Page 167 of Dark Endures

Those buttons go all the way down her back.

Allll the way down.

My hands shake.

Man up. There isn’t anyone else who will ever get to do this job again. It’s yours forevermore.

Two rings. I need to go out and buy the first one soon.

I reach for the first button.

Very soon.

“Are they too small for your fingers? Maybe I should call and see if one of the maids can help.”

“I’ve got them.” Though they are quite small and delicate. My hands didn’t shake this badly when I was defusing a bomb. Then again, a bomb can only kill me. This woman could shatter me. One by one, they slip open, revealing a sheer corsetthat’s cinched way too tight with those bruised ribs of hers. “This has got to hurt.”

“Beauty is pain.”

“That had to be a hard conversation you had with your mom.” Mindy seems way too calm to have told her mom everything that happened.

“Oh, Mom doesn’t know. The seamstress was the only one who saw my bruises. And it was so strange, she didn’t react to them at all. It was as if they were invisible.”

Or she’s seen way too much and knows better than to react. I can’t wait until I can get you out of this place in the morning.

Button by button, I reveal more and more bruises. They’re yellowed and fading, but how they must have looked… I fight to tamp down the rage. The desire to kill Adonis. Getting hot-headed will do nothing.

Someone hurt Mindy, and I wasn’t there to protect her. I failed the one person that I should always protect. The one who’s the other half of my soul. When I reach the curve of her hip, my hands freeze. Any lower and—

“I think I can get out of it on my own. Thank you for your help.” She gives me a small smile through the mirror.

I walk out to give her the privacy she needs.

Helping her with such a little task should have been nothing, but getting a firsthand view of some of the damage made it traumatic.

Logically, I know it wasn’t my fault, but logic has nothing to do with the anger at seeing her skin still mottled with color. Especially knowing today was harder because she still hurts.

Because I didn’t protect her.

“What's wrong?” Mindy steps out of the bathroom fully covered in flannels this time.

“Nothing.” At least nothing that I can change.

She walks over to where I’m sitting on the edge of the bed. “Liar.”

That means — “You’re starting to see my tells.”

“I could always see your tells. How do you think I beat you so often at games? Whatever it is that’s bothering you, we’ll handle it together.” She leans down and kisses my temple.

What more could a man ask for?

Hit And Run

Maddox

“It feels like so long since we’ve been here.” Mindy takes a deep breath as we step inside the apartment.

Coming home feels amazing. But coming home dating the woman I love is even better. I set her suitcases on a chair in the closet for her to empty whenever she’s ready. “A few days never felt so long.” I grab a trash bag from the box in the pantry.

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