AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She laughs. “You’re so needy, boss. Why do you always want me here? You’re going to get sick of me.”
I hold her close. “I’ll never get sick of you. And I want you here because I want to come home to you every night.”
“So we’ll split time. Come to my house and some nights we can come here.”
“But this is closer to work. It makes more sense to be here.”
“What are you really saying, Vince?”
Shrugging, I try to play cool and not get exasperated that she’s already fighting me on this. Again. “Nothing.” Stroking her neck with my fingers. “We can stay in bed longer each morning since this is closer to the station.”
She pulls back from me. “No, what you’re really saying is that you’re trying to control me. We’ve already fought about this. Why are we here again?”
“I’m not fighting. Why won’t you just listen?”
“Why won’tyoujust listen? I don’t need protection. I need an equal.”
“But Iwantto protect you! Let me! It’s not me being controlling, it’s my job as the man. I just want to be there for you, and help you.” My heart is racing. Why can’t she understand this?
“I don’t need help, Vincent. I just told you this.”
“But if I’m not there, how can I save you?”
“Save me from what? What are you talking about?”
“People leave. People get hurt! I won’t lose you. If I’m not there, how can I stop it?”
“Stop what?”
“You getting hurt!” I fall quiet from my outburst and whisper my next words. The ones that have lived in my head every day since the day I lost Violet. “All I keep thinking is if I were there, it wouldn’t have happened.”
“Oh, Vince, no. Why wouldn’t it have happened? You weren’t going to stop that car.” Like she always does, she climbs onto my lap and wraps herself around me. She’s like a weighted blanket, holding me down and helping me stay in reality.
I shrug. She’s right, but I just can’t accept it. I was supposed to be watching out for her. “It’s why I joined the military, and why I went to the academy. I want to make it right. I have to save others.”
“You can’t save the world.” She whispers back to me in a calming voice.
“I can savemyworld.”
She stills on my lap, eyes boring into mine. “I’m your world?” Her voice breaks with her question.
“I have to keep you safe, Daisy. I don’t get another chance at this. You’re it for me. If you’re gone. So am I.”
ChapterTwenty-Three
DAISY
His words are gutting me right now and I’m doing my best not to freak out, cry and rejoice all at the same time.
Vincent is finally breaking down. He’s letting his guard down and giving me the words. And I don’t want to push him away or chastise him for doing so, but again, I need to remind him he has to hearme, not just hear what he wants.
“Vince, I love that you just said that. It’s exactly what I needed to hear to know where we stand.”
“How do you not know? I tell you all the time!”
“You do not! You like to order me around, not express feelings.”
His face twists and contorts. “Feelings?”
