The Executioner (Professionals 10)

When I’d casually brought that up to her, she’d gone on a rant about some movie about people trapped on a bus and how you can’t base a relationship on intense experiences. I had no clue what she was talking about, but I always enjoyed the way she talked about movies as though they existed, like the situations and circumstances were real. They’d been her escape in life. And I liked disappearing into them with her whenever she wanted.

“Oh!” she said, turning back and pointing a macaroni sauce covered spoon at me. “Did you tell Bob about the DVDs?” she asked. “He needs to work on that collection,” she insisted. “You know, in case we are ever trapped there again.”

I’d already decided to secure another safe house, but I was going to keep the cabin too. Sure, it was home to a lot of dark moments, but it held most of the ones where we’d started to let our guards down, let each other in, and first felt the beginnings of love.

It was a place I wanted to go again and again.

And I never felt like that.

I usually always wanted something new and exciting.

A part of me still wanted that, of course. With Shawn at my side.

But an almost equal part of me just wanted something comforting, something familiar.

From what I could tell, Shawn was on the same page.

We took turns doting on each other. I had more physical damage, but she’d endured more mentally. I found that Shawn’s love language was junk food and a snuggle in front of a TV. So I gave her as much of that love as possible while we were still both able to be completely wrapped up in our little world with very little outside influence.

But the day came, of course, when she insisted she needed to get back to her life. And, admittedly, I’d been shirking my own responsibilities for far too long as well. Contrary to popular belief, my businesses didn’t run themselves completely. I needed to show my face and give input occasionally.

To my surprise, though, when I got home from said responsibility-handling, I found Shawn in the kitchen with an island covered in various take-away foods.

“You need a new window in the laundry room door,” she informed me, shoving a fry into her mouth.

“You broke the window?” I asked, shaking my head even as my heart felt like it was leaping in my chest at seeing her there after a day full of worrying that I was going to need to practically woo her all over again once she went back to her normal life.

“Well, you didn’t give me a key. What the hell else was I supposed to do?” she asked, rolling her eyes at me.

I couldn’t hold myself back.

I flew at her.

Grabbing the back of her neck, my lips crashed down on hers, still tasting the salt and oil from the fries as I backed her up against the counter.

I reached down, trying to grab her knees, trying to lift her up, only to get her hands shoving hard into my chest, catching me off-guard and pushing me back a foot.

“Listen, Bells, I might love you, but we are not wasting an entire island of all the best take-away food in the area when we can easily fuck somewhere else,” she told me.

And then I watched as the absolute shock and horror flashed across her face as she realized what she’d said.

“You love me, huh?” I asked, smiling as I took a step closer.

“I, ah, I meant that I—“ she said, trying to backpedal.

But I wasn’t going to let it go.

“I’ll let you in on a little secret, love,” I said as my hands grabbed her waist. “I love you too.”

“Yeah?” she asked, looking more vulnerable than I’d ever seen her.

“Yeah. I never really thought it was possible—“

“To love someone anywhere near as much as you love yourself?” she filled in, eyes dancing, uncomfortable with emotional conversations. “Or your boats? Or your properties? Or your—“

I went ahead and shut her up with my lips.

Then I spent a few hours showing her just how much more I cared about her and her happiness—eight times over—before I found my own.

We ate cold take-away afterward.

And it was one of the best nights of my life.

Shawn - 2 months

“Oh, you motherfucker,” I grumbled, the pain slamming in my temples mixed with my dry mouth and the whole-body weakness letting me know before I even opened my eyes that Bellamy had decided to kidnap me again.

In his defense, he’d only ever done it the one time when he took me to the Maldives against my will.

Any other trips we’d gone on, I’d been a fully active participant.

I couldn’t fathom why the hell he’d felt a need to dose me.

As soon as I could force my body to move, though, I was going to get the answer to that question.