“Painful. I hope you know how fucking lucky you are to have a girl like Aspen.”
“Believe me, I do.”
“Good, because if you ever hurt her, you’ll have more than a burning building to worry about. I’ll bury you where no one will find you.” I see why they’re friends. Vicious as hell.
“Understood.”
“I’m going to go home and grab a shower. Do you want me to bring back anything for you? I’ll only be an hour or so.”
“I can hold down the fort. Go. Flex is picking up some clothes for me and some of Aspen’s stuff.”
“Okay. Call me if you need anything.” I reach into my pocket for my phone and hand it to her.
“That requires me to know your number.”
“Smart ass,” she says as she types her number.
“Takes one to know one.” She disappears out the door, leaving me alone with Aspen. My family is arriving in a few hours. Jude called Aspen’s parents because I have yet to meet them. I definitely didn’t want it to be under such circumstances, but I want them to know I will guard their daughter with my life from this day forward.
Tears well in my eyes for the first time since I was eight years old and Rocco hit me with a diecast racecar. I almost lost her. She seems so small in this bed. So fragile. Logically, I know she’s anything but. She’s fucking fierce, but I just want to wrap her in cotton wool.
With Aspen safe in my arms, the adrenaline finally saps out of me, and I close my eyes, just for a moment. We’re together, and I will never let anyone hurt her ever again.
“You’re supposed to be taking it easy. Doctor’s orders.”
“It doesn’t count when you get your doctor best friend to impose bed rest on me. I’m losing my mind here.” She’s been trying to clean everything in sight, hurting herself in the process. I finally wrangled her back into the bedroom.
“Of course it counts.” I lean against the door jamb, happy to see her back in our bed.
“How is it going with the insurance?”
“It was cut and dried. We know what caused the fire.” The thought of that motherfucker fills me with rage.
“Will it be able to be refurbished? Is there any structural damage?” I’ve been putting off telling her for the past few weeks.
“It’s gone, baby girl. I’m already looking for a new space.”
“If I hadn’t pissed him off…”
“You did nothing wrong. This isnotyour fault in any way, shape, or form. I’m the one who broke his nose.”
“All your hard work is just gone.”
“I’ll rebuild.We’llrebuild it together. Better than ever.”
I move to her side, reaching out to touch her, but she shirks my hand. Since I saw her burns, she won’t even let me hug her. We sleep in the same bed, but not as we did before. She would fall asleep in my arms every night, but since she awoke to me holding her at the hospital, she’s been keeping me at arm’s length.
She needs time, and I can give that to her. I’m just worried that all the confidence she built will be lost to the marks on her skin. She’s stunning to me. She always will be.
“Don’t you have to get going to Rooftop?”
I check my watch, sad to know she’s practically shooing me out the door.
“No. Leonard is holding down the fort just now.”
“What about everyone else from Dulip?”
“I’m still paying them. It wasn’t their fault that the restaurant burned down. Some of them have found new jobs, but they still have a place if they want it when we launch Dulip 2.0. Rick has been asking to come visit. He said you haven’t answered any of his calls.”
