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“What do you know? Do you know who that was? The man I just shot.” She sits on the bed next to me, still staring blankly into the room. I rub her arms, trying to calm her down. That was a lot for her to take in.
“I hardly saw him, and he was wearing a balaclava. You did the right thing, though; he was here to cause trouble. I’m proud of you,” I tell her, trying to assure her she hasn’t done anything wrong. She saved me, us.
“How can you even talk like that?” she mutters blankly into the room. “Leo just said shoot, and I did.” Her voice is a whisper. And I can tell she’s trying to process everything that just happened. Of course she is. She is a nice girl from a good, well-off family. Before tonight, I’m sure she never would have even considered holding a gun.
“Of course you did. You were defending yourself. Cassandra, look at me.”
She turns her head, and her glassy eyes find mine.
I pull her into me, hugging her close. “This is a different world to what you’re used to. Sometimes things happen. He was here tonight to cause trouble. He came into Leo’s house to hurt us, and he got what he deserved. You don’t have to worry. The boys will protect you. No one will ever know what you did.”
She blinks back at me. “But I will.”
“You have to try to forget. If you’re going to be with me, things like this are going to happen. I tried to walk away from all of this years ago, but it’s hard when this is all you know. You can’t go back. These boys are my family.”
She blinks back at me, confusion in her features. “How? I didn’t know you were even friends.”
“I have been friends with Kobe my whole life.”
“So, you’re a thug? Under the thumb of the Acevedo gang?”
“I’m still the same person you have always known.”
“Tell me the truth. Why did you come back here this year?”
Because I was finally allowed to, not that I can tell her that. “I came back for a lot of reasons. Ma is unwell again, and a coaching job came up. It was a good opportunity. The timing was just right.”
“As a cover for what you’re really doing?”
“No. As a job I have always wanted to do. I’m not involved here with what these guys are doing. Not really, anyway.” I pause, wondering if I should tell her the truth or not. After what happened today, there hardly seems like any point in keeping it from her. She’s still here with me after everything that has happened. But I also don’t know how much I can tell her without her freaking out completely. “And I came back for you.” I opt to tell her a truth that I can.
She stares at me for an extended time. “Okay,” she says slowly, like I gave her the answer she needed. “This is a lot.”
“I’ll tell you anything you need to know. I just need you to promise me you won’t run. I won’t lose you again. When I thought I was going to... Yesterday scared me. I need to know you're right here with me.”
“It scared me too. When Jett showed me the photo of you, I couldn't stop thinking the worst. Please never do that to me again.”
“I don’t plan on it. So, is that a promise that you will stay, even if things get hard? We’re in this together now?” I need to hear her say it.
“I’m not going anywhere.” She leans in, her lips brushing mine, but she’s trembling, and I pull her into me, kissing her properly with desperation, wrapping my arms around her so she knows she is safe with me. I couldn’t be sure she would stay today after she found out what I’m involved in. I wanted her to see it for herself, but not like this. But if she is still here and making promises to me after being thrown in the deep end, then maybe we can do this.
She pulls back from me, her glassy eyes staring into mine. She looks like she wants to say something, but she doesn’t know how. “I need to get out of these clothes. Do you think you’re well enough to take a shower with me? I need to get this blood off me before I freak out even more than I already am.”
I underestimated her. I always knew she was determined, but she is strong as well, not some princess like her daddy thinks. She can handle this, and with me, she will.
My head spins a little as I stand up, and she takes hold of my side. “Are you alright? Maybe you need to stay in bed,” she tells me, her voice full of concern.
But this is what she needs right now, and that is all I care about. The spinning stops as I straighten up. “I’m better than I thought I would be. And right now, I don’t care. My girl needs me, and I want to give her whatever she needs.”
We slip into the attached bathroom, and she strips off my clothes, while I undo her silky dress, letting it pool on the tile floor. She turns on the tap as I watch her. She’s so beautiful. A shudder of fear runs through me when I think of what could have happened if the asshole who broke in here got hold of her. I will never let anyone near her again. She just made a promise not to run, and my promise to her is that I will protect her.
She stands under the steaming water, letting it run over her hair. Once she is totally wet, I watch as she squirts body wash in her hand and rubs it over her body. She holds her hands out for me to join her. She must be wondering why I haven’t, but I could stand here and watch her shower all day.
I step under the water, enjoying the way the heat feels on my aching muscles. I feel like I have played a weeklong game of football, every inch of my body aching. As the water slides over me, she follows it with her hands slowly, like she’s trying to memorize every little detail of my body. Her hand stops when she reaches my dick. She strokes me, her eyes rising to meet mine. “Are you okay? I can stop if you’re not up to it, you know, with your sore head and all.”
She doesn’t know the half of it, but there is no way in hell I would turn her down at a time like this. “You’re not reacting how I thought you would. Where are the dramatics? The waterworks?”
She tilts her head, still stroking me, then she lowers to her knees. “I don’t know. I guess I’m as fucked in the head as you. And somehow, this all just makes sense.”
