Kraken (Hades Abyss MC 4) - Harley Wylde Page 0,35

the doctor tell Kraken I needed more time to heal before going home to Mississippi. I missed my daughter, and yet, I didn’t want her to see me this way. She was so little. Would the cuts on my face scare her? I already knew people would stare if I ever left the hotel room. I’d felt their gazes on me when Kraken had brought me here from the hospital. We couldn’t remain here forever, though, and my stitches could take over a week to dissolve.

The pills I had to take made me drowsy and unlike myself. The doctor had said what he’d given me wouldn’t hurt the baby, if there was one. I hated them, but I didn’t like the pain I felt without them either. Every day, I promised myself I’d stop taking them. Then I’d find myself reaching for the bottle. They didn’t just numb the pain of my wounds, but they helped numb my mind and soul too. I knew it was a slippery slope, a path that would lead to addiction. My daughter deserved better. She needed me to be strong.

“Brought you something,” Kraken said as he entered the hotel room. He set a bag on the bed next to me.

I reached for it, feeling the plastic crinkle under my fingers. I slid the bag closer and reached inside, pulling out two new books, but I’d felt other items. A puzzle book with pencils, scented lotion, and a card. I fingered the pink envelope and wondered what was inside. Get well soon? Thinking of you? Was there a card for someone telling you they didn’t want you in their life anymore?

My hands trembled as I opened it, and tears gathered in my eyes as I read the words. The outside was simple with a bouquet of roses, but inside… Kraken had written his own special message to me. All the doubts and fears melted away as I read his words.

To the woman I adore --

You are the strongest, fiercest, bravest woman I’ve ever met, Phoebe. Life has given you a shit hand, but you keep brushing yourself off and getting back up for another round. I promised to protect you, keep you safe, and I failed. Not knowing if you lived or had died, and finding you battered and unconscious, nearly ripped me apart.

I’ve watched you the last few days. I see the way you try to hide. From others. Yourself. Even me. But I see you. The wounds you have don’t define you, baby girl. They only enhance your beauty, remind me of how resilient you are, how determined to survive. I admire you, baby girl. More than you’ll ever know.

Don’t hide from me, Phoebe. Let me love you. Let me help you heal.

You’re mine, and I’m yours.

Always.

Blake

He’d signed it Blake. Not Kraken. Not the name he used with everyone else, but the one that was only for me. I couldn’t stop the tears from flowing as the card fell from my hand. I reached for him blindly and as his arms closed around me, I allowed myself to lean on him, to accept his strength and acceptance. His love.

“You’re my everything,” he murmured. “It kills me to see you like this. Nothing those fuckers did to you will ever diminish you in my eyes.”

“I love you, too.” I pulled up and looked up at him. “I’m sorry. I see my reflection and I hate the woman looking back me. I can’t stand that I’ll have scars the rest of my life, and knowing you can see them… it tears me up, Blake.”

“Do you know what I see when I look at the cuts they gave you?” he asked.

I shook my head.

“I see a survivor. You’ve lived through brutality and abuse, their torture, not once but twice, baby girl. A lot of people would have given up, but not you. You kept fighting to stay alive. And I’m so fucking glad. If I’d lost you, I don’t think I could have gone on.”

I reached up and ran my fingers over his beard. “You would have. For Ember.”

He nodded. “Yeah, but I’d have been dead inside. You’re the best part of me, Phoebe.”

“I just don’t know where to go from here. I feel ugly, and… it feels like they ruined me. I hate feeling like this, but I don’t know how to turn it off.”

He tunneled his fingers into my hair and kissed me hard and deep. “Not going to fuck you right now, even