Page 95 of Vetted for Vengeance
I obey without thinking, sinking into the sofa as Honey presses against my leg. My hand finds her automatically, fingers burying into her fur.
It's grounding.
Someone tried to kill me, or did a very good impression of it.
Maybe he didn't want me dead; I wouldn't be able to take on his debts if he killed me.
The man threatening me did a better job of trying to kill me than the man who tried to kill me.
I glance at the man in question.
Rhys hasn't stopped pottering around, ensuring the heat lamp is over Honey's babies. Then he brings the incubator over next, placing it within reach on the coffee table as if it belongs here now. Like everything I care about has been pulled into one space so I don’t have to move.
So I don’t have to break.
“You’re not getting up,” he says.
“I wasn’t planning to,” I mumble, my voice still rough. It's a lie. If he hadn’t said it, I probably would have tried.
He crouches in front of me then, close enough that I can see every tiny shift in his expression. Controlled. Calm.
Too calm.
His fingers brush lightly over my throat, checking the marks without pressing.
“You’re staying right here with me and Honey tonight.”
It isn’t a suggestion.
I nod anyway.
Because I want to be here.
Because the second I think about being alone…
My chest tightens.
I focus on Honey instead, on the steady rhythm of her breathing, on the soft weight of her leaning into me.
“I keep thinking I can still feel it,” I admit quietly. “The lead.”
Rhys goes still. Not visibly. But I feel it.
Like something sharp just slid under his skin.
“It’s gone,” he says.
I nod again. “I know.”
I don’t sound convinced, probably because I’m not.
Silence settles between us, but it’s not empty. It’s… full. Heavy in a way that doesn’t feel bad. If I can just keep looking into his eyes, everything won't be so much. All the pressure of the past few days is still there, but it isn't all on me. His eyes drop to my hands, where his thumbs rub soothing circles across my skin.
“I didn’t think,” I say after a moment. “With the brick.”
His gaze lifts to mine instantly.
“You did.”
