39. Levi
39
LEVI
T he early morning light peeks through the window, slowly waking me up. The past two days have been tough. With Hope’s confession and talking with Cooper, I feel mentally and emotionally drained.
I look over at Hope, who’s sleeping peacefully for the first time in a week. She didn’t have a single nightmare last night when most of the past week she’s either been restless or waking up in a panic. I’m still hurt that she didn’t trust me enough to tell me her full story. After hearing what happened to her, it makes sense, but it doesn’t stop the hurt from being there.
I know I need to have patience and give her time to adjust to having a safe, loving relationship. I have to keep reminding myself it’s only been a couple of months. With how fast our relationship moved forward, I forgot where we started.
And I’m willing to wait. I’ve always been willing to wait. I love her with everything I have.
She’s it for me.
Hope starts to stir, her eyes fluttering open, vulnerability spearing me as she takes me in .
“Good morning, love.”
Hope smiles, her eyes shining with love. I think this is the first time she’s seemed completely open to me. As if there’s nothing standing in her way anymore. Nothing blocking her from fully accepting me into her life. “Good morning.”
I run my thumb across her cheek, wishing we could stay in bed for the rest of the day. “I don’t want to go to work today. Can we stay right here all day instead?”
“I would love nothing more, but I have The Boys I saw the paperwork when Hope gave it all to Cooper. His lawyer probably lied to him so it wouldn’t create any bigger issues. Now it’s time to show Lord Fuckwad he can’t have whatever he wants.
Antony’s eyes harden, evil glinting bright in them. He comes at me with the crowbar, and I snatch a scrap piece of wood off the floor to use as a shield. His arm swings down, thunking against the wood so hard the vibrations move up my arm. The wood is too cumbersome to continue holding, so I throw it hard at Antony.
He stumbles backward with the weight, and I use the momentum to gain the advantage. Landing two punches to his gut, he goes down hard. I get a third punch to his face before he responds with the crowbar still in his hand.
It lands hard on my ribs with an audible crack. I grit my teeth against the pain spreading through my entire upper body. I try to take the crowbar from him before he can get any other hits in with it. We grapple across the floor, both of us trying to overpower the other.
A kick to my thigh makes me lose my footing, allowing Antony the upper hand. My fists fly in an effort to throw him off, but he still has control of the crowbar. A blow glances off my shoulder, then my rib cage again. Both effectively paralyze me.
The blows keep raining down on me until all I can see is Antony’s face, contorted with a rage I’ve never seen on anyone before. It’s demonic.
“She. Is. Mine!” he screams, striking me with each word. He hits me twice more before everything mercifully goes black.