Page 102 of I Will Mend You

Her gaze flickers toward the house. “Will you be safe with him?”

How do I begin to explain that the man who tormented me for weeks, making me think I was the target of a vengeful ghost, is also the only thing holding my sanity together?

“He’s saved me in more ways than I can count,” I murmur. “Without Xero’s help, I’d be dead. Even if those people kept me alive, there’d be nothing left to salvage.”

Her brows knit together in a skeptical frown. “Are you sure?”

Pressure builds up in my chest. It’s more gratitude than frustration. All Myra knows about Xero is that he escaped his execution, choked her personal assistant to death, and executed two men we met at the book fair. All the while trying to drive me insane.

“How many men could mobilize a small army to save you, sit at your bedside, keeping you company through nightmares and flashbacks, hold your hand when you’re snotty, and read you to sleep, all the while providing a twenty-four-hour medic to heal your wounds and keeping your best friend safe?” I ask.

She shifts in her seat. “When you put it like that…”

Not wanting to rant, I peel myself off the bench, taking a few tentative steps across the stone patio. On its far right stands a trellis of red roses with twisting vines spreading in all directions. Myra follows me and places a steadying arm around my waist.

Leaning against her for support, we walk together toward the flowers. Their sweet, intoxicating smell fills my senses, masking the lingering scent of the asylum.

“What’s happening with your life?” I ask.

“Me?”

“Last time we spoke, I made you move out of your apartment.”

She huffs a laugh. “I was crashing on a sofa.”

“But it had to be confusing to have two strangers turn up at your door,” I say.

“Those pictures of Lizzie were convincing enough. After thinking about everything you said, it became difficult to ignore the truth.”

I nod, almost missing the days when my biggest worry was being stalked by a vengeful ghost.

Myra draws in a deep breath. “Camila and Jynxson took me to a nice apartment overlooking the park and told me not to leave the building. There was a gym, a concierge who could get me takeout, plus the twenty grand wiped away all my credit card debt and left me with plenty to spare.”

“You’re not mad?” I ask.

She whirls around with a broad smile. “I was so depressed after waking up and not remembering what happened after the book fair that I did something stupid.”

“What?

She squeezes her eyes shut. “Gavin.”

My eyes widen. I picture the asshole who forced me to watch a man die on the electric chair before maxing out my credit card.

“Gavin, Gavin? Or some random stranger with the same name?”

When her cheeks turn a bright shade of red, my breath catches. Myra likes her men tall, dark, and dominant… And rich. Gavin, our red-haired, five-foot-five classmate shaped like a Funko pop, is none of those things. Last time I checked, she was obsessed with her boss who owned the Wonderland Fetish Store. Gavin was supposed to leave town after Xero amputated his fingers.

“Don’t tell me you fucked him?”

She wrinkles her nose. “Shit… No!”

“Then what?” I ask, my breath quickening.

“He was depressed after… that thing with his hand. I took him down to one of the playrooms and showed him the ropes.”

My jaw drops. “But I thought he was an inexperienced dom.”

“I just flogged his back, made him crawl around and wash a few mugs. Now, he wants to be my sub, and he keeps calling me Mistress.”

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