She narrows her eyes and I’m ready for the onslaught that is going to come out of her mouth, but instead her face screws up and tears spill out onto her hollow cheeks.
I speed up and drop down on my knees in front of her, cupping her face and resting my forehead against hers. “I thought I’d lost you, they wouldn’t tell me a fuckin’ thing.”
She sobs and I cut off the next one by pressing my mouth to her perfect lips in a gentle kiss. She pulls back and eyes the arm I have in a sling.
“They had me thinking you were dead, I was so confused. Hunter, you saved my life.” Her hands slide up my neck and fist my hair when she reaches the nape.
Fuck she’s beautiful! “No, you saved yourself. You’ve always been so fuckin’ strong, you never needed me.”
She looks deep into my eyes and snorts. “Are you freaking kidding me? I’ve always needed you.” Her voice cracks and I don’t miss the hidden meaning behind her words.
“I can’t make up for what I did to you. I just hope you can forgive me.”
Her hands drop from my neck onto her knee and she winces. “What happened to me, it puts things into perspective. What you did fucking destroyed me and I was lost for a while, but I wouldn’t change where I ended up for anything. I finally have people that care about me.”
I flinch. “I always cared about you.”
She gives me a watery smile. “You did.”
I stand and walk to the window to look out over the gray parking lot filled with cars. “I still do, I’ve never stopped.” I turn and look into her eyes. “You were mine from the get go, there’s never been anybody else, never will be.”
I shrug and she looks down at her hands, my heart sinks. “Have you found someone else?”
She ignores my question and continues staring at her hands like they’re the most fascinating things in the world.
“Keeley?”
A flash of pain crosses her face and she lifts her head and points to my hospital bed with a shaky arm. “Help me up? My ribs are hurting sitting like this.”
I look down at my arm in a sling, feeling emasculated. “Err, I’ll try. You sure you don’t wanna get someone else in here?”
She eyes me and shakes her head. “No.”
I shrug, ignoring my own pain and push her as close to the bed as possible, she grits her teeth and pushes herself out of the wheelchair with my help. I forgot how light she is and lift her onto the bed with no problems.
I pull back and get caught in the wires of her drips. “Shit.”
She laughs as I untangle myself and find myself smiling before it drops as the tension radiates off her. I don’t stop watching her, trying to read her, but she’s got a barrier up that she won’t drop.
I stand staring into her eyes, it’s like looking into the clearest water I’ve ever seen. They captivate me. What the fuck is wrong with me? I normally take what I want, but it’s never been like that with Keeley.
But why not? She’s here, right now.
She must notice my change in demeanor as her breath catches in her throat and I move to sit next to her on the bed, encasing her tiny hand in mine. “Is there someone back home?”
She tears her eyes away from mine but I tilt her chin toward me with my fingertips. “Don’t look away from me, I want you to look at me when you tell me there’s someone else.”
What can I say? I’m a glutton for punishment.
“You’re the one that sent me away on my own, Hunter. You can’t expect me to not move on with my life. We were never together.”
I let my hand drop from her chin. “You were mine.”
“Drop the caveman attitude, I’m not an object,” she says flippantly.
“I don’t mean it like that and you know it.” I shake my head. “All that matters now is that you’re alright. You are, right?”
She plays with her hands but doesn’t answer me.
“Steely? Just talk to me Goddammit. If you can’t talk to me, then who can you talk to?”
My thumb absentmindedly rubs the top of her hand as she looks at me, numb. “I don’t feel sad, I don’t feel anything really.”
“I’m not buying it.”
Her barrier drops and I watch as her face turns defeated and tired. “I’m confused about everything, I’m hurtin’ everywhere, and I can’t get his piece of shit face out of my mind.” Tears drip out of her eyes and she takes in a deep breath. “He told me every detail about how he murdered my mom while he took what he wanted from me.”
My fists clench, making my shoulder ache and I hiss. She thinks it’s because of the pain from my shoulder but it’s not. It’s a different kind of pain, it’s the pain of not killing that motherfucker myself, never getting to inflict every single thing he inflicted on this beautiful, strong woman in front of me.
“He said you wanted to take something from him so he’d take something away from you,” she adds quietly.
I do a double take. He did this because of me going for VP? Fuck if that doesn’t hurt. “I would’ve come for you sooner if I knew.”
She closes her eyes, making the tears flow faster. “This is nobody’s fault but his. But it’s over now, we can all go get on with our normal lives.”