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“But her brother didn’t…”
“Yes, he did. Who do you think gave Zach that black eye?” I ask, and she sucks in a breath. “He was Antonia’s weapon. He carried out her every whim because he enjoyed it. He got off oninflicting pain on others. If he had lived, he would hunt us just the same, wanting revenge for his sister.”
“But…”
“No. It’s the truth. And you didn’t know how the vampire blood was going to affect you. I believe that if you had, you wouldn’t have taken that chance.”
“That’s the thing.” She sniffs, whipping her nose on the sleeve of her arm. “I want to say that I wouldn’t. That I would’ve found another way. But if the choice was to allow her to take you or become a mindless beast.” She doesn’t finish, she doesn’t need to.
“You have to know I wouldn’t want that.”
She nods, “I do. But I also know that I wouldn’t be able to stand the thought of what she…”
“I know,agapi mou,” I say, pulling her back into me. “You sacrificed so much for my freedom, and for that I’ll be eternally grateful.”
“You don’t want to reject me?”
“Never,” I declare; there is no hesitation.
“What if I hurt Br…”
“You won’t,” I proclaim. “You would never hurt them and until you’re sure of that yourself, I’ll be right beside you.”
“How can you be sure?”
“Because I know how much you love those kids, even if you felt the urge, you’d remove yourself from the situation before you could hurt them.” She opens her mouth to protest, but I place my hand on her lips. “Besides, I’ll be with you every step of the way.”
“I feel like I’m no longer the person I’ve strived to be over the last five years. The person I’ve made myself be, someone who is strong. Someone who is not broken…”
“You are not broken,” I say with a growl. “You’re the strongest woman I know. You’ve survived so much, yet you still have a heart of gold.”
“But I just stood there as Rayne killed them.”
“If she didn’t. I would have,” I state adamantly. She looks at me and I worry for a minute that she’s going to look at me differently because of that. Instead, she wipes off her face and merges her lips with mine. It’s a sweet kiss, full of love.
“Come on, let’s get you cleaned up, the kids will be back soon.” At my mention of the kids, her eyes go wide with fear.
“What if they hate me?”
“Now you listen to me,” I say taking her face in my hands and taking a page out of my mom’s book. “They won’t hate you. I’m not going to lie and say that I’m not worried about what they are going to think when we tell them, but I trust that the relief of being free is going to outweigh the fact that their mom is gone.”
I don’t give her any room to argue, instead, I pick her up in my arms and lead her into the tub. I groan internally at the sight of her naked body, wanting nothing more than to ravage her and spend the day worshiping her like the goddess that she is, but that’s not what she needs from me right now. What she needs is for me to be strong and to take care of her, so that’s what I do. I gently wash her hair first, taking care to rinse all the shampoo and conditioner out before taking the loofah and washing all the dirt from her body. As I start to notice her body relax, I take this moment to scoot out and grab some clothes.
“Daddy?” I hear Amelia’s little voice call out as I pull up my pants.
“Be right out, Pumpkin,” I say, turning to look at Pearl as she steps out of the bathroom and stares at her clothes laid out on the bed, with a faraway look on her face.
“I’m going to go start breakfast, take your time,” I tell her, lifting her face and placing a soft kiss on her lips. I wait until shenods before heading out of the bedroom and into the main area of the house.
I stop short at seeing Rayne sitting at the breakfast bar with both Zach and Amelia. She stands walking to me. “How is she?”
“She’ll be okay,” I respond, knowing that it’s the truth. “What are you doing here?” I say but then realize how rude that sounds so quickly add, “Not that you’re not welcome it’s just…”
“I wanted to check on Pearl and I thought I should be here when you tell them,” she says, glancing back at Zach and Amelia.
I dip my chin in thanks, squeezing her arm. “What about Pearl? Artemis said…” I begin but she cuts me off.
“If I know Pearl, she’s going to need me here. Plus, I don’t agree with Artemis. I think that in order to overcome it, Pearl needs to be near vampires otherwise she will never be in the same room as one again out of fear that she will hurt one of us and that wouldn’t only destroy her, but Breanne and the kids as well.” I don’t disagree with her logic despite not enjoying going against the wishes of a literal goddess. “Besides, I can handle Pearl,” she says with a wink.
