He is tucking me into his own bed, I realize, and I smile up at him as he pulls the covers over me.
It’s like a dream come true.
“Thanks for finding me, Travis,” I whisp
er, closing my eyes and letting the feeling of security surrounding me settle into my soul.
Travis
She starts dozing off almost as soon as I have her snuggled into my bed. She looks so damn cute curled up in my space. Her pale cheeks are blotchy from crying, making her freckles stand out against her milky skin even more.
If I have my way, she will never sleep anywhere else again.
She is so tiny she barely makes a lump under my fluffy comforter, and my heart squeezes as I think about how she has been surviving all this time, alone. Motioning to my dog Max, who followed us upstairs, I invite him into the room and point at the foot of the bed. Max is trained to guard and protect. After he settles on the mattress by her feet he looks to me for direction.
“Guard.” I tell him, pointing at my sleeping beauty.
Max focuses on her before settling himself into a relaxed but watchful position. I can leave her now without worry. If anyone but me approached her Max would do his job, and I know that he would die to protect her. Just like I would.
“Come on,” I say to Blake, motioning toward the door. “I left the truck in the driveway so you don't have to hop so far.”
He laughs a little, waving his middle finger at me as he pushes up out of my recliner.
“I didn’t mean to make her cry, man.” He states the obvious; I know he didn’t. Blake isn’t that kind of guy at all. If he was, we wouldn’t be friends. “I was thinking that teasing her about it might make it less awkward.”
“For you or for her?” I lift an eyebrow, and he knows I’m making fun of him for getting brought to the ground by the tiny woman in my bed.
“Fuck you, man.” He huffs and rolls his eyes as he puts on his jacket and follows me out to my truck. He levers himself into the high seat and pulls the crutches in beside him.
Getting behind the wheel, I back out of the driveway. “I’m going to reach out to the Cerelli family now that I have her with me.” I know that I’m going to have to do something, and going right to them and addressing the situation seems like the best possible plan.
“I think that is a good idea. You know the old man died about six months ago, right?”
“I didn’t.” His nod tips me off that he already knew that I didn’t.
“His son, Xavier left New York and turned the reins over to the old man’s brother. He brought some guys with him. Mafia soldiers, I suppose, but they seem to be family men for the most part. The intel I’ve come up with looks like he might be trying to go legit.”
Blake has been keeping tabs on the Cerelli’s since we found out about them. He’s the best at this kind of thing, a fucking genius, but since we didn’t know where Faye was I wasn’t too worried about them.
If Blake ever caught wind of them having a line on where she was, we would have made a move to head them off, and made sure that Faye stayed safe.
“I also heard that Xavier has a missing person he is trying to locate. A wife.”
This information really piques my interest. If we can find the missing wife, I might be able to use that information to bargain for Faye's continued safety. Xavier Cerelli, Sr., was the one behind the hit on Brad and Claire. At least, that was what the police thought.
He was also the one interested in “locating” Faye. We’ve never found any indication that anyone other than the elder Cerelli had any interest in finding her, and I will do everything in my power to make any threat to her obsolete. With the old man out of the way, that might be easier than anticipated.
“We should be able to work with that.”
He nods, silently agreeing as I pull in as close to his porch as I can.
“Need a hand?” I already know he’s going to turn me down, but I ask anyway. He’d offer to help me, and I’d turn him down too. That’s just the way we are.
“Nah. I’m good. Get back to your girl. She’s probably gonna be a bit shellshocked for a few days.” He closes the door and leans in the window. “Are you okay?” he asks me.
Nodding, I say with certainty, “Abso-fucking-lutely, brother.” We bump fists and, turning on his crutches, he makes his way to his front door before waving over his shoulder.
I drive the short distance home, happy to find that she is sound asleep when I go upstairs to check on her. The dark smudges under her eyes tell the tale of how little she actually sleeps. As much as I want to climb into the cozy nest of blankets with her, I stop myself.