Page 12 of Sweet Revenge

“Well, one thing I’ve definitely learned in this life is that if you keep your expectations low, you’ll never be disappointed.” I couldn’t tell if he was joking or not, but I got the feeling he wasn’t.

“That seems like a kind of miserable way to live your life, doesn’t it?” I asked, glancing up at him.

“Yeah, I guess so, but that’s what I’m used to,” he admitted with a slight shrug.

Shaking my head, I said, “That’s not right, Daemon. It’s okay to want things for yourself, to seek out whatever it is that makes you happy in this life. Nothing says that you deserve to be miserable.”

“I’ve done a lot of things in my day, Elisa.” A hint of sadness washed across his face before he stored it away. “I guess I just don’t have a lot of time to think about anything other than whatever the fuck is happening today, you know? You’re talking about long-term shit, like what I wanna be when I grow up, and I’m just focusing on surviving.”

His words caused a bolt to shoot through my heart. I knew what he was saying as my reality wasn’t much different than his, but one thing I’d always allowed myself was the chance to dream to envision a world where I had escaped and no longer had to worry about my father and all the shit he was wrapped up in.

And then there were the dreams I’d had of finding my dark angel. For a long time, I’d thought they’d never come true, but now, here I was in his arms. “Until I met you, I never thought I had a chance for a happily ever after. Now, you’re the only thing that keeps me going some days, Daemon. I want to spend today with you, and tomorrow, and the day after that. All of them. But I’m terrified that something is going to happen to steal all of that away from us.” I felt a tear slide down my cheek, but he reached up to brush it away.

My words didn’t seem to scare him the way they used to. No longer was he afraid of my dreams, of my need to be with him every second of the day. That in itself was a comfort.

“I’ll do everything within my power to make your dreams come true, baby, no matter what they are. I can’t promise you nothing fucked up is going to happen because that’s our lives. But for now, we are together, and that’s the most important thing. Let’s leave all that shit behind and just spend each moment focusing on one another. For now, none of that other shit matters, okay?”

I nodded, and he brushed his lips against mine. Satisfaction filled the aching void in my chest. At least we had each other for now. As I rested my head on his chest, he muttered one more sentence I chose to ignore for the moment.

“We’ll save the war for another day.”

CHAPTER8

DAEMON

Iwoke up before the sun rose and stumbled my way to the bathroom, barely awake enough for the pain in my shoulder to register. By the time I was done taking a leak and managed to get back in bed, the irritation in my chest and shoulder had grown to a blaze.

Groaning, I lay back down, careful not to disturb the princess lying there. With her hair spread out around her, she looked like an angel, the first rays of sunlight coming in around the blinds giving her a soft glow. What the fuck had I done to deserve a woman like this? Not a damn thing.

I tried to go back to sleep, but the pain was worse than before, so I just lay there, listening to the birds awakening in the forest, thinking about my fucked-up life. I wanted to acknowledge what Elisa had hinted at the night before when she’d said she wanted to spend all of her tomorrows with me, but I had never let thoughts like that filter through my brain. Ever since Jenny had died, all I could think about was gaining revenge for her. Once I’d done that, my goals had shifted to making sure I was the most powerful mob boss in existence. Thoughts of happiness, of being with a beautiful woman, starting a family, all of that bullshit I heard other people pining over, never crossed my mind.

Not until this beautiful woman forced me to consider it.

She moved on the bed next to me. Even though she didn’t weigh more than a hundred pounds soaking wet, every motion seemed to send a shockwave of pain pulsing through my chest. I wanted to shout at her to lay the fuck still, but I didn’t open my mouth. She’d done so much for me. I could endure a little more pain if it meant she fell back into a deep sleep.

Elisa stilled for a bit, but before too long, I felt her eyes on the side of my face and turned to look at her. By then, the pain had subsided a little.

“Good morning.” She kissed my cheek. I turned my head just in time to capture her lips. “How did you sleep?”

“Good,” I lied. If I told her it hurt, she’d go chase down the meds. “How about you?”

“Not too bad. I think I was pretty exhausted after sleeping on that shitty hospital bed the night before. You’ve got to be hungry.”

It wasn’t a question. I hadn’t eaten much in the last few days, and my stomach was letting me know it, growling even before I could answer the question. “I could eat.”

Her face brightened as she smiled at me. “Eggs and bacon? My brother was kind enough to get us a little cooler for that stuff and even dropped in some ice.”

“The doc thinks of everything,” I replied, not sure how I felt about Drake. He had saved my life, so I was thankful for that. He’d also given us a means of escape. But he’d been rude to Elisa, and I didn’t appreciate that.

She arched an eyebrow, clearly hearing the tension in my voice. “I’ll go fix it.”

“I’ll come with you,” I said.

She popped out of bed and grabbed my shirt from the night before, throwing it over her head and covering her gorgeous body, before I could even lean up.

“You don’t need to do that,” she said. “It’s not difficult. I’ve got it.”

“No, I can help.” I pushed off the mattress with my left arm and immediately regretted it as the stitches pulled and tugged at my sensitive flesh. Gasping, I let out a groan and fell back onto the pillows. How had I managed to get up and take a piss without hurting myself, but now I was bed-bound like an elderly man who’d have to pee in a bowl for the rest of his life?

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