You Are Mine by Lucy Darling

6

Dane

My heart pounds so hard it’s the only thing that I can hear. I could have lost her. Again. How the hell did she not know she has asthma?

“What would have happened if I didn’t have one of your inhalers?” I lift my head.

“I didn’t know that I needed one.” I gently tuck her hair back behind her ear knowing she’s still a little shaken up.

“It’s not often that you do. Only when you get really worked up or scared.”

“Oh” is all she says, wetting her lips.

“I was not fucking kidding when I said you’re never leaving my sight again. Not after all of this.” I push back from the bathroom counter I set her down on. “You clearly need a keeper.” She narrows her eyes on me.

The only reason I even had her inhaler with me is because it was one of the things she’d left behind in my room. I’ve been so desperate to find her I was willing to take any part of her that I could get.

“Answer me this, precious. Why did you need your inhaler? You were fine up until the second we’d made it back to my room. Then what happened?” I don’t even want to say it but I’m so pissed off right now. I can barely think straight. “Did I scare you?”

I would think if she was going to have an attack it would have happened well before we’d gotten all the way back here. I must have scared her somehow.

Her teeth sink into her bottom lip as she looks down at her hands in her lap. I put my finger under her chin to bring her eyes back up to mine.

“Why are you scared?” I push for an answer, needing to know what I did to make her feel that way in order not to do it again in the future.

“No one knows what happened to me that night.”

“What night?”

“April 3rd.”

“Then you hadn’t been gone that long. We made love and I went into the office. When I’d gotten back all your shit was gone.” Her brows pull together.

“I was found alone and unconscious in a parking lot.” Everything inside of me stills. “Someone hit me in the back of the head.” She lifts her hand and proceeds to touch the spot of her injury. “They think it was with a metal pipe. I don’t remember any of it. Not even them finding me. They put me into a medically induced coma because my brain was swelling.”

Anger unlike anything I’ve ever felt rolls through me. I turn, storming out of the bathroom. I don’t make it far because I can’t control myself any longer. I need to release some of this anger before I explode. I've already scared her enough. I drive my fist into the wall. I welcome the pain, needing to feel something besides the rage before I murder someone.

“Dane.” She barely whispers my name. I turn to see her standing in the doorway of the bathroom. “Are you leaving?” She shifts on her feet, something she does when she’s uncertain about something.

“Told you. You’re not leaving my sight. Wherever I go, you go.” We sure as shit aren't going home. Not until I find out who did this. I will use every resource I have to find out who hurt her and our baby.

She turns to head back into the bathroom. I take a deep breath, flexing my hand. Blood drips down from my knuckles. To my surprise, she comes back out of the bathroom with a small towel in her hand. She heads straight for me.

“Let me see.” She reaches for my hand. I let her take it. She can touch me anywhere she wants. “Why did you do this? It’s not helping anything,” she scolds me. I try not to smile.

“It made me feel better.” She rolls her eyes, holding the towel against my knuckles.

“I was scared,” she admits. I flinch at her words. There is no hiding it.

“I would never harm a hair on your head. You are and will always be my precious girl.” She tilts her head, giving me a small smile. One I’ve missed every day since she disappeared.

“I like when you call me precious. It makes me—”

“Feel loved,” I finish for her. My Kennedy was all alone in the world until I found her and took her for myself.

“I’ve said that before.”

“Yes.” She stares up at me for a long moment.

“I’m sorry I felt that way. I have no idea what happened to me or if someone was trying to kill me or if I was trying to get away.”

“You think you ran from me?” I keep my face expressionless. The thought of her actually trying to get away from me for some reason almost brings me to my knees.

“Not really. When you pushed me back into the bathroom earlier I should have been freaking out then. Instead I let you kiss me. It felt right.”

I relax more. We have enough shit to deal with. I don’t need her thinking I’m the bad guy in her life.

“I started thinking about the baby. I got freaked out. It’s not just me that I have to worry about anymore.” She puts her hand on her stomach. “Thoughts of something happening to the baby started to overwhelm me.”

“I still can’t believe you’re pregnant.” I rest my other hand on top of hers. I try to push down the thoughts of what I’m going to do to whoever did this. They hadn’t only gone after my girl. They put our child in danger too.

“You didn’t know? We weren't trying or anything?”

