Page 85 of Vicious Vows

"What's going on? Are you okay?"

"I'm okay now. I'm okay." I said over and over as I buried my nose into her neck and inhaled her sweet scent.

I almost felt bad for anyone who couldn't get a whiff of her, but at the same time, I'd kill anyone who dared to get near her.

Faye was mine in every sense of the word. Even if my father was no longer in the picture, it was clear that I'd never be able to let her go. I'd go out of my mind without her.

"What happened? I woke up, and you weren't here." She whispered against my ear as she combed her fingers through my hair.

"Nothing for you to worry about. It's all taken care of now."

She pulled back and looked into my eyes, I waited for her to question me but instead, she only said, "Okay."

She smiled slightly before laying her head against my shoulder while I held her tightly against my body.

A few moments later, she unwrapped her legs from my waist and tugged me toward the bed. I don't think I've ever been this tired in my life. I was completely exhausted. It'd been days since I was able to get a full night's sleep, and now with everything coming to an end, I could finally rest.

Faye helped me take the rest of my clothing off before tucking me into bed and crawling in next to me. I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her close to my chest seconds before unconsciousness took over.

* * *

The smell of hot coffee and warm bread pulled me from my restful slumber. Instead of being on edge that someone was in my room, a soft smile erupted on my face. It could only be one person who would have thought to bring me breakfast, and that was Faye. She's sweet like that. I opened my eyes slowly to see her seated crisscross on the bed next to me with a cup of coffee in her hand.

"I was just about to put a mirror up to your nose to make sure you were still breathing," she joked as I blinked a few times and looked up at her beautiful face.

"You're not going to get rid of me that easy," I grumbled.

"Easy, who says I want to get rid of you at all?" She chuckled before reaching back toward the side table and picking up another coffee cup, handing it to me.

"If I'm not mistaken, I'm sure I have people who will bring me breakfast. You didn't have to do this."

"I wanted to, besides you missed breakfast about four hours ago; this is firmly in the realm of lunch." She raised an eyebrow and waited for me to sit up in the bed before reaching over to the side of the bed and grabbing the plate of food she had there for me. My stomach grumbled loudly as I smelled the warmed-up sandwich. She was right; I'd been sleeping for a long while. I rarely sleep in, and my body was quick to let me know. My muscles ached from underuse, and I stretched out my arms over my head before grabbing for the food and began to shovel it into my face.

"Something big going on?" Faye asked after my third bite.

"What makes you say that?" Part of me worried that someone had told her about what was going on with my father. Maybe she'd ask me for her freedom.

"Well, there have been trucks pulling in all day and people running around cleaning up. Looks like a party or something is about to happen downstairs."

I squeezed my eyes shut hard and fought against the bile threatening to expel the few bites of food I'd just swallowed down.

"Yeah, we've got an event taking place, though I didn't authorize anything yet."

"No, looks like your brother is running the show down there. I'm happy he’s out of the hospital, but I'm sure he's not supposed to be working so hard." She grimaced slightly before brushing the hair away from her face. Of course, she'd be concerned about him. My sweet girl was concerned about everyone.

"No, he's not. I'll talk to him in a bit."

"I'm happy you were able to get some rest too; it seemed like you needed it." She reached over and swiped a soft hand down the side of my face.

My first instinct was to move away from her. I'm not used to anyone touching me, let alone someone touching me nicely. These loving touches were truly doing my head in. My entire world is nothing but brutality and pain, and here this woman comes showing me what sweet and loving feels like.

"I needed to be near you more than I needed to sleep."

"Is that so? Well, you've got me here whenever you want me." She shrugged one shoulder, leveling me with that innocent gaze.

"Only under threat of bodily harm. If you met me on the street, you wouldn't give me a second glance."

"Probably not, but then again when you're out on the street, you're quite mean. I don't make a habit of staring at mean people."

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