Page 88 of Vengeful Lies

“I’m so sorry, sweetheart, I shouldn’t have left your door until Jax got here. I just didn't think I could stay that close and not come back in here and haul you into my arms where I’ve wanted you for the last month.”

Her whole body trembled, but something soft in her eyes hadn't been there when he’d left her room earlier. “Y-you called me y-yours,” she stammered, her wide green eyes begging him for confirmation, to assure her that he’d meant what he said and it wasn't uttered in the heat of the moment.

Reaching out, Cade hesitantly brushed a stray curl off her cheek, smoothing it and tucking it behind her ear. “You are. It just took me a while to accept what I’d known from the second I laid eyes on you. I wasn't ready then, Gabriella, I was still grieving. I’m ready now. To make you mine, to build a life with you. When you're ready to make me yours. But make no mistake about it, you are already mine.”

Tears leaked out of her eyes, and she shuddered, her breathing still uneven. Voices started to sound behind him and several sets of footsteps told him multiple people had entered the room.

Cade ignored them all.

Only one person needed his attention, and she was still staring up at him with wide eyes.

“Can I hold you, sweetheart?” he asked.

When she gave a tentative nod, he quickly scooped her into his arms, taking her spot on the bed and settling her on his lap.

Finally.

His girl was where she belonged and the weight of her small body nestled against him soothed everything inside him, giving him a peace he hadn't felt in decades.

September 28th

7:02 A.M.

For some reason, she couldn’t take her eyes off the bite mark on her chest.

It had been almost a month since it was done, and because she hadn't cared for the wound it had gotten infected. Thanks to that decision, she would be left with a permanent reminder of that ordeal on her body that she would see every single day.

Her fault, nobody else’s.

Yet she wished she could go back in time and make a different choice.

Despite the more than three weeks that had passed, the wound still looked angry and red, not at all like it could have. Still, it had improved over the week she’d been in the hospital. It no longer looked like it was full of puss, and while still red, it wasn't as enflamed as it had been.

It was healing, like the rest of her was.

Her cheeks were no longer stained bright red with fever and paper pale beneath, and she’d started to put a little weight back on although she still didn't have much appetite.

For the first time since she’d been abducted, she’d actually slept properly last night. Different than the sick, feverish sleep she’d had those first couple of nights in the hospital. That sleep hadn't been as deep or as restful, her body still in pain and suffering from her system swinging from too cold to too hot.

Last night was different.

Because Cade had been there.

Why did he have to be the only thing that made her feel safe enough to let go and sleep like her body so desperately needed?

Yesterday, he’d brought her that beautiful necklace, saved her life, and called her his. He was giving her all the signs and all the words that he wanted more from her than just being his daughter’s nanny, but she was so afraid of letting herself believe it.

What if he yanked the ground from underneath her again?

“Gabriella? Are you okay? You’ve been in there for a while,” Cade called out as he knocked on the bathroom door.

As much as she wanted to hide and put off the conversation she knew she and Cade needed to have, Gabriella also knew she couldn’t do that forever.

It was time to put her big girl panties on and talk to him.

He’d been patient, given her time, but yesterday she’d agreed to let him hold her, and she’d been the one to ask him to stay with her, she had to do this.

“Gabriella?” The door to the bathroom opened and Cade stepped into the room.

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