My.
“How’re yougonnado that?”Iasked softly.
“I’m going to put a bullet in his forehead.”
Oh my!
I stared up at him.
“In the meantime,” he went on like he didn’t just tell me heplanned to assassinate my rapist, “although I figure you know this now, you arenot unsafe.You’re watched twenty-four-seven.I have a man on you at all times.When you’re trying on shoes.When you’re grocery shopping.When you’re up inthis apartment watching movies.No one you don’t want near you will get nearyou.”
After delivering that, he looked to the bacon and flippedit.
I watched him do this wordlessly.
When he was done, I felt his gaze come back to me and I gavehim mine.
“Is that understood?”he asked.
“Uh…yeah.”
“Right.Excellent.Next topic.I want you to move into mycondo with me.”
Uh-oh.
“Uh…no.”
“Daisy—”
“Honey, you’rebein’ all kinds ofsweet.You’vebeenall kinds of sweet.Even after I was a bitch to youand you didn’t deserve it.”
“You’re going through a good deal.”
“You still didn’t deserve it.”
He inclined his head, conceding the point like only agentleman would.
Lord.
“And I appreciate it,” I continued.“Last night wasn’t good.But it happened and now I can get a lock on it.I promise.Swear.Itmeans a lot to me you stepped up when I called.I feel bad I did that,pullin’ you from your bed in the middle of the night, butit felt good you stepped up and did it so sweet.But I’ll get a lock on it.That’s a certainty.So I’m good now and I’m notmovin’in with you.”
“Then I’ll move in with you.”
“Marcus—”
He slid the bacon off the burner, switched it off, set thefork aside, and then turned fully into me, wrapping his other arm around me.
“Last night wasn’t not good, Daisy.Last night wasbad.The time it took for me to get to you, I could tell with one look at you inthat corner, you were in hell.After I got to you, it didn’t get much better.I’m not allowing that to happen again.”
“But, now it’s happened, I can—”
“I have a guest room.It’s nice.You can stay in there.Alternately, if you prefer to be in your own home, since you don’t have a guestroom set up, I’ll sleep on your couch if that’s where you wish me to be.”
“This is—”
“And you need to talk to someone about what happened toyou.”
I felt my eyes get squinty.“Will you let me finish?”
