Page 9 of Destroy (Deadly Hearts 2)

I lean forward and run my hand lightly over her head. I kiss her forehead conscious of the need to pull back if she doesn’t want me in her space. “Anyone ever tell you, you are a devious little Madam?” I ask.

She makes a noise that sounds like a laugh, but is hollow and harsh. “No, but I like it.”

“Find that hard to believe,” I murmur, taking my hands off her. She needs to know I’m here, but that I’ll back off when she needs me to.

“What? That I like it?” she asks wearily, opening her eyes.

“That no one has ever told you,” I correct her, and she smiles. A soft, almost normal smile before she sighs.

“Michelle leave any painkillers?”

“Yeah,” I say and lean over to hand her two ibuprofen.

“That all?” she complains.

“It’s all she had. She’s coming back with some stronger stuff later,” I tell her what Michelle told me earlier.

“Great,” she grumbles but takes them from me anyway.

I hand her a glass of water. “Small sips.”

“Thirsty,” she mumbles.

“Small sips,” I say, taking the glass from her.

“Asshole,” she whines and closes her eyes again.

I smile and sit back. She is a fighter and I fall more in love with her than I could ever have imagined.

David takes her hand again and she lets him, but she is falling asleep again.

“Promise to make it up to you,” David murmurs.

She smiles. “Yeah, you will,” she says, and then grimaces as the pain gets too much for her.

“Sleep now, Princess. We will be here whenever you wake up,” Declan murmurs.

“We will be here, always,” I add. “We will never leave you again.”

“You didn’t leave me,” she protests weakly. “I left.”

“And when you are feeling all better, Daddy is going to smack you arse about that,” Declan says with a soft smile.

She chuckles, but then her face falls. She sighs, her eyes opening again. “You know, don’t you?”

“Yes, we know,” I say, taking her hand again.

“It wasn’t as bad as last time,” she says.

Last time?

My eyes shoot to Declan’s. He gives me an apologetic look. Seems everyone knew about it, except me.

“How so?” Declan asks, “if you want to tell us.”

“Later,” she says and then goes silent.

“Whenever you’re ready,” I say and clench my jaw to stop the ache in my heart. She has suffered so much, and we can do nothing to help her. What good are we to her?

“Let’s all get some rest,” I mutter and David leans over to switch the lamp off. He lies down next to her, but not touching her. Declan turns on the floor to lean against the bed. I stay in my chair and Layton crosses to the window to stare out of it silently until it goes fully dark. None of us move a muscle and eventually, I fall asleep.

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