Page 28 of One for the Money

“Looks like she’s done being examined,” Erik muttered, grabbing the blankets and pulling them up.

Using my foot, I kicked them out of his hands. “Only the sheet… she can’t handle blankets,” I instructed.

“They trigger her?” Erik questioned, to which I nodded. “Whatever happened to her must have been some seriously fucked-up shit. That level of PTSD I’ve only seen in two men, and they’d been prisoners of war.”

Rolling onto my back, I shifted Von so she was half draped over my body, using my shoulder as a pillow. “If she wants you to know, she’ll tell you, but I wouldn’t count on it. Once the shine wears off you, she’ll find something new to play with.”

That seemed to strike a nerve with the man. “What if it doesn’t? You managed to make yourself a permanent fixture.”

I growled, narrowing my eyes at him as I reached for the gun I kept hidden between the mattresses. Like fuck I was going to let this bastard continue living if replacing me was his goal.

Erik shot up his hands in surrender. “Whoa, that wasn’t what I fucking meant.”

“Know that you’ll be dead before you ever get the chance. I have zero fucking issue with killing people who piss me off, and you are dangerously close, sheep,” I shot back.

“Message received,” Erik said, getting up from the bed. “I was just trying to point out that she doesn’t always throw away her toys.”

“I’m no toy,” I stated. “We are kindred souls with a connection so deep nothing could come between us. Tell me, what could you possibly offer that comes even close?”

“Guess we’ll just have to wait and see once I figure out how to be a predator again,” Erik announced, crossing his arms. “I was once like you… ruthless, deadly, and bloodthirsty, a creation of my training. Problem is when the military can’t control you any longer, they lock you up until they can undo everything that made you that way. Guess you could say I’ve been brainwashed twice, and I struggle every day to know what thoughts are really mine. The clearest I’ve ever been was talking to Von, even though the ideas I’ve been forced to accept kept screaming she was wrong. Yet something inside me refuses to let me leave until I understand what she’s doing to me.”

“Just be prepared that you might not like the answers you get, and once she removes the blindfold, you’ll never be able to go back,” I warned. “Some people, like myself, are monsters hidden in sheep's clothing and only become more monstrous as time goes on. Would you be able to handle it if that were the same for you?”

Erik dropped his head and ran a hand over his buzzed hair. “Some monsters are forced to wear sheep’s clothing, but it doesn’t change the fact they’re not sheep and never have been.”

When he met my gaze again, I saw what Von must have and realized the two of us might not be so different after all.

There’s nothing like getting two solid dick downs, getting choked to the point you pass out, experiencing a panic attack, then having a meltdown to give you the best sleep of your life. I woke up still in Bear’s bed, aching in all the right places for once, and found I’d slept into the next day. I don’t think I’d ever felt so rested before. It was almost as if that psycho-babble shit about letting your emotions out might actually be a thing. Whatever the reasoning, I didn’t give a shit. What mattered was I felt up to doing some work and leaving the second floor of the house.

Buckass naked, I left Bear’s room and headed for my own. I glanced at the door to Erik’s and saw it was still busted from getting kicked in. Not like it mattered—there were plenty of rooms to move him to. Eventually, I’d need to choose between killing or keeping him. It was odd how Bear went to fetch him when I had my panic attack and allowed the veterinarian to clean him up. With a mental shrug, I decided not to waste a fuck on that situation and save it for something more important.

After taking a quick shower to clean up all the lube and cum that had been smeared on my lower half, I got dressed. It was late spring in Nepreea, which meant it would be sunny and warm, but being down in the tunnels dropped it at least fifteen degrees. So I opted for black leggings with random mesh cutouts, a black sports bra, and a blood-red cropped hoodie that basically covered my arms and back. Not wanting to deal with my hair, I piled it on top of my head in a messy bun, letting the random bits that were too short fall around my face. Of course, no outfit would be complete without my trusted boots. These had skulls and roses stitched into the leather, tying the whole outfit together.

It took some digging, but I found where I’d lost my phone in my disaster of a room. Since I’d been stuck up here, I’d refused to let the ladies clean it. If I was going to be confined to a space, then it was going to be just how I liked it—chaos. By some miracle, it had been plugged in, so I had a full charge.

“Fuck, I might as well play the lottery. Who knows, it might be my lucky day,” I muttered to myself.

Shoving my phone in the pocket of my leggings, I grabbed one of the suckers infused with pot and popped it in my mouth. I knew this euphoric, happy feeling wouldn’t last, and when it faded, the pain I knew was waiting for me would be back. Therefore, I planned to get ahead of it, and this would take the edge off.

Reaching the ground floor, I headed for the kitchen, lured by the scent of coffee. Franzi was at the stove flipping pancakes on a giant griddle that covered the whole stove. Frowning, I glanced at the clock on the microwave and stopped dead in my tracks. Hearing my gasp, Franzi turned around to see who it was.

“Von?” she questioned. “What are you doing awake and dressed? It’s only eight.”

“I need to sit down,” I said, stumbling to the island and managing to sit on one of the stools.

Franzi hurried to flip the pancakes, then filled a mug with coffee, and set it in front of me. “Von, are you all right?” she asked again, pressing the back of her hand to my head. “Are you heading out of town or something?”

The woman had a right to be worried. Under normal circumstances, I would never be awake right now unless I hadn’t gone to bed yet. “I have no idea what the fuck is going on. I just woke up and felt rested, so I assumed it was time to be awake.”

“When did you go to sleep?” Franzi pressed, her expression worried.

It had been early afternoon when I’d gotten mad at Bear and gone to play with Erik. Since his room was blacked out and I didn’t have my phone, there was no way for me to know how long I was in there before Bear whisked me out. Hell, I couldn’t even remember if the sun was up or down when round two with Bear happened. I slowly sipped at my coffee, trying to wrack my brain, but I seriously didn’t have a fucking clue.

My stomach decided it didn’t care about my memory loss. All that mattered was I hadn’t eaten and needed food now. The growl was so loud I’m sure anyone in the damn house could hear it. Seconds later, a stack of pancakes with melted butter and syrup appeared before me.

“I wondered why Bear only brought up two dinners last night,” Franzi commented. “Although I just assumed you were trying to use hunger to get information out of your guest. If you were asleep, then it’s no wonder you woke up so early.”

It settled the panic in my brain to have some guestimate as to when I passed the fuck out. Fifteen hours of sleep was more than enough time for someone to feel like a whole new person. Pulling out the sucker, I set it aside and attacked the mountain of pancakes, moaning at the decadent taste. There was nothing Franzi made that I didn’t love. People say it’s their mother’s home cooking that can’t be replaced, but for me, it was Franzi.