Chapter Eight
Riley
After pulling back the sheets and setting Alina in the bed, she falls asleep immediately. I make sure she stays asleep before making my way back to the bathroom. I clean the tissues and bandages off the counter before wiping everything clean and setting everything to rights. After I finish, I lean against the counter and let my head fall to my chest.
How could I have simply ignored her for so long? How did I miss her? She was right there this whole time. Just waiting for me to take my head out of my ass and notice her. All those novels I read seem so much smaller, less important suddenly. With a jolt, I realize I'm still sitting in here stewing about what could have been and who might have hurt her when I could be with her.
I rush through a quick shower before drying off, and then quickly redressing. Coming out of the bathroom, I notice she's still in the same spot I left her. I smile as I slide into the bed beside her. Taking in every feature of her delicate face, I start to wonder. How could this beautiful creature ever call herself a wallflower?
From her rich golden brown hair, to the long dark eyelashes I know cover sea-foam green eyes, to the small freckles that line her nose and cheeks. I was holding her in my arms, and she seemed so light. I could have carried her for miles. I was honestly dreading the trip to end. I push a price of hair out of her face and she sighs deeply before smiling softly. I could stare at her for the rest of my life and not get bored.
Before too long, my eyes drift shut, and I don’t realize I’ve fallen asleep until the next morning. Somehow, I’ve moved to my back and Alina has nearly crawled on top of me. She’s snuggled up on my chest, and I can feel her hair all over me. All I can do is smile. Slowly, I move her hair and then try to subtly move her body over to the middle of the bed. We don't have the best breakfast here, but the diner is right down the road. I can run out and get her some… fuck, what would she like to eat? Would she even want to eat at the diner? If I worked there day in and day out, I'm not sure I'd want to eat there on my day off. Hell, is it even her day off? I'm pretty confident she wouldn't be on the morning shift because she got off so late last night. I decide to run to the small kitchen here in the inn and get her a variety of the things we serve here. When I return to the room, I notice her eyes moving.
“Siren,” I say softly. Trying to wake her softly. I place the tray down on the bedside table and rub my thumb under her eye. She sighs and smiles softly, so I do it again. I love the feel of her skin under mine; it is so soft and silky.
“Siren.”
“Mmhhmm,” she mumbles in reply, slowly opening her eyes. At first, she smiles as she sees me leaning over her. Then she must realize it’s not a dream, because I watch her eyes quickly snap open in surprise.
“Morning, my beautiful Siren. Hungry?” I ask, giving her a smile in return. Slowly, she sits up in bed before rubbing her fists in both her eyes and blinking widely at me again. Like she can't believe I'm real.
“So last night really happened?” She almost winces as I nod my head.
“That it did, Siren, and we’ll get to all that in a bit, but first. You need some breakfast,” I tell her, taking the tray and placing it on the bed beside her. “Pick your poison.”
She smiles at me and then giggles before picking up a bagel and chocolate milk. I sit and watch her eat the whole bagel, a ham and cheese omelet, and a banana. By the time she finishes, she’s leaned back with her hand on her full stomach and a smile on her face. I smile softly at first, too, then take another look at her bruised, cracked cheek and lips. I need to find out what happened. I won’t be able to concentrate on anything else until I know whoever touched her is either behind bars or dead. At this point, it couldn't care less one way or the other.
“Siren,” I say to get her attention. She sighs in happiness before looking my way. Looking at my face, she straightens her body and bows her head.
“Alina, baby, look at me.” I ask her gently when she does, “I think we need to go to the cops about this. I should have taken you to the hospital last night to get checked over. They could have had the cops there to question you,” I ramble, more to myself than to her.
“No, no cops. Please,” she says, shaking her head vehemently and sitting on her knees, pleading with me.
“Alright, baby, calm down.” I sigh, sitting on the bed and pulling her into my arms. This is the hardest thing I've ever had to do. How do I console her if I don't know exactly what's going on? How can I fix this and protect her if I can't get the whole story from her?
“Baby, you're going to have to give me something here. I have to keep you safe, but if you don't tell me what's going on, I can't do that,” I whisper to her, kissing her hair as her shoulders shake. I hate this; I hate feeling, hearing, seeing her cry. It’s ripping my heart to pieces.
“Okay,” she says, simply pulling out of my arms. She sits back on her knees and wipes the tears from her face. I want to do that for her, but she pulls her shoulders back, and I know she's going to give me the details I need. I’m scared to move, to breathe, in case it makes her clam back up. I hold my breath as her lips tremble.
“The story I told you about leaving the diner and being attacked in the alley.” I nod in encouragement when she pauses. She takes another deep breath before blowing me away. “All that is the truth. The only thing I left out was that I knew who attacked me.”
I keep quiet as she bites her lip and tears well in her eyes, threatening to fall over. I want to hold her, but she needs to get this out, and I need to know who it was. Still, the thought of her suffering in any way is killing me, and when that next tear rolls down her cheek, I almost cave. I almost pull her into my arms, but she tells me the truth before I get the chance.
“The person who attacked me. It was my brother.” I gasp, but she doesn't give me a chance to speak. She closes her eyes tight and rushes out, “He’s always been sort of a bully, but he’s never actually hit me before, just always told me the truth, no matter how hurtful it was. Still, last night, something happened. He looked off, almost scared. He told me to hand him all the tips I had made, and I just got so angry. So tired of him being mean. I told him no, I stood up for myself, and he just went crazy.” Her voice hiccups, and she looks at me with worried eyes before bowing her head and whispering so softly I almost don't hear it, “I-I'm sorry.”
She sounds so defeated, almost like she expects me to up and leave her right now, like this was somehow her fault. I can't take it anymore, so I grab her, and pull her into my arms, turning and twisting so she's lying on the bed, and I'm hovering over her, careful to not touch any of her cuts or bruises. I hold my body up with one hand and use the other to wipe the hair from her face.
“Siren baby, look at me,” I say, softly kissing the corner of her mouth. When her eyes finally meet mine, I give her a soft smile before replying, “You don't have to worry about anything, sweetheart. Never again, I'm going to take care of it.”
There is determination in my voice, and I know she can hear it. Looking into her eyes, it's like I finally realize where I belong. What I was put on this earth to do, and that is to protect this woman with everything in me. She’s made me come alive and see the world through new, open eyes. For her, I will do everything in my power to hopefully one day erase the shadows that seem to haunt her eyes and replace them with rose-colored glasses made special just for her.