Page 56 of Four Times Saved

Matt shot me a look as if to say, 'Now? Really? Can't you just wait?'

I shook my head at him, reassuring him that I was taking his advice. I wasn't going to bombard her with everything at once, but she needed to know that the contract on the Airbnb was going to be up soon and I was desperate to know what she thought about this new place. Grabbing my phone from the couch, I showed her the picture of the house. She froze, looking at it. My heart dropped with a thud to my feet and my palms began to sweat.

"We have to leave the Airbnb soon and you said you're open to living with us, and I know it's a bit farther away from Durham, but I thought it would be perfect for us. If you don't like it, we could always..." I rambled on.

"This is for us?" Her mouth dropped open. "A p-private island?"

She went white and her knees wobbled. Matt steadied her with his hand around her waist.

I gulped. "Yeah, there's a guesthouse for your mother and her nurse."

She raised her eyes to mine. "Her nurse?" she asked.

"Yeah." I groaned as my stomach twisted up in knots. "I hope you don't mind. It's just that I didn't want to overwhelm you and I didn't think you'd be up to taking care of your mother so soon, so I thought we had to get a nurse..."

"Wait." She shook her head, her eyes darting from side to side as if they were about to start spinning in her head. "Hold on. This is a lot. When do we move in?"

"Well, we haven't bought it yet." Matt hurried to speak, stroking her back. "We wanted to know if you liked it first. We wanted your opinion." He eyed me.

She relaxed at that, sighing. The tension left her forehead and that jaw-dropping smile found her lips again. "It's perfect," she gasped, jumping into Matt's arms.

My breath escaped me in a flash; a slight breeze could have knocked me off my feet. She leapt into my arms as well and I held her tight, my soul beaming in gratitude.

"Thank you!" She planted a kiss on my cheek.

"Oh!" My body melted into her; my nose settled in her hair and I breathed her in, allowing myself to grin. "No, thank you for accepting our gift. I love you so much, Lily. I only want the best for you."

"I love you too." She raised her head from my shoulders, her eyes damp as she kissed me. "I love you both." She looked between Matt and me.

In the mood for celebrating, the room became thick with tension. Matt moved toward her like there was a magnet beneath his skin. I spun her back around to face me, deepening our kiss until our breaths could be heard escaping in our fight for air. Matt groaned into her, kissing her neck and wrapping his arms around her belly. We were all panting messes when the doorbell rang.

"Ignore it," she whispered against my lips and I groaned from the unwillingness to pull away from her. "I can't do that. It's your mom."

She flew out of our arms so fast, she tripped over herself on her way to answer the door.

Chapter 28

Lily

When Ethan said he hired a nurse, I didn't expect her to show up in the foyer a few minutes later with her suitcases and basically move in with us. Way down deep, I was relieved, especially since it was a woman I'd worked alongside whenever I'd volunteered at the shelter. She was the same person who took care of my mother in emergency situations when I couldn't do it. So, he did a spectacular job without even knowing it. I just wished he'd talked to me about it first.

But, I understand why he did it, I reminded myself. I needed to stop complaining when everything was falling into my lap, just the way I wanted it. It was something I had to get used to, you know, surrendering to a man. He was the 'get it done type', and I was the 'I can do it by myself type'. But that moment during capture made me question everything. If I'd have listened to them in the first place and moved at the first sign of trouble, then... I shuddered at the memory.

Taking a deep breath, I accepted the hugs and the good-naturedness of the women from the shelter while they asked me how I was doing and if there was anything else that they could do for me. As I watched the nurse chat with Ethan before wheeling my mother away behind him, I reminded myself that when it came to all my men, they were as close to perfection as possible. As they made decisions behind my back, I convinced myself that while surrendering felt like I was being left out of making my own choices, that might be what I needed right now.

When he returned from the hallway, through the arched entryway to the kitchen and back into the living room where the women had just left, I bit my tongue. If there was ever any man I could surrender to, it would be him, them. The perfect man doesn't exist, 'they' say. I believed 'them'. But he was doing what I dreamed of when I was captured. So, I needed to stop being weird about it. There was no need for this big ass boulder in my chest, resting on my lungs.

"Matt and I spent the morning clearing out his room and rearranging it for your mother. I've just sent the nurse with her there. I hope that's okay?" Ethan stroked my shoulder.

See? He was checking in with me. Yes, my life as I knew it changed in the blink of an eye and I didn't know how I was supposed to feel about it. But I was happy that I could rest, knowing that I'd been reunited with my world, which included my men and my mom. And I was able to rest because of their generosity, their willingness to help, Ethan and Matt's ability to afford whatever we needed.

There was nothing wrong with accepting help. It didn't mean I was useless, or a burden, or that I was just begging to be taken advantage of.

"Thanks." I smiled, but I kept glancing toward the hallway, tapping my fingers against my arm.

"You can go in if you want, you know," he said and I swallowed a hiss in response, biting back the need to tell him I didn't need his permission. I was like a scorpion, ready to attack. What was the matter with me?

Battling with my unease, my head spun as I dodged furniture on the way to the room Matt had graciously given up for my mother to occupy until the big move, which I still couldn't believe was happening. Things were working in my favor. I would've been happy with a regular ass house with the space they promised me I could have, but I'm going to be living in a mansion on a private island? Me? Pinch me, I must be fantasizing again, locked away with that mad man, dreaming impossible dreams. I pinched myself for effect. These things didn't happen to people like me. But they were and I couldn't feel my feet. I was distorted, waiting for that pin to drop.

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