“No, I didn’t know. As for trying, we never came out and said let's have a baby but we never took precautions either.”

“Do you think you want one now?” I can see the worry in her eyes. It gives me hope that she wants this. That she wants us to be real and for me to be in her life to take care of her and our baby.

“I damn well knew what I was doing each time I took you without protection. I told you I’m a jealous possessive asshole. You being pregnant with our child binds you to me for the rest of our lives.” I watch as her face flushes.

She lifts up the towel to check on my knuckles. “We should get something to make sure it doesn't get infected.”

“It’s fine.” I blow it off.

“No, I want to put something on it.”

I let out a laugh. “All right. If you want to take care of me, I’m sure as hell not going to stop you. I can have someone bring it up. I need to get you food too.”

“I’m not really hungry.”

“I’m still ordering you something. You went into the diner and didn't eat. You’re pregnant.”

“Okay,” she agrees. I lead her over to the sitting area, grabbing the phone on the way to call downstairs. I place the order and tell them to bring something for my hand before I end the call.

“You didn't ask what I wanted.” She doesn't look mad about it.

“Did I get it wrong? If there is a chicken marsala on a menu you’re getting it.”

“This is true.” She lets out a small giggle that helps calm me down. I found her. I need to focus on that right now. “It’s so strange. You know me better than I know myself. Will you tell me more?”

Honestly I’m not sure if I want to. Life hasn't always been easy for her. She was dealt some fucking shit parents that I wouldn’t mind her forgetting. They left emotional scars on her. I had to work my way past her walls and try to heal them. I wanted her to realize that every man wasn’t like her father.

I reach over, picking her up easily and putting her in my lap. She doesn't protest. In fact, she leans into me.

“Your father is a piece of shit.” Her eyes go round. “Your mom has problems too. The only thing that she thinks can fix them is at the bottom of a bottle of booze.”

“Do I have anyone?” She doesn't look upset but more curious. I suppose you can’t miss something if you don’t know it was even there to begin with. I hold her tighter.

“You have me.” She rests her head on my shoulder, her mouth brushing my neck. I hold her, listening to each one of her breaths. I finally allow myself to relax, reminding myself that she and the baby are safe and back in my arms.

“I want to know more. Why is my father terrible?” I give her what she wants. I always do.

“Your mother was his mistress. He had a whole other family. She knew this. She actually worked for them as a housekeeper. When they started hooking up, he made her quit and put her up in some apartment. Then things got too real when he found out she was pregnant.”

“Gosh. That’s all so horrible and sad.” I nod in agreement. “I’m nothing like them, am I?” She lifts her head.

“Far from it. I don’t know how you came out of that mess sweet as could be. Shy too. It took me over a month to get you to even kiss me. I kinda had to steal the first one.” I smirk at her.

“That I believe since you stole one in the bathroom.” She laughs. “Now tell me why a man as handsome as you would have to chase after me.”

“You think I’m handsome?”

She rolls her eyes. “You know you are.” Her fingers play with the button on my shirt absently.

“Your parents’ shit left marks on you. We come from two different worlds.”

She looks around the extravagant hotel suite. “Clearly.”

“You thought I’d be the same as your dad. I had to prove to you that I was all in and only wanted you. It didn’t help matters that you were a housekeeper at my family's estate. So much so you made us hide our relationship.” I tell her the truth. She’s already lost so much that I don’t want to hide anything from her.

“You let me do that?” She lifts an eyebrow, already understanding how I can be.

“For a little. I’d worked so hard to get you to even give me a chance. I wasn't going to spook you. I let it go on for a while. Until I couldn’t take it anymore. I wanted to get married. Start our lives together. Get the hell away from my family. We have that in common. Mine is shit too.” With her, though, family could be everything to me.

“I’m sorry.” Sadness shows in her eyes for me. It wasn't even there when I told her about her family. That’s Kennedy though. Worrying about the people around her and not herself. That’s where I came in. I’d worry over her enough for both of us.

“Don’t be sorry. You told me one day we’d make our own family. I’m holding you to that.”

“Pretty sure we already started.”

“Seems so.” I rub my hand across her belly, knowing whoever did this is going to pay. People call me ruthless for a reason. I do whatever it takes to get what I want.

There is no stopping me.