CHAPTER FIFTY SIX
ZADE
Holding her like this feels like a fever dream.
Ever since the afternoon I ruined her against the sink in the gym bathroom, shattering whatever boundaries she had left, I haven't been able to erase the memory from my mind.
The ghost of her heat, the way her breath hitched, and the raw, breathless sound of her orgasm against my mouth have become a permanent fixture in my head.
It loops on a relentless, tormenting cycle.
But right now, feeling the fragile rise and fall of her chest against mine, the reality is a stark, jarring contrast to that memory.
She isn't the fierce, defiant girl who fought me in the shadows.
She is broken, put together with stitches and sheer willpower.
"Am I interrupting something?"
The sudden voice cuts through the quiet air behind us, instantly breaking the spell.
I don't even have to turn around to know who it is.
Mio is standing a few feet away, awkwardly shifting her weight from one foot to the other.
Her eyes are darting everywhere– but at us.
Hearing her voice, Alice panics.
The sudden jerk of her body sends a sharp jolt through her frame.
She pulls back abruptly, a breathless wince cutting through her lips as her knees buckle.
She stumbles, gravity threatening to drag her down to the asphalt.
Before she can fall, my hands move on pure instinct.
I catch her firmly by the elbow, pulling her back against my side to anchor her weight against mine.
"Careful," I mutter, my voice lower than I intended, rough with an edge of warning.
My grip tightens just enough to let her know I have no intention of letting her hit the ground.
"Ethan is calling you guys..." Mio finally looks up, her eyes softening with a mix of pity and concern as she looks at Alice.
Alice doesn't say a word.
She just nods, her face pale, and slowly detaches herself from my hold.
Every step she takes looks like an agonizing effort, a battle against her own aching body.
She walks toward Mio, and the moment she is within arm's reach, Mio reaches out and wraps an arm around her waist, offering the physical support Alice is too proud to ask me for.
Left standing alone, my gaze drifts toward the direction Alice had been staring at earlier.
My jaw tightens, a familiar, toxic burn igniting in my chest.
Of course.
Her nonsense excuse of a father is sitting over there, completely detached, cradling a baby in his arms like he didn't just let his oldest daughter walk through hell.
A cold, bitter anger washes over me.
This idiot destroyed everything.
He shattered her world, left her vulnerable to the wolves, and for what? A new life? A replacement family? If he had just been a decent man–if he had only been a real father to her–she wouldn't be bleeding.
She wouldn't be haunted.
She wouldn't be mine to piece back together.
He broke her, and yet I'm the one who has to carry the shards.
"Zade!" Mio's voice calls out, sharp enough to snap me out of the dark spiral of my thoughts.
I tear my eyes away from the man, letting out a harsh exhale through my nose.
Turning on my heel, I finally retreat back toward the waiting car, the heavy silence of the afternoon settling over my shoulders like a lead weights.
The ride back to our family estate is suffocatingly quiet.
The heavy hum of the engine is the only sound filling the cabin of the car.
In the backseat, the exhaustion of the last few days finally claims Alice.
She falls into a deep, heavy sleep, her head rolling helplessly to the side until it settles against my mother's shoulder.
My mother doesn't move.
Instead, she reaches up, gently smoothing down a stray lock of Alice's hair with a tenderness that makes my chest tighten in a way I don't quite understand.
"Keep it in mind, Zade. Don't bother her when she stays at the estate," mom warns, her voice a quiet, authoritative murmur meant not to disturb the sleeping girl.
Her words hit a nerve.
A sharp, annoying irritation begins to nag at me.
Why does she even care this much? She met Alice just a few days ago under the worst possible circumstances, yet she's protecting her like she's one of her own.
A dark, ugly thought tries to surface in my mind, but I instantly crush it.
I am not jealous.
Not even a little bit.
I don't care who my mother defends.
But the fact that Alice has managed to slip under my family's skin so quickly irritates the hell out of me.
I shift in my seat, narrowing my eyes at Alice's sleeping figure.
Looking at her like this, peaceful and defenseless, makes my chest constrict painfully.
The memories of the past week hit me all at once–the terrifying image of her completely giving up in my arms, the metallic smell of blood, and then the hospital.
That goddamn hospital.
It was a living nightmare, watching machines beep around her while I stood by, helpless, realizing for the first time that I could actually lose her.
"I am not a kid, mom," I grunt, leaning back against the leather seat and staring out the window to avoid their eyes.
"Then stop behaving like one," a deep voice cuts in from the front.
I glance at the rearview mirror, meeting my dad's steady, unyielding gaze as he maneuvers the car through the massive iron gates of the estate.
"I am not acting like a kid," I say defensively, my voice dropping an octave.
The irritation under my skin is practically vibrating now.
They talk to me like I'm the danger, like I'm the one who put those scars on her back, ignoring the fact that I'm the only reason she's still breathing.
The car smoothly glides to a halt in front of the grand entrance of the main house.
The engine cuts out, plunging us into a brief, tense quiet.
We had already dropped Mio off at her house on the way here, leaving just the four of us.
"Hush, both of you," mom commands, her tone leaving absolutely no room for argument as she carefully shifts away from Alice, making sure not to jostle her.
"And Zade, carry her into the estate without waking her up."
I open my door, stepping out into the cool evening air.
Before I can reach the rear door, my dad steps out of the driver's seat and walks around to meet my mother.
"Sweetheart, why don't you let Zade handle her?" dad says smoothly.
He steps into my mother's space, wrapping his arms effortlessly around her shoulders.
He pulls her close, leaning down to press a slow, lingering kiss against her lips.
I groan internally, rolling my eyes so hard it physically hurts.
Jesus Christ. They have always been like this.
Decades of marriage, and they still act like teenagers who can't keep their hands off each other, completely indifferent to whoever is forced to watch.
Ignoring them, I lean into the backseat.
I slide one arm carefully beneath Alice's knees and the other behind her upper back, mindful of the heavy layers of bandages wrapping her torso.
I lift her out of the car in one fluid motion, bracing myself for her to wake up or cry out in pain.
She doesn't.
She merely lets out a soft, unconscious sigh, her head naturally rolling inward until her forehead rests against the crook of my neck.
As I walk up the grand stone steps of the estate, the sheer weight of her strikes me.
She feels so light.
Too light. It's a harsh reminder of how much this ordeal has taken out of her.
Without those oversized, thick-rimmed glasses she always uses as a shield against the world, her face is entirely exposed to me.
She is so fucking beautiful it makes my throat tight.
In the faint glow of the estate's porch lights, I can see the tiny, pale freckles dotting the bridge of her nose and the soft curve of her cheeks.
Her lips are parted slightly, a soft pink against her otherwise pale skin.
My eyes drift upward to her hair. Mom had carefully braided it earlier this afternoon before we checked out of the hospital, keeping the red strands neat and away from the wounds on her back.
Every instinct in my body flares up–a fiercely protective, dangerously possessive urge to take her to my room, lock the door, and keep her hidden away from the rest of the world until she belongs completely to me again.
"Take her to the guest room—the one beside mine!" mom's voice yells out from behind me, effectively shattering my train of thought.
I don't answer.
I just tighten my grip on Alice's sleeping form, adjusting her against my chest as I push through the heavy front doors, carrying her into the quiet depths of the house.