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Upstairs Ana is alive, and from what I witnessed, her husband seemed very happy to see her and her little round belly. We were both so lucky that we came through our trial in one piece. Things could have gone terribly wrong.
Thinking about Ana and the baby draws my thoughts back to the night I spent in Travis’ arms. My hands drift to my own flat stomach—we didn't use any protection last night.
I could be pregnant too.
Would Travis be happy if I am? I know I would be. I know there is nothing Travis wouldn’t do to keep us safe.
I just need to know how the smiling man from my nightmares factored into this whole thing.
The things he said about my mom… I need to know what my mother was to him.
Maybe it meant nothing. Maybe it was just the words of a madman. Maybe not… and that’s the part that worries me. My mom wasn’t the best after we lost my dad, but she was still my mom, and if there was a reason that man killed her I want to find out what it was.
The gravity of my thoughts brings scalding tears to my eyes, and before I know it I am sobbing. The fear and anxiety of the past few days bombards me again. The staggering relief. I came so close to never seeing Travis again. To never being held in his arms while he whispered his love against my skin.
The knowledge that we came so close to never being able to express exactly how much we love each other, almost breaks my heart. I can’t stop crying.
Part of me recognizes that I’m probably still in shock about the events of the previous days. I'm so lost in the storm of my emotions that I don't notice Travis entering the bathroom until he steps into the steamy glass enclosure and folds me against his naked body.
“Shh. It's over, baby. Everything is okay now.”
I stand weeping in the circle of his embrace, losing all sense of time. His rough hands trace a path from my shoulders to the swell of my hips and back. Over and over, he soothes me with his touch and his whispered words of love. When my tears run out I feel as weak and shaky as a newborn calf.
“You ready to go upstairs and see Ana now, Sweetpea?” he asks, pressing a kiss to my unbruised forehead. I do my best to smile at him, but the scab on my lip pulls painfully so instead I nod and turn to shut off the water.
We do have somewhere we are supposed to be even though I know we’d both prefer to stay right in these rooms.
Reluctantly we leave the cocoon of steam and stand under the heat light as Travis dries my skin with the fluffiest towel I can ever remember using. When we are both dry, he scoops me up and moves his mouth over mine as he carries me back into the bedroom to get ready for our day.
We are ahead of schedule, even after Travis used his mouth to make me forget about all the things worrying me. I’m relaxed and satisfied and happy that I woke up so early. We take the private elevator upstairs. The waitress from last night, Ellie, is pushing a cart into the service elevator when we reach the penthouse level. She lifts a tired hand and smiles at us before pressing a button and closing the doors behind her. Her shift should have ended half an hour ago.
“She looks tired,” It’s hard for me to see anyone obviously working too much. That was me for so long. I know how that kind of exhaustion wears a body down. I’m unsure how that is going to change now that I’m with Travis, but I am confident that he won’t allow me to work myself until I’m that drained ever again.
Travis enters the security code into the panel by the door and ushers me inside when it unlocks.
“Faye!” Ana throws her arms around me, taking me by surprise. Her face is bruised, her eyes and lips swollen like mine. I’m sad to see that someone hurt her, but her smile is radiant as she takes my hands and pulls me toward a dining room. I can see Blake and a tall dark-haired man, who must be Xavier, removing covers from the plates that Ellie just delivered. His face is all sharp planes, a furrowed brow, and lips that might be full if they weren’t pressed so tightly together. He looks up from his task and glares out the window toward the building we were held in.
As I trail in behind Ana his eyes lock on her and his stern face softens. He abandons the table and crosses to her side, guiding her to it and pulling out a chair for her to sit. His obvious affection as well as the love shining in her eyes makes my heart soar.
“X,” she says softly, placing her hand on his sleeve, “this is my friend Faye.”
His chocolate colored eyes sweep over my battered face and throat and he steps around the table, his hands outstretched to take mine.
“Thank you for watching out for my sunshine while she was away.” His hands hold mine and his voice rings with sincerity as he leans forward, pressing a soft kiss against my cheek.
I smile as best I can, a little overwhelmed by the intensity he radiates. I don’t really know what to say. I didn’t do that much for Ana, not as much as I wish I had, anyway. Neither of us was in a position to do much more than say a kind word and walk to the parking lot together.
“I'm sorry you were hurt because of my family,” he continues as he pulls out a chair across from Ana, motioning for me to sit. Travis pulls out the chair beside me and sits, his warm hand cupping the back of my neck. His thumb rubs soothing circles under my hair, sending a ripple of pleasure down my spine.
“About that,” Travis says, “what have you found out about the man who had Faye?”
The smiling man. I want to know. I need to know, but I'm scared, too.
“He wanted something,” I offer. “A ledger of some sort. He thought I took it when I ran. Does that mean anything to you?”
Xavier nods, sighing like a man carrying an immense weight. I suppose with a family like his he probably feels like he is. “That man was my father's right-hand man. His
executioner. Salvatore Morelli. I don’t know everything about what happened to your family. My father didn’t ever trust me with the full truth of his business. He knew that since I was a boy I didn’t approve of the things he was involved in.”
