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“I swear I’ll fucking kill him—”
She grimaced, lowering her gaze to her lap. I swallowed, already knowing I wasn’t going to like what she had to say. The way she avoided eye contact. The way her fingers trembled as she picked on those nails.
“I would have,” she whispered at last. “I made a deal. If you go free. I do as he says.”
Something in me clenched, air barely passing through my lungs as my chest tightened with sudden emotion. Fuck her and her big heart. How could she even thinkthatwas okay? Trading her freedom for mine?
“Kaylie,” my voice was just a raw whisper.
She took my hand, squeezing. “It was my fault, I had to—”
“No!” I snapped, making her jump. “You didn’thaveto. It wasn’t your fault.”
“But I did!” she shot back. “Okay? And yes, it was. You wouldn’t be there if it wasn’t for me. You wouldn’t be hurt. You nearly died!”
I couldn’t deny the truth any more than she could. But I never blamed her. Not really.
“Well, I didn’t have to marry him because they told me you didn’t make it. I blew off the deal. Alex had no choice but to let me go. He was so scared of me exposing his sexuality to his father, he’d do anything. I used that. I had to.”
“You did the right thing.”
Her big blue eyes sought mine. “Did I?” Her doubt made me love her more, and I fucking hated it. She was too good. Too goddamn innocent to sit next to me.
“Don’t you fucking dare to feel bad. You did what you had to. What anyone would have done.”
A small smile crept onto her lips, and she nodded. “Whatyouwould have done?”
I flashed her a twisted grin. “You don’t want to know what I would have done had I been there.”
She stared at me, holding my gaze long enough to make my pulse quicken. I swallowed to the sudden shift in the air. When she finally looked away, my heart throbbed in rhythm with the shoulder.
“Are we safe here?” she asked, and I let out a sharp breath.
“No.” No need to lie. But were we safe anywhere? Staying in one place too long was bound to lead them to us, but at the moment, I couldn’t think of moving. Of even getting up from this bed, and I was sure Kaylie felt the same. She looked as exhausted as I felt.
“Hey,” I reached out, letting my fingers skim her cheek. “You’re safe withme. I swear to God.”
She blinked away tears, and I had to look away. Lying wasn’t my thing. Neither was sugarcoating and pretty much all the bullshit people said to make each other feel better. But I didn’t lie. I meant every word. Shewassafe with me, she had to be. I’d protect her with my fucking life.
*
I skipped the heavy sleeping pills, and the next morning, I woke up with a clear head and a fucking throbbing shoulder.
A brief look at my watch made me groan.Morningwas a bit of a stretch. It was barely four a.m.Fuck.
Kaylie was asleep, curled up on her side of the bed. I rolled my head to look at her in the moonlit room. Her black hair was spread out across the pillow, and the blanket slipped off her, revealing soft white skin that seemed to glisten in the blue light seeping through the blinds. I traced the curves of her body with my gaze and warmth spread within me. I felt it. The rush of blood in my veins as my pulse picked up. My body coming alive as I imagined skimming a hand down her side, over her hips and down her slender thighs. She’d feel as soft as she looked. So fucking good. So perfect.
The urge to reach out, to actualize the fantasy, was hard to resist. She needed sleep. So did I, but it was fucking impossible when every little shift jolted me awake with a shooting hot pain stabbing through my arm.
I struggled to sit, already sweaty and panting for air from the simple shift in gravity. How could I promise her safety, when I could barely lift a finger to protect her?
My eyes landed on her despite my best effort not to give in to temptation. She was small. Delicate. And fucking delicious.Goddamnit. Pushing to my feet, I found my trousers and pulled them on, zipping them above the boner I refused to give in to.
My fucking need to make her mine had to wait.
Little less than an hour later, Johnny’s pills kicked in, and the relief made me sleepy all over again. But there was no time to sleep. A few calls later, I had a location. A little town just half an hour from here.
Johnny opened his door almost before I knocked, giving me a twisted grin as he took in my disheveled hair and tired eyes. “Can’t sleep?”
