Chapter Twenty-three
H e’s been gone for hours. It shouldn’t really matter, he works, I’m here to look after his daughter so he can do that, but it’s strange to be here without him. Even when he’s in the basement, he’s here. I feel his presence, but right now it’s empty and lacking without the aura he exudes.
“You good there?” Savannah calls from the living room, holding a sleeping Lily.
It’s then that I realize I’ve been drying my already dry hands, staring out the window for the past several minutes.
“Shit, sorry,” I drop the towel, “I zoned out for a minute.”
Savannah frowns, “Are you okay?”
“What? Me?” I wave a hand to dismiss her, “Yeah, I’m fine.”
Crossing over, I lower myself onto the couch, but I don’t feel relaxed. I don’t think I’ve been able to shut off fully since everything happened back in my hometown. Last night was the first night in a very long time that I actually slept.
“You sure?” Sav asks gently, “With everything that happened and then the shooting, it would be okay if you weren’t.”
“Sav,” I sigh, “Please don’t.”
She purses her lips, but lets it go. “So, how are you liking working for Dean?”
It’s an innocent question, so why do my cheeks begin to burn? I glance away, and apparently that’s enough for Savannah to jump to conclusions.
“Oh my god, you fucked!”
“What!?” I screech and then wince when Lily startles in her sleep. We both hold our breaths, waiting for the wail to come, but thankfully, she settles again, falling back into her peaceful sleep. “What?” I lower my voice, “Why would you think that?”
“You’re blushing!” She points in the general direction of my face, “You never blush! Like ever! Which tells me he dicked you down!”
My mouth pops open, shocked.
“I totally wouldn’t blame you,” She continues, “Dean is great, and you deserve a good lay.”
“Savannah!” I hiss.
“What?” She laughs.
“We have not slept together!” I press my palms to my cheeks, the burn transferring, “Jesus.”
“Oh,” She pouts. “Then why do you look like that?”
I sigh and pinch the bridge of my nose. “I just — he makes me all bothered. ”
“Bothered?” She chokes out a laugh, “Is that your way of saying you want him to dick you down?”
“Good God, woman, can you stop saying it like that!”
She chuckles, “Just saying it how it is, babe. But is it? Do you want to screw Dean Archer?”
My cheeks are burning hotter now, and my heart is pounding. “Savannah!” I whine.
She laughs louder, “You do !”
“It doesn’t even matter because it will never happen!”
“What? Why?” She sobers.
“Because…” I trail off.
“Give me one good reason why you shouldn’t go after something you want. One good reason.”
“He’s my boss.”
“Wrong,” She quirks her brow, “Next.”
“I’m a mess.”
“Wrong again.”
“He doesn’t even really know me!”
“What? So, he doesn’t know your real name or what you left behind. Does that define you?”
“Right now?” I sigh, “Yes.”
“Sloane,” Sav sighs softly, “You deserve to be happy. Even if that happiness is fleeting and it’s found sleeping with a guy who will treat you right, even if it’s just once.”
“And I’m just supposed to sleep with him once and then work for him every day like it didn’t happen?”
“Hm,” She contemplates, “You’re right. I’ve seen the way he looks at you, and it doesn’t strike me as a onetime thing for him, he’s probably like his brother.”
“What do you mean?” I frown.
“Possessive,” She waggles her brows and giggles, “Obsessive too.”
“And that is exactly what I don’t need.”
“Or maybe you do,” She shrugs.
I roll my eyes at her, leaning back onto the cushions but lurch forward only a second later, a scream building in my throat as the front door slams open aggressively.
Savannah immediately curls around Lily to protect her, but then Dean storms into the room, looking a little manic as his eyes land on me.
“What is it?” I stand, trying to get my breathing under control.
And then I see it. The blood. On his hand, a speck of it on his right cheek, and splotches on the white material of his sling.
“I’m sorry, Butterfly,” He says in a voice barely above a whisper, genuine regret filling his eyes.
“What’s happened?” I swallow. Did he find out about my past? Did he do something? Fuck, did he go asking about me!? “What did you do!?”
No. No. No .
This isn’t happening. I’ve been careful! Fucking careful, and what? I catch feelings for a guy who’s too smart for his own good!? How did he figure it out?
“Who did you tell?” I can’t get my questions out quickly enough.
“Sloane,” Sav is right beside me, still holding onto Lily, who has woken in all the commotion, “Breathe, Sloane.”
But I can’t breathe, there’s not enough fucking air. Panic wraps around me, hard and fast, like a rope with both ends pulled tight. I try to suck in air, try to get my lungs to expand, but I can’t.
“Breathe!” That’s Dean’s voice, his command slicing through, but it isn’t enough. He’s going to come for me now; he’s going to find me. I’ll have to leave, change my name, and forget about everyone all over again.
I feel like I am dying.
Drowning in an ocean where the surface is right there, but I just can’t swim quickly enough, it keeps moving further and further away.
“Sloane!”
A buzzing begins to ring in my ears, and a black fog ebbs in at the edges of my vision.
For a moment, everything goes quiet, and I float.
The peace is a shock to my system, but I grasp at it, finding peace in the silence.
But as abruptly as it fell, it all disappears when black steel shutters steal it away.