the dresser, arms crossed, watching his dove eat. She looked up at him, smiling shyly at the attention.
“You gonna come have a bite of your masterpiece?” she asked him, turning the fork in his direction.
Smiling softly, he went. Climbing the bed, he ignored the fork turned in his direction and kissed her instead.
“Tasty,” he told her, swiping his tongue along her bottom lip.
She made a soft sound in the back of her throat, looking at him with drunken eyes. “You’re in a good mood today,” she said.
“Have I been off, pup?”
“You just have moments.”
“What sort of moments?”
She shrugged lightly, prodding the fork at his mouth. “You look…pained at times.”
He opened his mouth and let her shove the burnt pancake in. “I don’t want my off moods to rub off on you.”
“I want them to rub off on me,” she replied, her eyes dropping briefly to the scar on his neck. “You have to let me in at some point, and I think you’ll be surprised to find how good it feels to have someone on your side.”
His smile faded. He brushed his lips against her mouth once more and then retreated. A heavy lump formed in his chest. He sat on the edge of the bed, staring at the sunlight streaming through the window. Then he shut his eyes, trying to find his calm place again.
“I know you’re curious,” he said just then. “I don’t blame you, Char. I would be, too. If you have a question, ask it. I’ll try to answer…I’ll try, dove.”
He knew her question.
He dreaded hearing it.
“What happened to your neck?” she asked carefully.
He let out a sigh, opening his eyes to the sunshine. “It was a freak attack. One month in, I got stabbed in the neck by an inmate with a shiv. He’d stuck a razor blade on the other end of a toothbrush, had it hidden in his pants. I guess with my size and being a fresh fish, no concrete loyalty to anyone just yet, he wanted to make an example out of me. Wanted to let everyone know it didn’t matter how big I was, that I wasn’t untouchable. He jumped on my back and plunged the knife into my neck when I turned my back to him. It didn’t go in deep before I managed to wrangle him off me. I pulled the knife out eventually.”
“Did you let the guards know?”
As if he’d snitch. “No, dove, that would have put a target on me.”
The guards in that prison were dirty, anyway. They always looked the other way.
“What did you do with the knife?”
He looked at her. “I kept it.”
She didn’t respond. That was her only question.
She knew…she knew when it got too much.
Inching to her, he took a flower off her tray and settled the stem behind her ear, smiling softly at how beautiful she looked. She smiled back, though it was tinged with sadness and…confusion?
“You do too much,” he said, solemnly. “You’ve taken care of yourself and our baby for years, and I wasn’t there to help. But I’m here now, Charlotte, I’m indebted to you and want to do my part. I don’t want to be locked in this house. I’m not afraid of the world. You don’t need to protect me. I know that’s what you’re doing, and maybe you’re scared something will happen, but I’m not going anywhere. It’s my job to protect you and take care of you, and I’m going to do that, dove. I’m going to take care of my girls.”
For once hiding her emotion, she kissed him hard, but he felt her tears in their kiss. She clung to him needily, and he felt her desperation.
In the background, Penny squealed with laughter, running in with her iPad, claiming, “I blew Kane’s house up! He is going to be so mad.”
Charlotte shook her head, fighting her grin. “Why would you do that, Penny? You’re turning into a gremlin with that game.”
“It was his fault. I warned him not to build on my land, but now there’s this giant hole in my yard and he’s stuck at the bottom.”
“How on earth did he survive that?”
“I think he stole a health potion from me.”
Giggling like a madman, she turned the screen and showed them her game.
Just like she said, there was a giant hole. She somehow was able to fly over it, giving them the full view of a pixelated boy at the bottom of the hole.
He’d been good. He’d ventured outside, walked the block