I sigh, a pain stinging my chest, and I get onto the couch beside her. “Baby, come here.”
Lana sniffles, looking at me with a heavy pout. Black is smudged beneath her eyes, her lipstick faded and smeared atthe bottom of her lip, salty tears staining her cheeks, and her hair in disarray—still gorgeous as ever. “I look horrible.”
“You arebeautiful.”
Lana shakes her head.
“Come here.”
“I want to get out of this dress first,” she rasps and stands, and I don’t miss the way she wobbles a bit. “Help me.”
Lana turns, giving me her back for me to lower the zipper.
I stand and, instead of taking off her dress, I bend to lift her with my arm under her knees and the other around her back. In the bathroom, I set her down and her body shudders. I start at her arms, brushing my fingertips up and cross the tops of her shoulders until I unclasp the necklace. I gingerly set it down on the counter and kiss her shoulder.
“You look beautiful,” I rasp.
Lana shakes her head.
The zipper comes next, the quiet sound of the metal filling the silent air until Lana sniffles. The dress falls from her frame and I wait as she steps out of it. Quickly, I take the gown and set it down across the length of the sofa—we’ll worry about that tomorrow.
Back in the bathroom, Lana is scrubbing her face at the sink, standing utterly naked. From the hook, I grab her robe and come up behind her to drape it over her shoulders. “Baby.”
Her head hangs between her shoulders as she rinses her hands under the water, and my hands on her hips urge her to turn. When she does, I cup her face in my hands and tilt her head back to look up at me. “Let me help you.”
I wipe away a tear as she nods. “I love you so much,” she rasps.
“I know.”
“You’re so good to me,” Lana croaks.
I roll my shoulders. A stiff shake of my head. “I’m?—”
“Don’t.”
I take her hips and lift her onto the counter. “Makeup remover?”
She gives me a little nod. “The cream.”
I take the jar of makeup remover and use the pads of my fingers to gather the product. I stand between her legs and my heart breaks looking into her red eyes and tear streaked cheeks before I massage the cream into her skin. “Are you okay?”
“I think so,” she says as I spread the cream across her cheeks.
The issue with my mother will be resolved tomorrow. Tonight, I need Lana and she needs me. There is nowhere else I’d rather be. No one else I’d rather be with. And once we go back home, the only loose end I have here will be gone. I’ll work from the house I’m buying Lana, in our office, while she’s at the shop.
And it’ll work out just fine.
I’m trusting that.
Tonight, I’m just going to hold her close and let myself feel okay. I don’t have to dream about this anymore. I don’t have to get high to see a blurry version of her in my head. I have her and I’m protecting her—us—at all costs. I’m not losing any of this again.
Not to alcohol, not to drugs, not to this company, and not to my mother.
“Tomorrow,” I rasp, spreading the product over her forehead. “I’m going to go into the office and I want you to stay here and wait for me, okay? It won’t take long—it shouldn’t.Wait for me. Sleep in, do some self-care, whatever you need to do. And when I get back, you’ll tell me what you want to do, okay?”
“Okay.”
“If you want to stay in, we’ll watch TVall day or something. And if you want to go out, I’ll take you sightseeing.”
