Since he had his back to her all she could see were the scars marring his skin. The assassin skull and snake tattoo on his shoulder… She ran her fingernails up his spine until she buried her hand in his soft red hair.
He kept his head bent so that his hair fell over his face. His entire body was tense as if he dreaded her reaction. How could he fear her being so petty?
A part of her wanted to tell him she was pregnant, but she hesitated. Assuming Nero was right, she wasn’t even far enough along for it to show up on a pregnancy test.
Not to mention, Darling had enough to cope with right now. She didn’t want to burden him with anything more.
Bracing herself for the worst, she brushed the hair back from his right cheek, then froze at what she found there.
He swallowed hard before he glanced up sheepishly.
For a full minute she couldn’t speak as she stared into his all but perfect features. It was incredible. There was only a faint telltale scar over the left side of his face from where he’d fought with Ryn. Barely noticeable now.
She cupped his face in her hands as she studied him. It was like meeting a stranger.
He had another faint scar at the top of the right arch of his lips where one of the worst injuries had been caused by the muzzle they’d forced on him. And a hairline scar just over his left brow. But there was no trace of Pip’s name or any of the other scars that had been so deep and painful.
Swallowing hard, he licked his lips. “Are you okay with me?”
Was she okay? Was he serious?
Syn had done the most amazing job ever. In her wildest dreams, she’d never imagined how good-looking Darling really was. While he did share features with Drake, his were definitely more refined and masculine.
“You’re beautiful.”
He pulled his long hair down over the left side of his face. “It’s better, but—”
“Darling… you can’t see the scars.”
“Yes, you can.” He brushed his hand over his right cheek where Pip had carved his name. “It’s better though. But they’re all still there.”
Her heart broke for him and the fact that they were so branded in his mind that even with them gone, he still saw them clearly. “No, baby, they’re not.”
“I’m not that blind, Z. I know they’re still there.” Suddenly, his eyes started jerking back and forth—something they did whenever he was really stressed. He pulled away from her so that he could lie down and close them. He pressed his thumb and forefinger against his eyelids as if that would somehow magically make them stop.
Tears choked her. “Darling, you really can’t see them. I swear it.”
Darling wanted to believe her. He did, but he wasn’t stupid. He knew how people treated those who were disfigured. Those who were broken.
They were cruel and mean.
Most of all, they were unforgiving.
And soon he’d have to face the gerents and hear all their bullshit… I should have killed more of them.
On second thought, he should have killed them all.
A knock intruded on his thoughts.
“You rest.” Zarya reached over him to get her robe and wrap it around her…
Covering himself with a blanket, he tried to read the clock, but his eyes wouldn’t stop jumping long enough for him to focus.
“Did I hear Darling come in?” Ryn asked from the doorway.
“He’s resting.”
“I know it’s late, but it’s really important. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be here.”
“Let him in, Z.” Darling kept his eyes closed, but he could sense Ryn moving into the room until he was next to his bed.
“Wow,” Ryn said in an awed tone. “Syn did a great job. They’re completely gone. How do you feel?”
He was still a little sore—like he’d worked out too hard, but the medicine had done a remarkable job of healing him. “I’ve felt worse. So what’s got you stirred up in the middle of the night?”
Ryn made a sound of irritation. “Fain just shot over an e-mail that’s been circulating through everyone’s in-box. I thought you needed to know about it.”
Darling’s gut clenched. Please don’t let it be that fucking video again. While it’d been years since a copy had shown up—thanks to Syn’s tech skills—Darling had always lived with the fear that someone would rerelease it. “What’s it about?”
Ryn handed him his mobile.