Olivier (Chicago Blaze 9)

“I love you, Olivier. So much. I was stupid about not thinking I wanted a relationship with you. I love you. That’s what I wanted to talk to you about the day of the accident. I wanted to tell you I want us to be together, if you still want me.”

He lowers his brows in confusion. “Of course I do, Daph.”

Happiness blooms inside me as I bend down and kiss him.

“I love you, too,” he whispers against my lips.

“I guess we should get the doctors,” I say.

“I’ll do it,” Jonah offers.

“Is that…Jonah?” Olivier asks, puzzled.

“It is, and Anton’s here, too.”

“How bad are things?” he asks me. “Are all my body parts still attached?”

“They had to amputate your penis, but everything else is fine,” Anton says, keeping a straight face for a couple seconds before grinning and saying, “Nah, I’m just fucking with you, Durand. You’re shoulder’s broken, but you’re gonna be okay.”

“What happened?” Olivier asks. “I remember my meeting at the bank, but that’s it.”

“A piece of stone fell from the top of a building you were about to walk into and hit you,” I say.

“No shit?”

“No shit.”

“Spare no expense,” Grandma Jo says as she walks into the room. “If there’s anything that can help, I’ll pay for it, doc.”

“He’s awake!” I tell her, smiling.

“Awake?” Her face lights up. “And he’s okay?”

“He seems to be.”

“Oh, thank God.” She embraces me and I feel her entire body relaxing with relief.

“Grandma Jo?” Olivier asks.

“Good to see you, Frenchman. You gave us all quite a scare.”

“I’d still like to examine him, if you don’t mind,” a man, who I’m assuming is Dr. Patel, says. “Would that be okay?”

“Of course,” I say.

“I’m Dr. Patel,” he says, extending his hand for a shake. “May I be alone with him for the examination?”

“I guess…that’s okay,” I say, looking at Olivier. “Is it okay with you?”

“Yeah, as long as you guys come back after.”

“We will.”

I bend down and kiss him again, overjoyed that he’s awake. He’ll still have a long recovery ahead of him, but we can handle that. I wasn’t sure I’d get a chance to love him the way he deserves, and now that I can, I plan to love him with everything I’ve got.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Olivier

“The doctor said sex will help me heal faster,” I say as Daphne sets a glass of water on my bedside table.

“Did he now?” She gives me an amused smile. “Is that some new kind of therapy?”

“Yeah, it’s pretty cutting-edge stuff.”

She sits down on the bed and leans in to kiss my cheek. “Well, anything I can do to speed up your recovery process. But we only have about fifteen minutes until Giselle gets home, so it’s either a quickie or a rain check.”

I groan. “Okay. I guess I can wait until tonight. It takes fifteen minutes just to get me undressed with this goddamn sling.”

I’ve been out of the hospital for two weeks, and while the soreness and bruising are gone, I still have to wear a sling until my shoulder heals. The doctors told me I was lucky that piece of stone hit me where it did—a few inches closer to my head and I would have died. I told them lucky people don’t actually have chunks of buildings randomly falling on them at all, and they couldn’t argue with that.

Even though my left shoulder is useless and I’ll be rehabbing for the foreseeable future, I’ve never been happier. Daphne took a leave of absence from Safe Harbor to care for me, which means a lot. There’s no one I’d rather spend this much time with.

She doesn’t officially live with me and Giselle, but unofficially, she hasn’t left my side except to shower or pick up dinner. She was there the entire time I was in the hospital, and when the doctors suggested a home health nurse for a short period of time, Daphne stepped up and offered.

We didn’t bother to pretend she’s sleeping in a guest room. Giselle knows we’re together, and she loves Daphne. It’s funny how life can change so quickly.

“So you know how we talked about inviting Grandma Jo over for dinner tonight?” Daphne says, giving me a sheepish look.

“Yeah?”

“Well, my parents invited themselves, too.”

“That’s fine.”

She cringes. “I guess I can’t avoid them forever. But it pisses me off that my parents are already trying to capitalize on our relationship.”

I reach my good arm out to embrace her, and she snuggles into my side.

“Babe, I’m used to it. Everyone tries to capitalize on me in one way or another. Usually it’s money, other times it’s Blaze tickets or meeting one of the players.”

She sighs softly. “Well, it’s embarrassing that my parents are opportunists who only look at people as ways to further my dad’s political career. I know you want to get along with them, but I’m asking you, please don’t do them any political favors or give money to my dad’s campaign.”