Total pages in book: 151
Estimated words: 139803 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 699(@200wpm)___ 559(@250wpm)___ 466(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 139803 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 699(@200wpm)___ 559(@250wpm)___ 466(@300wpm)
He nodded. “I can deal with that.”
My phone vibrated on the table in front of me. I released a frustrated sigh when I saw Vincent’s name pop up on the screen.
* * *
Can I come see her?
* * *
I clenched my jaw and quickly typed a message back out to him. I had no doubt in my mind that he was one of the reasons she was having flashbacks. He hadn’t cared about her asking him to give her a moment, and he sent her into a panic. She needed time to recover, and she would definitely need a couple of sessions with Dr. Gresham before I could begin to even think about letting Vincent come back over to try to talk to her.
* * *
No. She needs time. Let her have time.
* * *
“Vincent?” Axel asked.
I nodded my head. “He wants to see her, but I told him no.”
Axel nodded in agreement. “She needs a couple of sessions with Dr. Gresham before we can think about letting him talk to her,” he said, basically speaking my own mind. Which was why I had no reservations about him being with Meghan, too. He understood her and her needs, and I knew he’d put them first.
I nodded in agreement. I hated that Meghan needed both of us, but at the same time, if I had to share her with anyone, at least it was him. He got it. He understood her and her needs. I wouldn’t ever have to worry about him fucking everything up with her.
I stood up and walked into the room Meghan was in. I brushed a kiss to her shoulder before I looked at the painting on the easel before her.
The girl that was kneeling in the painting was obviously her, but she had black wings, much like the painting that she had finished the day she got to come home. She was wearing a black dress that was ripped at the hem. Her hands were cupped, holding dead, crumpled rose petals. In front of her was a dead rose bush, nothing left but the branches and the thorns. All of the other plants around it were alive and thriving.
My chest ached because I knew at that moment, she envisioned herself as that rose bush.
I slid my hands over her shoulders. “Glow, my goddess,” I whispered as I leaned down and gently nuzzled her neck. “It’s dark now, but you will shine.”
She drew in a deep, shaky breath. “Why do I keep having these lows?” she asked, her voice trembling.
“You may need a medication switch, baby girl,” I told her honestly. Dr. Gresham did warn both me and Axel that her medication may need adjusting once she was released. “Perhaps what was working for you in the center isn’t working out here. Talk to Dr. Gresham about it tomorrow, okay?”
She blew out a breath and nodded her head. She looked up at me through those beautiful green eyes. “I think I want to go for a swim,” she told me.
I smiled at her before I leaned down and brushed my lips with hers. “Let’s go get changed then, baby girl.”
Here would be the real test.
When she had both of us standing in front of her, shirtless and ripped, would she draw into herself to protect my feelings, or would she be a bit open about how I knew she truly felt about Axel?
25
Meghan
* * *
Julian was already in the pool throwing a football back and forth with Axel when I stepped onto the back patio. Both men turned their attention to me, and I blushed under both of their gazes, my eyes nervously flickering to Axel before I aimed them back at Julian, relaxing the slightest bit as his blue eyes locked with mine.
Julian’s phone rang on the table. He tilted his head back to look at the sky with a glare. “Fucking hell,” he swore as he pulled himself out of the pool. He stopped in front of me and cupped my face in his calloused hands before he tilted my head back and kissed me, his tongue touching mine for a beat before he released me. “Be back as soon as this fucking phone call is over with,” he told me before he snatched up his phone and slipped inside the house, barking a what at who I knew would be his agent.
Axel shot me a smile from the pool as he laid his arms on the side, looking up at me through his dark eyes. “Come on, sweet girl. He’ll make the call as short as possible to be back with you.”
That wasn’t what I was nervous about. I was nervous about being around a half-naked Axel. Axel had become a rock in my life, and while I loved Julian, and I never wanted to lose Julian, I knew I was harboring feelings for Axel, and a part of me hated that I needed him so much.