He nodded, deflating against me. “I want to sleep again for now,” he said quietly. “I’m tired still.”
“I imagine you are after everything you revealed, bub,” Michelle soothed. She curled her hand around the back of his head and pulled it forward just a bit, so he rested against her chest. “Go back to sleep. We’ve got you. You’re safe here.”
My heart clenched when he whispered, “I know, Mommy.”
Michelle’s eyes suddenly watered. I leaned over his head to kiss her softly, hoping that was enough to soothe her. This was everything she’d wanted—everything we’dbothwanted. And seeing her so fucking happy it brought her to tears… Being patient had been so fucking worth it.
I wasn’t able to go back to sleep, and Michelle wasn’t either. Corvus, however, passed out between us, soft snores leaving his parted lips. If what he’d told us was anything to go by, the boyneededsleep. The dark circles I’d seen beneath his eyes the first day I met him made so much more sense now.
Eventually, we’d need to get him to talk to Hudson and Kreed about that day. He couldn’t keep going on like this. But for now, we’d take care of him and give him a safe space to rest until we could address the issue of his lack of sleep at the root cause.
My phone suddenly rang on the bedside table. Cursing, I quickly snatched it up and answered the unknown number, so it wouldn’t disturb Corvus. Didn’t seem to matter. The boy didn’t even budge. He really was exhausted down to his bones.
“Hello?” I asked, keeping my voice low.
“Are you Kip?” a man asked.
I sat up and eased out of bed, heading for the bathroom, so I could remain close but still not risk disturbing Corvus.
“I am,” I answered, shutting the bathroom door behind me.
“This is Hudson, Corvus’s best friend,” the man said. “Have you seen him?”
“He’s here,” I said on a sigh. Of course, our boy hadn’t let anyone know where he was going. Fuck, what if something had happened to him? That would definitely be his first punishment once boundaries were discussed. I understood he’d been spiraling, but Ineededhim to be more conscious of his reckless decisions.
“Fuck,” Hudson swore. “Is he okay? Can I talk to him?”
“He’s asleep. He showed up on my doorstep last night completely hammered. But I’ll have him call you when he wakes up.”
“Okay. He left his phone here. His car is gone. I didn’t…” His voice trailed off, but I heard the worry in his voice, even if he tried to hide it. He’d thought his best friend was hurt somewhere.
“I understand,” I assured him. I’d have lost my mind if I woke up and found someone I cared about missing, yet their phone was still at home. “But he’s safe, Hudson.”
“Okay,” he said again. “Thanks.”
With that, he hung up. I made my way out of the bathroom, placed my phone back on the nightstand, then I stared down at Corvus, drawing in a deep breath before slowly releasing it.
“Everything okay?” Michelle quietly asked.
I nodded and eased back into bed behind Corvus, wrapping our boy in my arms again. “That was his best friend. I’m assuming he got my number from Corvus’s phone… which he fucking left at home last night.”
Michelle blew out a disappointed breath. “Clearly, that’ll have to be one of his rules—his phone needs to be with him at all times.”
I nodded in agreement.
“We’ll deal with it later,tsuma,” I promised. “Why don’t you try getting more rest, too? He’s safe here.” I smiled softly at her. “I’ve got you both.”
She nodded. “I know,” she said quietly. “But okay.” She closed her eyes, snuggling closer to Corvus. “I love you.”
Didn’t matter how long we were married, I never got tired of hearing those words from her.
“I love you, too.”
Chapter Thirteen
Michelle
“Mommy?” Corvus quietly mumbled against my chest. I pulled back a little to look down at him, smiling softly when I found him already looking up at me through tired, bleary eyes.
