Page 20 of The Fighter who Needed Me
She bit her lip, worrying it over and over, “I am scared Brooks. How can I do that? They watch me every moment of my life. I am never alone. Only in the dead of night. I cannot just leave. They only allowed me to come here because both Aidan and Penelope aided me in asking my parents. They couldn’t very well turn down a Duke and Duchess now could they?”
Brooks cursed, “Then when you are alone in the dead of night come to me. You know that I will be there no matter what. That I will come for you when you are ready.”
She looked at him, “I want to believe it’s that easy, but it isn’t.”
He growled, “Yes it is. Do you love me?”
She nodded, “Yes, of course I do.”
“Then let me help you get away from them. I cannot stand it Persephone. Knowing that they hurt you. Force you to take vile medicine and keeping you locked away. Knowing they want to marry you off to someone else, when you know damn well that you belong to me. With me.”
“I know Brooks.”
She stood and walked to where he was pacing, his clothes still disheveled and where he was running his hands through his hair over and over.
“Brooks, I want more than anything to be yours. To live in your home and have a family with you. We just have to do this the right way. I do not want them to take me from you again. It took me a very long time to convince them to let me stay in London in the first place after our adventure on the ship. I am terrified that if they knew anything about me and that I want to leave, then I will be taken and never seen again. They have threatened it before. I would rather have these stolen glances and touches then not see you at all.”
He put his forehead to hers and his hands on her hips. “I don’t want that either.”
He pulled back a little and searched her eyes, “I love you. All I want is you. I will try to be more patient.”
She cupped his jaw, “I love you too. We can figure this out. I promise. I want nothing more than to be yours and to be your wife always.”
He shut his eyes and leaned down and kissed her and hugged her close.
She shut hers as well and put her head on his strong chest and listened to his heartbeat under her ear.
That was the last time they were alone.
And then she had to go back to real life. At home once again under her parents’ thumb.
Shaking her head to make the thoughts of her husband leave, she felt the tears gather in her eyes.
She was so tired of it all. Of her parents, and their worry and stress that her kidnapping had done some damage to her in some way, the endless stream of doctors and the people who worked for her parents.
The ones who did what her parents wanted. Including giving her the foul medicine that made her tired, made her weak and made her forget that she did not want to live this way any longer and wishing she was once again free.
Every single day she missed Brooks and his smile. His touch and the way he loved her.
He would never think to treat her like this. No, he let her be who she wanted to be.
She wished she had never left his side that day when they had come home, and that she was still in his arms.
This morning as she lay in bed, waiting to be helped into a bath, she looked out the small cracks in the coverings on her windows and longed for the sunshine.
For fresh air. For anything beyond these four walls that she had to stare at day after day.
A knock sounded and she lay still, knowing whoever was at the door were not waiting for her to answer it.
No, they did not care whether she was dressed or wanted company. No. Modesty and privacy went out the window when she was a small child.
Sighing, she pulled the blankets up higher when the door opened.
Her parents had hired a new staff when they moved to London, and she was grateful for that small mercy.
“Miss? Your parents want you to wake now and for you to bathe. I will help you with your hair.”
She just nodded, knowing that no one actually cared what she wanted.
