I try to stand up but my body is too weak. I double over, crying out. With a sigh, Gabriel scoops me into his arms bridal style and carries me upstairs. It’s instantly warmer up here. I can’t help it – I sink into his arms because they feel nice. Nice and warm. No other reason.
He takes me into one of the bedrooms. It’s covered in dust but otherwise, it’s not bad. He wraps a blanket around me and rubs my arms, like he’s trying to bring the warmth back into me.
“What are you doing?” I ask, noticing how my voice slurs.
“You dying would be inconvenient for me. So I have to get you warmed up again. I’m pretty positive you have a fever. Lay down. Close your eyes.”
“You actually have a nice side to you?”
He chuckles. “It’s not nice. It’s being practical. Now, rest.”
I snuggle into the warm blanket and soak into the soft mattress and shut my eyes. Sleep takes me right away. The last thing on my mind is Gabriel, looking down at me, with a softness I never knew he possessed.
Gabriel
“What are you doing?” Chip asks, storming over to me after I leave Susanna in the bedroom.
“I can’t let her die. She wasn’t doing well.”
“So you gave her a cushy bed to sleep on? That’s not fair. Besides, that’s my room I’ve been staying in since you insist we remain in this shithole.”
“Do I look like I care, Chip? Need I remind you what I said I’d do to you if you pissed me off more?”
He averts his gaze. “I just think you don’t have to give her a room.”
“She can’t die. Simple as that. This will get her better and then I can use her against Luca. Nothing more. So drop this, Chip.”
I walk past him but before I leave the house, I glance towards the bedroom door, and all I can think about is how vulnerable Susanna had looked.
And how it had made me feel protective over someone for the first time in my life.
Chapter Seven
Susanna
When I wake up, I know my fever broke. The shakes and shivers in my body are gone and are replaced with a tiredness that speaks to what I have gone through.
I roll onto my side and open my eyes, only to find Chip glaring at me from the doorway. I scramble upright, clutching the blanket to my chest.
He scoffs. “I’ve already seen you naked.”
“Leave me alone.”
He grumbles and rolls his eyes but does as I say. I relax once he walks away but I don’t have time to relax long before Gabriel appears in the bedroom doorway.
“You look better.”
“I feel better,” I admit. “No thanks to you.”
“Actually, it has everything to do with me. I saved your life.”
“You took my life when you kidnapped me.”
He waves a dismissive hand. “Semantics. You should take a shower. You smell like dead flesh.”
“Who’s fault is that? You left me down in that basement with a dead body.”
“I did. And I’m willing to admit when I’ve made a mistake and that was a mistake because now you stink. Come on.”
