Her laugh is still lingering as I reach over the table and drag her over the fucking thing. Once she’s sitting on my thigh, I look at Lennox with genuine hate. “Don’t talk shit about what she’s been through.”
She attempts to climb into the empty seat next to me, but I drop her bag in it as I tightly wrap my arm around her waist.
The rest of the flight is spent with me glaring at Lennox while she stares at the wall. He doesn’t look at her or try to speak to her again. But I still hate him for making her smile and laugh when she’s mine. Some of the loathing is chased away when she lays her head on my shoulder.
When she’s asleep, Lennox softly says, “Your jealousy is misplaced.”
“When did you two get so close?” I hiss.
“I stayed with her while she was sick, as you already know.”
“Did you…”
He shakes his head as he pulls his gloves tighter against his hands. “That will never happen.”
I’ve never seen him touch anyone without his gloves on. Even on the rare occasions he’s hugged me, he’s always been careful to never have skin-to-skin contact. Yet I can’t stop myself being pissed about their closeness when I can’t remember the last time my wife was playful or laughed with me.
Fuck, I can’t remember the last timeIlaughed. At anything.
I press my lips to her forehead as I hug her, my eyes closing at finally having her. She’s not trapped with that wicked cunt. As soon as I’ve avenged what was taken from us both, we can leave. For now, we’ll wade through our grief together.
Lennox didn’t driveus to the other cabin full of hell when we landed. I’m sure he’s doing this as a fuck you for glaring at him. The large windows frame the patch of disturbed snow perfectly so I can’t avoid it while I wait for Delilah to wake up.
My arms tighten around her as my eyes burn.
Kid, this is Delilah. You remember the one from the pictures? She would have loved you and you should be here to meet her.
But she flinches before I can finish my conversation with my beautiful boy. Lifting her hand to my cheek she croaks, “Kane? Why are you crying?”
“I’m not. I forgot to blink. I’ve missed you, koukla mou.”
“Can we get steak now?” she asks with so much hope.
“I can make it for you.” I kiss her cheeks, chin, and forehead before standing with her in my arms, turning my back on my butterfly. He’s still with me though. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to forget him. I know I won’t when a new future he’s not in is revealed every single fucking day.
My strong wife looks around the cabin, inadvertently showing me every angle of her haircut. There’s only going to be one way to fix it, so I carry her into the bathroom. The leather case Lennox left is on the vanity as I set her on her feet. Without thought, I unzip it and take out the clippers. Buzzing vibrates off the tiles as I lean over the sink, ready to buzz my head.
“Are we going to have matching haircuts?” she asks lightly.
I look up at my hair. I’ve kept the exact same length and style since…
“No,” I grit. Straightening up, I carefully cup her jaw before slowly running the clippers close to her scalp. “We’ll end up getting stuck together like Velcro.”
Her laugh isn’t as bright as when she laughed with that fuckerLenny. It’s a stupid fucking name. So is little doe. She’s not a fucking deer.
Delilah doesn’t cry as I move the steel edge of the clippers around her scalp, careful not to nick her sensitive skin. The matted parts of her hair clump together around her feet with the finer strands littered around them. She’s still beautiful.
“You have a really round head,” I whisper.
“Thanks,” she scoffs.
Her eyes are like huge blue marbles staring at me as I step back once it’s done. “Do you know what koukla mou means?”
She shakes her bald head.
“My doll.” I hold her hip, pulling her into me. “You look like one now. Do you remember when you were pissed at Scarlet for refusing to play with us, so you hacked the hair off her doll?”
“Shut up.” She playfully swats my chest. “It looked even creepier by the time I’d finished.”
