“Call me if she spikes a fever or is in a lot of pain,” Scarlet instructed as she packed up her supplies a short time later. “Based on what she’s been through and how long she went without medical attention, she was lucky,” she added, sweeping a hand over my girl’s forehead in an affectionate gesture I’d seen her make many times with her children. “Your girl’s a fighter.”
I knew this, and yet I didn’t want Francesca to have to fight for anything from here on out. I wanted her to live easy. I wanted to be the one who gave her that.
“Thanks, Scarlet. Tell Cole I’ll check in tomorrow.”
“Will do,” she replied, giving my arm a gentle squeeze before she saw herself out.
I left Francesca only long enough to secure the apartment. It was barely dinnertime but I ditched my clothes, donned a pair of sweats, and crawled into bed, careful not to disturb her. I hadn’t slept for twenty-four hours and they’d been hellacious at best. I wasn’t surprised when I quickly found myself drifting off, looking forward to the day I could pull my girl into my arms—where she belonged.
Chapter 10
FRANCESCA
At first I wasn’t sure what had woken me. Then the cry sounded again, broken and strangled as it bounced from the walls.
“Baby, Francesca.” A familiar voice spoke urgently next to my ear as a large hand cupped my face gently. “Wake up.”
Holy hell, was that sound coming from me?
I jolted, trying to fight off the hand that touched me, but was held back by muscular arms. “Francesca, it’s me.”
“Maddox?” My voice was a confused rasp as I fought to come to, my head fuzzy, body pounding with pain.
“Yeah, beautiful. It’s me. You’re safe. You’re in my apartment in Hawthorne. Try to relax, baby. I don’t want you pulling out your stitches.”
I lay back on the pillow, the past twenty-four hours coming back in flashes. A truck stop? Maddox’s concerned face leaning over me. A woman’s voice speaking kindly to me. I shuddered as the memory of the fire and the warehouse came to the forefront much more vividly than anything else. I couldn’t begin to makes sense of it all. I wasn’t sure I ever would.
As though protecting itself, my mind once again went hazy and I fell back into a dreamless sleep.
When I woke again, I remembered immediately where I was. My body ached but my head was much clearer. For a few minutes I lay there, eyes closed, listening to the muted noises of breakfast being made in the kitchen. Maddox’s quiet cursing made me smile despite myself. Clearly whatever he was attempting in the kitchen wasn’t going well.
I burrowed deeper into the pillow, breathing in the intoxicating smell of Maddox mixed with the comforting smell of coffee wafting from the kitchen.
After a few tries I opened my swollen lids, taking a look around his bedroom. As I would have guessed, it was simple, with a dresser on the far wall, one bedside table, and nothing on the walls. He’d told me once he didn’t spend much time at his place, a statement made obvious by the lack of personal effects anywhere in sight.
A glance down my bandage-riddled body had me grimacing. Dressed in my bra and panties, my body looked like a war zone. A wave of crippling vulnerability swept over me at the realization that I’d been laid bare in more ways than one. I felt like a pain-riddled shell, reduced to nearly nothing.
I pulled the covers up to my neck just as Maddox peeked his head through the door.
“You’re up.” His expression was soft as his eyes hit mine, the tenderness I saw there nearly my undoing.
I merely nodded, knowing that if I spoke I’d lose it.
He stepped further into the room, sitting carefully on the edge of the bed closest to me. “How do you feel?”
It was such a simple question and yet, I had no idea how to answer him.
As though sensing my inner turmoil, he switched gears. “Hungry?” he asked hopefully.
“A little.” I nodded, eyeing him warily. “I thought you couldn’t cook.”
He chuckled. “I can’t. I was trying to make you an omelet but it didn’t work out so well.” He grimaced. “But that’s all right, ’cause you’re in for a treat. I butter the best fuckin’ toast you’ve ever had.”
Despite myself, I cracked a smile. “I’m sure you do. Do you, uh, have something for me to wear?” The realization that I had no possessions left after the fire wasn’t something I could grapple with just then.
He held up a T-shirt and some boxers I hadn’t seen folded at the edge of the bed. “These will be pretty big on you.”
Judging by the way I was feeling, big was good. I longed to be enveloped, swallowed whole by cotton.
