“Fuck. Okay, I feel guilty for putting her in this situation…” My clenched hands unclenched as I think about her lifeless body on the ground, a bullet hole in her head, her body surrounded by a dark rimmed puddle of blood. I can’t handle it. I can’t let her die. Not at my hands. I am a monster, a sick and sadistic one, but when it comes to her, I feel different. It is no butterflies and sunshine bullshit, but it is something that causes my heart to race and my blood to boil. She is becoming something to me.
“I knew it,” he says, smirking at me. I raise my eyes to his. He has a smile on his face. The fucker knows what it takes for me to admit something, and he’s rubbing it in my fucking face?
“Get the fuck out of here, before I wipe your face with the floor.” I turn on my heels, heading to get the broom.
“I’ll remember that at your wedding, asshole.” His words stop me in my tracks. Wedding? I hear the front door slam and know he has taken my advice on leaving, although not before leaving me with the thought of marriage. Can I ever get married? Can I commit to someone? Will Bree even be able to handle someone like me?
She is strong, given everything that has happened in the past twenty-four hours, but to have to go through it every day for the rest of her life… Can she do it? The better question is, can I let her?
I walk around the house aimlessly, going stir-crazy. For the first time in my life, I have no answers as to what to do. If the FBI is on my ass, there isn’t a lot that can be done. Hiding is all that can get them off your radar for a while. Then the second you fall back into the limelight, they will be on your ass again.
Bree has slept the whole afternoon, and though I want to wake her, every time I walk into the room to do it, I can’t. She looks so at peace in the bed that I know if I wake her, the peacefulness that resides within her now will be gone.
Instead, I sit in the chair across from the bed and watch her delicate body. I appreciate her plump lips, the slope of her back, and the way her mouth parts as she allows a sigh to escape her lips as she sleeps.
She is magnificent, and she is mine. No longer able to hold back, I slip back into bed beside her. I need her to wake up. I need to talk to her, tell her how much her life has changed. The moment she saved my life is the moment she became a part of this war.
“Piccolo…” I whisper in her ear. She doesn’t move, and for a moment I think she doesn’t hear me. That is until my eyes sweep across her face. Her big, brown, doe eyes are wide open, peering up at me.
“What time is it?” she asks, her voice full of sleep. I smile at the sound.
“It’s late. I just figured after letting you sleep all day you would want to get up.” She rolls over, stretching. My dick automatically awakes, rising to the occasion. Of course, the fucker wants to interfere right now when I have business to talk about.
Her eyes roam the room as if she is looking for something. I wonder what she is thinking. Is she scared, worried, afraid? Does she think I will kill her after everything that has happened between us?
“What is going on in that head of yours?” I ask, pushing a lock of hair behind her ear. I have never been the type to caress, touch, love. There isn’t a bone in my body that is made for such simple touches.
“I’m just thinking how much things have changed. When I woke up, it took me a second to realize where I was and what was going on.”
Sighing, I look deeply into her eyes. “Things are going to change. Whatever life you had before this is gone. You and the person you used to be are gone. The second you saved my life is the second that everything changed for you.”
A smile pulls at her lips as her brown eyes sparkle brightly in the light. “My life changed the moment you took me…”
“I know that, but I mean it will never be the same. Ever. Whatever freedoms you had before, you don’t have now. I know I promised you that you could leave, and you can. I swear to God, when all this is over if you want to run, you can. You can go wherever the fuck you want to go, but just know that while you’re here with me, you’re mine.” I am being possessive, and I don’t even fucking care. What Jared said to me hit a nerve.
“Mine? I kind of like the sound of that.” She laughs softly.
“Yes, mine. Now, I have a plan, and it’s going to involve us staying in hiding for a while.” I am never one for running and hiding, and if I didn’t have someone I actually care about for the first time in my life beside me, I wouldn’t be hiding now either.
“What’s your plan?” she asks, genuinely curious about what I am going to say.
“Mack is coming…” She cringes slightly at the sound of his name, and I am still wondering why. Did he do something to her?
“Great. What else?” She sounds completely displeased with the idea of Mack, and I can’t help but ask her what the problem is.
Moving closer to her, I rest my hand on her shoulder. “Is there something I should know about? Did Mack do something to you?” There have been so many times when I allowed him to go downstairs and check on her without my knowledge of what took place.
How could I be so fucking dumb? She is a beautiful woman, of course he did something. Any man would.