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Everyone in my family thought it was weird that I was the one giving it to her, however.
We had an entire team of counselors and other support staff who would have taken shifts keeping Nishia company, helping her through her nightmares, and assisting with all her other needs.Yet I could barely bring myself to leave her room to take calls, let alone the hospital.
I tried to make excuses.
She could still be in danger.Someone needed to be there to protect her in case the monsters who dumped her came back.But there were others who could have taken turns standing outside her room to ensure no one got to her who wasn’t supposed to.
She was scared and only trusted me.It was true.Her nightmares were intense, but as long as I was there to soothe her through them, she eventually drifted into a more restful sleep.But our counselors would have been a better fit for helping her through her traumatic dreams and would have taught her coping methods to get her through the worst of her night terrors in the future.
“Did River help you with the…underwear thing?”I asked, seeing the small pile of panties my cousin had left behind.
Pink filled Nishia’s cheeks.“No.”
“Right.”Clearing my throat, I rounded the bed.“I’ll just ask the nurse—”
“The nurses hate me,” she said, causing me to pause midstep to turn to face her again.Her head was lowered, causing her dark hair to fall in her face.“They rush in and out of here like I’m contagious or something.Even when one of them helps me shower, they try to get out as soon as possible so they don’t have to deal with me.”
I grimaced, knowing it wasn’t her they wanted away from in a hurry.
The nurses were nervous around me.
Scared.
In a small town like Creswell Springs, everyone knew one another, and not a single person in the county didn’t know my family and me.Some of my cousins and MC brothers were adored, but others, like me, tended to make the residents of our little town twitchy.They suspected the dark things we’d done, could sense the madness just beneath the surface, and attempted to keep as much distance between themselves and us as possible for fear that our true natures would rub off on them.
“That isn’t your fault, little fairy,” I admitted.“I tend to make people nervous.And since I’m practically always in here with you…”
I trailed off with a shrug while Nishia just looked at me like I had two heads.“Why would they be nervous around you?That’s insane.You’re the sweetest guy I have ever met.”
Fuck, I loved the innocent way she looked up at me, so damn trustingly.I wanted to be the version of the man that she thought I was.But the nurses had reason to be scared.Not only of me, but of many of my MC brothers.Like Max.He freaked everyone out, except for his wife, Delaney, who thought the psychotic bastard hung the moon.
Max had his first kill at fifteen, to save his sister from one of our enemies.Word got around that he was trigger-happy, that he enjoyed dishing out pain—which wasn’t a lie.When someone needed “interrogating,” Max was the one they brought in.I’d watched him in action plenty of times and had picked up a few pointers for when I made the men who chased and harmed the residents of Sanctuary scream and cry and beg for their mothers before I eventually put them out of their misery.
What no one knew was that I’d surpassed Max in the art of torture.It had become fun for me.I enjoyed finding new ways to deliver the justice the law wasn’t able to deal out to the motherfuckers who’d hurt the women who became my responsibility to protect and keep safe.
Nishia should have been just as leery of me as the rest of the residents of Creswell Springs.Her fight-or-flight should have been ringing bells like a five-alarm fire.After everything she’d been put through, the dangers she’d faced basically living on her own in NYC since her mother was no doubt too high to care for her when she was younger, Nishia should have been terrified of the mere sight of me.The madness, the dark evil that lived inside me and grew more sinister with each abusive ex I rid the world of, clung to me like a living entity.
Yet she’d told River I was sweet and kind.She’d defended me to my cousin and kicked her out of her hospital room to protect me.My itty-bitty fairy was full of fire and sass and so many damn surprises that she kept me on my toes every day.
And I fucking loved it.
I loved that she wasn’t afraid of me, even though she should have been running in the opposite direction.
I loved that when she looked up at me with those big, beautiful eyes, they were full of trust and all the hope that I would keep her safe from every possible danger.
Loved that she’d asked me to stay when River was fitting her for a bra.
I wanted to fall on my knees and bow at her feet for putting so much faith in me.Because I would have put a bullet in my own head before I hurt her.And I sure as fuck would destroy every predator who considered her prey.
But she needed to know the truth—at least some of it.“I’m part of the Angel’s Halo MC.Most of my MC brothers are revered around here.They own many of the small businesses, and one of my cousins is even married to the sheriff.But some of us, like me, make people uncomfortable.”
“Why?”
“We have a…reputation, I guess you could say.River wasn’t kidding about me being a brooding asshole.I tend to sit back and observe rather than interact with anyone, and that can cause people to make assumptions.”
“Fuck them,” she grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest.Now that she was getting healthier, they had been able to remove the central line that had been in her neck and put an IV in her hand that wasn’t in a cast.It wasn’t attached to anything, but they had left the port there just in case she might need fluids again, and they were able to give her medication through it instead of having to stick her with a needle each time.“People suck, Jack.Don’t pay attention to any of them because their opinion doesn’t matter.I know the truth.”
“And what’s that, little fairy?”I asked curiously.
