Page 34 of Liam

I look away because this shit is just words; nobody is taking care of her but me. I know what it will take, and I will do it all. She is mine. I will always take care of her, no matter what. “I will take care of her, she is my woman.”

She doesn’t say anything. It wouldn’t do her any fucking good because this shit is final.

Paisley

A Few Days Later

“Fuck.” I sit up in bed. I bite the back of my hand trying not to cry out; this is painful. It’s on the sides of my hips and lower back. When I move, my back moves—making my burns hurt.

I need to use the bathroom, badly.

Liam wakes up. “Baby, why didn’t you wake me?” He gets out of the chair he was asleep in. He has not left me; he has been by my side the whole time I’ve been at the hospital. I look down at the floor. I hate that he has to help me do everything.

“Paisley, what’s wrong, Baby?” He’s on his knees in front of me, cupping my face.

“I hate that you have to help me,” I whisper to him.

His face softens. “Baby, never feel like that. I want nothing more than to take care of you.” He looks me right in my eye. “I love you, so much. I want to take care of you, you’re my woman.”

I smile and kiss him, and he kisses me back. I lift my arms slowly and put them around his shoulders, and he grabs the bottom of my ass, lifting me from the bed slowly. My legs are on either side of his hips.

He carries me to the bathroom; then he gently sets me on my feet and slides down my pants along with my underwear. I hide my face, embarrassed.

“Don’t do that shit, Paisley.” He slowly helps me down onto the toilet and leaves, giving me privacy.

I can’t help but feel that way. I’m so used to taking care of myself, and now I can’t. That shit is tough to deal with.

I finish and wash my hands in the sink by the toilet. It’s a slow, painful process, because I have to bend my back. Liam comes back into the bathroom once the water is shut off. He puts his hands under my armpits, lifting me off the toilet so I don’t strain myself, trying to cause the least amount of pain possible.

A chemical burn is the worst kind of pain. The acid burned layers of skin, and the burn is in a bad place because my skin twists and bends in that area.

We slowly make our way back to the bed, and I lie on my stomach. Liam made the hospital bring in another bed, and he lies beside me.

He turns off the light; it’s nighttime now. He fell asleep in the chair right before I decided to go to bed for the night. He gets on the other bed, which is pressed up against mine. He covers most of my body with the blanket I made Dad bring from home, careful not to lay it on my burned skin. Then he lays another over the top of my back and arms.

“I love you too, Liam, so much. Thank you for doing this,” I whisper, and I grab his hand and kiss the back of it.

“I love you too, my love.”

My stomach flips when the butterflies hit me. I love him so much, and that is the truth. My every thought is about him.

He puts his hand on the back of my neck, his fingers on my pulse. He has been doing this since the accident. I asked him why, and he said it assures him I am here and okay.

“Goodnight,” I whisper and drift off to sleep.

10

Three Months Later

Liam

I kick in the door, and the cartel members spring off the couch in shock. I smile, seeing the pure fear all over their fucking faces.

For the past couple of weeks, I have hunted and hunted, taking down every single member I can find.

I shut the door behind me. They stare at me for a few beats; then they bolt. I laugh at the sight of their pure terror. I love that shit, I want to bathe in that. They fucked with Paisley, and I will take out every fucker I possibly can.

I raise my gun, aiming at the back of the closest cartel member. I pull the trigger, and he hits the ground with a thump. Pure happiness is what I fucking feel. The fewer of them walking this earth the better. Paisley went through hell getting over her burns.

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