My father smiled, and it was so genuine that it nearly brought tears to my eyes.“Well, whatever you do, wherever you go, and however you choose to believe, we will always be here for you, Elisabeth.”
“Always,” my mother echoed.
I believed them, and that had me thinking about Ramiel’s earlier offer.I knew that there was no way that I’d ever let Lazarus become the sacrificial lamb in this battle to save me from whatever was going to happen next.I also knew that if I told Lazarus that his sacrifice would save me, he’d throw himself on the sword, but that wasn’t how real love worked.Real love worked exactly how my parents were looking at me now.
It was unconditional.
“Well, how about you guys feed me while I tell you all about the man I met,” I joked.“It’ll make for some fun dinner conversation.”
My mother let out a squeal while my father just grumbled, “Please tell me that he’s way better than that Gardner fellow.”
“He’s nothing like Gardner,” I assured him.“In fact, I don’t think that there’s anyone else on the planet quite like Gardner Betrand.”
“Thank goodness for that,” my father huffed
“Oh, I can’t wait to hear all about this new man,” my mother gushed.“He has to be something if you’re telling us about him.”She threw me a wink.“After all, you’re not one to waste our time with nonsense.”
“As long as he’s not like that Gardner fellow, I’m fine with it,” my father huffed as he stood up.
If they only knew.
Chapter 24
Lazarus~
I felt a cool whisp of air dancing across my skin, but that shouldn’t be.A month later, Elisabeth was practically already living with me, so between my body heat, the covers, and the way that I refused to let her go while we slept, it shouldn’t feel cold in here.
Still, it did...
I glanced over at Elisabeth, and she was still sleeping quietly, her breaths even, a steady sound of contentment.She was also safely tucked in my arms, the comforter covering her naked frame, pajamas pointless between us.No matter how tired or how long our days felt, I always slid inside her at night, and she always let me.In fact, it was like she could sense that I’d go crazy if she told me no.
When I felt the cold breeze again, I looked up, squinting my eyes to see if I’d accidentally left the window cracked or something.Unlike Elisabeth, I didn’t live in the country, surrounded by trees, peace, and a lot of yardwork.I lived in town, a luxurious condo that was pretty close to being a penthouse if it’d been big enough to take up an entire floor.However, it was on the top floor, away from all the traffic that accompanied apartment complexes and condominium buildings.
At any rate, being on the top floor of a ten-story building, it wasn’t often that I worried about the windows because one could hardly break in, but I’d been very vigilant about checking all the doors and windows before going to bed, because ever since Elisabeth had come back into my life, I’d been in protective mode with her.In fact, it was bordering on obsession at this point.
Not wanting to wake her up, I slid my arm out from under her as slowly as I could, and because I knew the layout of my home like it was second nature to me, I didn’t have to turn on any lights to make my way over to the windows.So as quietly as I could, I checked both windows, and when I found that they were firmly secured, I glanced over at the doorway, wondering if the cool air was coming from there.
