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“I got you this.” I opened the lid and revealed a slice of chocolate cake. “Thought you might be tired of hospital food.”
Her eyes open wide. “Ooh…getting shot isn’t so bad when you get a fat piece of cake.”
I smiled slightly even though I didn’t feel that same joy in my heart. I set the dessert off to the side before scooting closer to her bed so we could hold hands. It was the most affection we could have because I couldn’t hug her or get her out of bed. It was important for her incision to heal, for the rest of her body to begin working normally again.
Her eyes turned apologetic as she realized the pain her words caused. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. I’ll bring you anything you want.”
“Anything?” she asked playfully.
“Yes.” I squeezed her hand. “Anything at all.”
She stared at me for a while with a slight smile on her lips. Her eyes were full of endless love, and she looked at me in a way no one else ever had. Because it was love, not infatuation, not lust. And I could honestly say no one except her had ever loved me.
I wanted to take her home and take care of her myself, but I had to keep waiting for the permission of the doctors. I tried to make the best of it by bringing her different foods and games to keep her mind busy.
“Damien?”
“Yes, Annabella?”
“Why don’t you go home and get some rest? You look exhausted, like you haven’t slept since the very first night when all this happened.”
My gaze fell down to our joined hands, and I stared at her small fingernails. “I won’t leave you.”
“I’ll be fine, Damien.”
I shook my head. “I’m not leaving you alone. Ever. Not until we get home…”
She stared into my eyes as if she could see the effects of my exhaustion from the accumulated days. My shower and change of clothes weren’t enough to mask my fatigue, my bloodshot eyes, and my aged skin. “Hades can sit with me.”
I tried not to lose my temper because she meant well, but there was no way in hell I would let some other man watch my woman so I could fucking sleep. “You’re my woman. Not his.”
She would normally continue to argue with me, but she let it go this time. She probably understood how much I’d been through since Liam pulled the trigger. Her thumb brushed across my knuckles as she held me. “Did the doctors say when I could leave?”
“Two days.”
“Well, maybe you can sleep in here with me.” She patted the sheets.
I gave a slight smile. “Yeah. Maybe.”
She hadn’t mentioned Liam or the circumstances of the gunshot that had almost claimed her life since she woke up. Maybe it traumatized her, or maybe she knew it traumatized me. But now, she brought up the subject neither one of us wanted to discuss. “Did you kill him?”
It was a loaded question, and I had to take my time before I responded. “How would you feel if my answer was yes?”
Her playfulness drained away as her eyes turned serious. “I don’t know… Did you?”
That wasn’t the answer I wanted to hear. “I got you here as quickly as I could. Haven’t seen him since.”
The relief was unmistakable. “It was an accident…”
I tried to keep my anger in check since she was lying in a hospital bed. “That bullet was meant for me, Annabella. If you hadn’t jumped in the way, he would’ve hit my femoral artery, and I would be dead right now. That wasn’t a fucking accident.”
She couldn’t handle the rage in my eyes, so she looked away. “You’re right…”
Finally.
“I hope after all this, he finally lets it go and moves on. And if he doesn’t…you have no choice.”
I finally got her blessing to do what I should’ve done in the beginning. She shouldn’t have almost died for it to happen, but at least it did. I could remove the biggest obstacle to our happiness guilt-free.
“I’m surprised he hasn’t come to the hospital.”
“He knows I’m here. And he knows I’ll kill him if he shows his face.”
She dropped her gaze, her tone turning softer. “I’m so sorry. If I hadn’t asked you not to kill him, none of this would’ve happened. I could’ve died…or you could’ve died. It was a mistake, and I apologize.” She had so much guilt, she couldn’t look me in the eye. Full of shame and sadness, she was a mess.
I wanted to stay mad at her, but I just couldn’t. She’d dragged her feet with Liam and denied me what I wanted, but at the end of the day, she’d jumped in front of a bullet to spare my life. She chose me over him, unequivocally. “It’s okay, Annabella. It was a complicated situation, and anyone else would’ve struggled, given the same parameters. You guys had a long relationship, and it’s hard to wish death on anybody…even if they deserve it.”
