Page 48 of By His Side

“Which part?”

“All of it. The abuse. The prison sentence. The things that have happened since you got out.”

“No, it’s not.” I reached across and took hold of Darien’s hand, threading my fingers with his. “It’s not been all bad, though. I met this guy. He’s a bit of a documentary watching weirdo who knows all about stuff that most people couldn’t give a damn about.” When Darien opened his mouth to defend himself, I hurried with the rest of my words. “But… he has the biggest heart of anyone I’ve ever met, and he took a rabid dog and tamed it.”

Darien smiled. “Is that so? Can I teach it to do tricks?”

“I wouldn’t go that far.”

He moved across the bed to drop a kiss on my shoulder. “Never mind. I like it just the way it is.” His expression turned serious. “I am sorry, though, for everything that’s happened to you.”

His sincerity made me want to cry. “It’s not your fault.”

He urged me down on the bed until we were lying on our sides facing each other. “I won’t let anyone else hurt you, I promise.”

“You might have to. You know, because of your job.”

“Screw my job! It’s just that, a job. I can always work for Hayden at his restaurant. He won’t let me be destitute. Plus, he’d love the chance to lord it over me.”

“There’s a slight problem with that idea. You can’t cook.”

Darien pasted a pseudo-hurt expression on his face. “How would you know? I can’t get anywhere near the stove to find out because you’re there. When Hayden calms down and sees sense, the two of you should get on like a house on fire. You can talk herbs and spices and whatever else gets your adrenaline pumping.”

My next words were slow and careful, so keen was I not to mess them up or to come across as too flippant. “You’re talking like we’ll be a long-term thing.”

“I hope we will. Don’t you?”

The urge to shrug it off, to protect myself against rejection, was there, but I beat it off with a stick and employed honesty instead. “Yeah, I do.”

Darien rolled onto his back. “Well, then.” The smugness in his tone had me laughing. It was amazing how he could take me from baring my soul to laughing in a matter of minutes.

Chapter Twenty

Darien

The mid-morning knock at my door almost had me peering through the curtains like an over-anxious old lady fearing a visit from the local hoodlums. Telling myself not to be so ridiculous, I settled for answering it instead. Levi stood on the doorstep. A check over his shoulder revealed he’d come alone.

“Yeah, it’s just me,” he confirmed as he stepped inside. “Hayden wanted to come, but I told him I didn’t think it was a good idea.”

I led him into the kitchen, automatically putting the kettle on without bothering to ask whether Levi wanted a drink. “I bet he loved being told what to do. Did you have to chain him to the bedpost to get him to agree?” I winced, the once-funny quip I’d used so many times before losing its humor after the conversation of the night before. Ivowed to shelve the joke of a significant other being restrained from this moment on. I was just glad Felix hadn’t been here to hear it.

“No. I just chose a time when he needed to be at the restaurant.” Levi took his jacket off and placed it on the back of the chair before taking a seat. “Are you alright?”

It was an interesting question, given everything the last twenty-four hours had brought, what with the altercation with Hayden, Felix opening up and telling me some frankly harrowing stuff, and then the icing on the cake, the two of us making something of a commitment to each other. Or at least, that had been my interpretation of it.

Levi grimaced at my silence. “I’ll take that as a no.” He jerked his head to the kettle that I hadn’t noticed had finished boiling. “Better make that tea.”

I did, taking my time over it and only joining Levi at the table once we both had a mug of steaming hot liquid in front of us.

Levi cocked his head to the side like he was listening for something. “I assume he’s not here?”

“No. He’s gone for a walk. He’ll probably be gone for a couple of hours.”

He gave a slow nod. “So… you and him, hey?”

“I’m sure Hayden’s told you everything in minute detail.”

“Yeah, but that’s with a Hayden spin on it and sometimes it’s hard to parse all the information with so many instances of the word fuck thrown in. I’d rather hear it from the horse’s mouth. You’re the horse in case you haven’t worked that out.”

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