Demi when she places a mug down in front of me.
While taking a moment to relish the jealousy in my tone, she adds a dash of milk and four clumps of sugar to the dark concoction steaming in front of me. Only once she has me on tenterhooks does she release my jealousy back into the wild. “Weird, of course. Ben is my best friend. We’veneverbeen like that.”
The hardness her frisky wink causes the front of my pants won’t stop me from asking, “Ben?”
Caidyn’s middle name is Benjamin, so it would be an easy alias for him to pull off. It’s also less obvious than Caidyn. If I had to pick a pseudonym for him to use, I would have chosen Benjamin.
Demi nods again before she serves Rocco his coffee. A hopeful grin tugs at my lips when she only plops two clumps of sugar into his mug. I always have my coffee with four clumps. Did she remember that, or was it just a fluke?
Eager to find out, I lock my eyes with Demi’s, which happen to be slowly drifting over my face, before asking, “Would you mind cooking us something? We drove straight through from Vegas. I’m starved.”
“I’d love to.” Her smile is brighter than the twinkle her eyes got when she realized I caught her stare. It’s amazing how sharing she is with her emotions now she isn’t afraid to share them. She likes that she was busted ogling me just as much as I love that she can’t help but stare. “Is there anything in particular you’d like to eat?”
