Page 33 of Black Hearts
“We’ll, uh, we’ll go grab some food.” Jaxon sounded awkward, but with one look at me, he gave me a nod in greeting. “Let you two do… whatever.”
Bennet said nothing, though he glared at me, but Will? Will couldn’t take a hint. “You two could go get food. I’ll—” Will would’ve given any excuse to stay here with us, so when I turned my stare to him, glowering, he shut up. He comprehended the fact that this reunion between Juliet and I was going to be between her and I. No audiences here. “Fine, fine. I’ll help with the food. Never know how many hands you need.”
The guys, reluctant as they were, left the room, leaving Juliet alone with me.
She didn’t even turn to watch them go. She continued to stare at me, saying nothing else. Her blond hair was dirty, to the point where it looked wet it was so greasy, but that’s what a stay at the hospital did to you. To say she appeared thinner would be an understatement as well. I believed what the others had said, that she didn’t eat much at the hospital—or perhaps it had started with Fred. Maybe he didn’t feed her much of anything when he’d brought her home.
Or perhaps it was the clothes she wore. Juliet seemed to drown in them. That T-shirt made her look the size of a child, even though she wasn’t one, and the pants hanging on her hips were almost ridiculously big.
I couldn’t say how long we stood there, feet apart, staring at each other. I couldn’t say how much time passed before I broke the silence of the room by saying, “I never should’ve let you go.” That was an understatement, I think. Letting my father hand her over to Fred had been like losing a part of myself, letting the most important piece of me go.
What was I if I didn’t have Juliet?
Juliet stared at me, and still she didn’t say a word. I wished I could hear her thoughts, know what she was thinking—at least then I’d be able to gauge what page she was on, what she was feeling. If she was happy to see me or not. Right now, it was impossible to tell.
“Jaxon told me what happened,” I went on, stepping toward her again. Less than a foot between us now, and I made no moves to touch her. After everything, the last thing I wanted to do was push her. Recent events had already pushed her enough. “Your father will be held accountable for what he did to you, that I promise you. Even if I never go back to that house, I promise you that.”
“Why would you… what does that mean?”
“If I have to choose between you and the house—everything I’ve worked for my entire life—I choose you, Juliet. It shouldn’t have taken me this long to see—” Before I was able to say anything more, Juliet closed the rest of the distance between us, leaning her body into mine.
She buried her face against my chest, saying not a word.
I didn’t know what to say. I felt… I didn’t know what I felt. So many different emotions, all warring inside of me. None of them anger, not at her. At myself? Yes, I didn’t think that particular emotion would disappear anytime soon.
Most of what I felt involved relief, contentment, and a type of happiness I never thought I’d feel. I was slow to wrap my arms around her upper body, holding her to me, keeping her body locked against mine. Having her in my arms was like coming home, what I’d missed for so long. I never, ever wanted to give this girl up.
Juliet was mine. She’d been mine from the beginning, and now I was ready to prove it.
We stood there for a long time, neither one of us moving, neither one of us saying anything more. Her body felt so small against mine, and yet she fit against me perfectly. Her head nestled against my chest, she was at home, at peace.
God, I’d been such a fucking fool.
“I won’t let anyone take you away from me again,” I promised her, breaking the silence and causing her head to tilt back and those beautiful eyes of hers to stare up at me. “And I won’t let anyone hurt you ever again. If someone so much as looks at you wrong, I’ll kill them.”
Her lips were measured to curl into a smile. Small as it was, it was still a smile, and it still made my insides heat up. “I don’t want you to kill for me,” she whispered. “But… thank you.” Once more, she buried her face against me. Her fingers curled against the fabric of my suit. “I thought I was going to die. I thought I was never going to see you again.”
“I won’t let that happen.” One of my hands dropped to her lower back, holding it gently. “How are you feeling?”
“Okay right now,” she said, and I let her pull herself back. “They gave me something at the hospital before I left.” Lifting a hand, she placed it above the shirt on her stomach, where the stab wound must be.
I went for the bottom hem of the shirt, and Juliet said nothing. Her hand fell away the moment I began to lift the shirt, careful in how I got it up and over her head. Tossing it to the side, I gazed down at her top half. She had no bra on, her chest on full display—and yet, I didn’t stare at her curves. I stared at the bandage on her stomach.
Fred was fortunate he wasn’t here right now, otherwise I’d fucking kill him. I’d slide a knife through his gut so he would know what it felt like. I’d end the miserable fuck’s life without blinking and I would feel no guilt over it. He’d get what he deserved for hurting my girl.
The more I thought about what Fred had done, the more furious I became. Anger flourished within me, until the point I couldn’t quite think straight. I reached for her hip, fingers curling around it, and still I stared down at the bandage.
Juliet must’ve sensed the fury in me, for she told me, “I’m okay, Markus.” The way she said my name would’ve normally calmed me down, but right now, I was faced with the fact that I’d almost lost her.
“My father handed you over,” I growled out the words. “He told your father that the others left to get you back. He’s the reason Fred stabbed you and left you for dead.” I couldn’t forget Fred was not the only culpable party in this story. My own father was just as guilty as the serial killer himself, and knowing he was back home, sitting in my office, pretending it was his, pissed me the fuck off.
He wouldn’t take the house back. If I couldn’t go back, I’d rather burn the fucking house down before handing it over to him. If he thought I’d step down and let him take the reins once more, he was fucking wrong.
“I guess we both have terrible fathers,” Juliet whispered, sounding quite sad. And how sorrowful she must be, having been nearly killed by the same man she used to revere as a god. Fred had been the only person in her life for so long, it had to be devastating.
“Fuck them,” I growled out. “We will rid ourselves of both of them—but that’s a job for another day. For now…” I let my hand fall off her hip. “There is something else I want to do.”
A heartbeat passed before she asked, “What’s that?”
