Beautifully Broken

Not once did I think of Cara as a woman… until that night she walked into the kitchen wearing those damn tight jeans.

My eyes snap to her face, and I’m not surprised when I see her startled gaze on me, her lips parted with what looks like a mixture of shock and terror.

Fuck, I’ve crossed the line.

I quickly grab a bandage and start to wrap it around her wound. When I’m done, I tug the shirt all the way down and then keep myself busy with getting rid of the dirty bandage and wipes as I mutter, “Change into the sweatpants so you can get some sleep.”

I go to the restroom and splash some water on my face, just needing a moment to myself.

Fuck she has beautiful breasts.

Stop thinking about them. You fucking crossed the line.

I let out a sigh as I shake my head at myself.

When I walk back to the bed, I know I have to say something to break the tension hanging heavily in the room, but I can’t think of a damn thing.

“Who?” Cara whispers, reverting back to the conversation we were having before I took it upon myself to dress her.

“The mafia,” I murmur, and knowing I’m putting her at risk by keeping her in the dark, I add, “And Tom.”

I watch as the information sinks in, and then a distraught expression pulls tightly at her skin. She starts to shake her head but stops and then just stares blankly at nothing.

After a minute or so, Cara wraps her arms around her waist, and it makes my hands fist at my sides. I take a calming breath before I sit down on the bed, but this time I keep my distance.

“I’m sorry, Cara. Tom thinks that by giving you up, he can save his own ass.” I shake my head. “He’s as good as dead. As soon as you’re dead, they’ll kill him, too. They’re just using him to clean up the last of your family.”

“I still don’t understand any of it,” she whispers so softly I almost miss some of the words.

I thrust a hand through my hair and rising to my feet again, I say, “We can’t go home. Now that they know I’m helping you, they’ll be looking for both of us.”

Cara’s head snaps up, and she begins to struggle off the bed. Panic flashes over her face, and then she rasps, “You need to leave.” Her skin turns almost translucent as she stares at me in horror. “You need to go. Go… right now!” She loses her voice, and her movements grow more frantic as she stumbles to my bag. Shoving it toward me with her foot, she pleads, “Leave, Damian.”

“Cara,” I say loud and clear, so she hears every word, “There’s no fucking way I’m leaving you.”

“Please!” She crumbles to the floor, and that’s about as much as I can take. I crouch in front of her, and she grabs at my arms, pulling herself closer to me, and then she sputters against my chest, “They can’t get you, Damian. Please go. I can’t watch you die. Not you. Please go. Disappear. Just go.” Her breaths are way too fast.

Moving my hands up, I frame her face, and our eyes lock. “They won’t kill me. They won’t find us. I’ve got you, Cara. You’re safe. I’m safe. We’re going to disappear. I’ll make sure they can’t find us.”

She tries to shake her head in my hands, her eyes wild with fear on mine, and somewhere deep inside of me, it registers the fear in her eyes is for me.

Cara fears losing me.

She cares about what happens to me.

I stare hard at her as the thoughts sink deep into my heart. She’s not as fucked up as I thought. She’s just in a world of pain, but we can deal with that, as long as she still cares about something.

“You won’t lose me, baby.”

“I will,” she cries out, and her face crumbles under the weight of her distress.

I sit flat on my ass and pull her body between my legs. Then, leaning back against the bed, I hold her to me while peppering her hair with kisses. When she looks up, one of those kisses lands next to her eye. She doesn’t move, and I feel her hair tickling my cheek.

“You won’t lose me,” I whisper again.

She curls her body against mine and buries her face in my chest. I feel her fingers dig into my shirt. “I lose everyone I love.”

The words fold around me like a blanket, giving me warmth for the first time in over a decade.

I’ve been stuck in a frozen wasteland for so many years, I’ve forgotten what warmth feels like… until Cara.

“You will never lose me, baby,” I promise with steel lacing my words.

God help the person who tries to come after my woman next. I’ll fucking kill every single one. There’s no way I’m letting them take her from me.