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Delphine’s staring wide-eyed and terrified back at me, in her hair scarf and robe. She must’ve woken up and noticed I wasn’t in bed and come looking for me…
“Phi, don’t ever sneak up on me like that,” I croak, feeling out of sync with my own body. I’d come so close to reacting in a way that would’ve been very bad the second I discovered it was her. “What are you doing down here?”
“I can ask you the same thing. It’s a quarter past three…”
“Isn’t it obvious?”
“Your knuckles. They’re bleeding.”
“Aren’t they always?”
“Jon, what’s wrong?” She steps toward me and takes hold of my left hand anyway. Her soft touch chases away the burn from the skin splitting open. She runs her fingers along the bruising with her brows knitted as if she’s a doctor at the ER. “I’ll grab the first aid kit.”
“They’re fine. Phi—”
Before she can rush off, it’s me who holds onto her. I don’t let her release my hand. I intertwine our fingers and reel her toward me, pulling her up against me. I’m sweaty and panting from my workout, but now that she’s here, I don’t want her to go.
“You’re scaring me. Your… breathing is off. More than from your workout. Your heart is beating like crazy.” She places her hand on my chest and stares up at me with worry swimming in her brown eyes, framed by the delicateness of her lashes.
So beautiful.
Not the first time I’ve been thrown by her beauty. But I take the moment to appreciate it, filling up her face with my hands and touching my forehead to hers.
“I have a lot on my mind,” I say.
“Tell me. I’m here.”
Delphine leans in and presses her lips to mine in a tender kiss. She doesn’t pull away. Her hands wander, skimming over my chest, up my shoulders, and tracing my jawline. Gentle reassurance she’s here, she’s mine.
I welcome the soft touches, curling her hand within my own. “You should be sleeping.”
“The bed’s empty without you. We go back together. Boxing at three a.m. isn’t really a thing.”
“That punching bag is my father’s face.”
Understanding dawns in her eyes and she strokes a thumb along the clench of my bearded jaw. “You’re going to win. I’m going to help you.”
“You’re not involved.”
“Of course I’m involved. I love you and we’re in this together. Remember what you said? If someone fucks with you, then they fuck with me too—”
“That’s not how I meant it, Phi. This isn’t your fight.”
“But I want to fight with you,” she says, pressing her lips to mine. “By your side.”
“It’s not your place.”
“If you think I’m going to let you deal with this alone, you don’t know me as well as you think you do. When have I ever stood by when someone was fighting against evil? And your fatherisevil.”
“Which is why you won’t be involved.”
“Wouldn’t you rather me be involved under your supervision than me be involved behind your back?”
Leave it to Delphine to be clever enough to use this argument to twist the situation in her favor.
“Phi… you aren’t trying to rationalize your involvement.”
“That’s exactly what I’m doing—and I think I’m doing a damn good job. Risk mitigation, Jon. If I do so with your knowledge, you’re aware of my involvement. It’s a controlled situation, something an obsessive like you prefers. If I do so behind your back, it’s an uncontrolled situation, and I could be up to anything. Don’t you hate it when I sneak off against your wishes?”
