against the wall behind me as I fight off the exhaustion that overwhelms every inch of me. I’m crashing. Hard. After the adrenaline rush from earlier, I’m not exactly surprised that I feel like a drained battery, but that doesn’t stop me from fighting to keep my eyes open. I’m not sure how much time passes before I realize I’ve lost the battle. Caught between oblivion and a meditative state of peace, a panicked voice filters in from the hall.
“Q? Q, where are you?” Heavy footsteps stomp around the hallway, searching for me before I register what the hell is going on and whisper-shout, “Diece! Diece, I’m in here.”
The pounding ceases. “Q?”
“In here.”
Will’s door opens seconds later to reveal a disheveled Diece. Pressing my index finger against my lips, I whisper, “Shhh.”
His eyes widen as he assesses my position and the boy lying in my lap before he squats next to me. “What are you doing in here?”
“Did you honestly expect me not to check on him?” I counter.
“If I’ve learned anything from you, it’s that you’ve managed to exceed my expectations on multiple occasions,” he mutters under his breath.
“Liar,” I quip with a smile. “I’m a mess.”
Amused, he tucks my hair behind my ear. “We’re all a mess in our own way, Q. The fact that you can even own up to it says something.” He pauses then adds, “Thank you for confiding in me and Kingston today.”
“I didn’t exactly have a choice,” I point out.
“There’s always a choice. And if I had to have lost my hand to prove that to you, I would’ve.”
“But that’s quite the consequence, don’t you think?”
“I didn’t say there weren’t consequences to our actions,” he clarifies with a wry smirk. “It just depends on the price you’re willing to pay. How’s he doing?”
I look down at the little boy in my lap. “Shaken, but I think he’ll be okay.”
“He looks exhausted.”
“He is exhausted,” I confirm, taking in Will’s boyish features. His eyelashes are so damn long. Lucky little shit. I run my fingers through his brown hair again, then turn to D. “Do you know what happened? Do you know why he’s here? Does anyone else know I’m here?”
“Let’s go chat in the other room.”
“I can’t leave him—”
“Knock, knock,” Regina calls from the doorway. Her heels dig into the ground when she finds us huddled together. “Oh.” Dropping her voice to a whisper, she hooks her thumb over her shoulder and mumbles, “I can come back.”
“Wait,” D orders just as quietly before he turns to me. “What if Regina stays with him? Then you and I can talk in private without the risk of waking him up.”
I look down at Will again. He looks so little in my lap. So innocent. So tired. Licking my lips, I answer, “Okay.” Then I carefully lift his head up and slip out before Regina replaces me on the floor.
“I’ll look after him,” she promises. The determination in her eyes soothes my nerves, but I still find myself frozen in place until the heat from Diece’s palm brands my lower back.
“Thank you,” I breathe. Then Diece guides me back to my room.
As I step over the threshold, he grabs my face and kisses me. It’s hard and desperate, filled with so much relief that I almost melt on the floor. When he pulls away, a breath of laughter weaves itself into my voice as I whisper, “What was that for?”
“I just needed to kiss you.”
I smile against his lips, then rise onto my tiptoes and press a second kiss to his mouth. This one is softer, gentler, but laced with just as much emotion as the first.
When he pulls away a second time, he presses his forehead against mine and squeezes his eyes shut.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, sensing the hurricane in his soul.
“Nothing.”
Trying to lighten the mood, I tease, “Liar.”
“Sorry.”
“Don’t apologize.” His five o’clock shadow tickles my palm as I cup his cheek. “What’s going on?”
As if in pain, he closes his eyes and leans into me. “I just…I wish I could protect you.”
“You do protect me.”
“I mean from your past,” he clarifies before opening his eyes. The emotion that swirls in their depths is staggering. The guilt he feels for something he couldn’t control. It makes me want to cry, and hug him, and beg him to keep me forever. But this isn’t a fairy-tale. And he isn’t an average Prince Charming.
“In another life, I’d make us hide away at Matteo’s estate forever,” he murmurs, reading