Page 128 of Speechless
“There are unscrupulous people in this world. How did we know you weren’t taking advantage of a young woman, physically and emotionally abused, for a story to sell to the tabloids? To gain access to the family money, claim a reward? We didn’t know who you were.”
“Didn’t bloody ask, did you?” Connor spat as the anger rose and gave him enough energy to clamber clumsily to his feet—with assistance from an uncharacteristically quiet Sarah. “You didn’t ask, you didn’t make an effort to know. You judged me without setting eyes on me, speaking to me.”
“We were told not to approach your residence or make contact,” Aaron pointed out, stepping forward when Connor swayed. “My thoughts ran along the lines of you needed more time to finalize your seduction, ensure Jenna was tied to you completely.”
“Hadley told you not to contact Jenna until she was ready. A couple days, that was all we asked for. Instead, you slapped her with a mental health court order and were obviously prepared to let her spend her life as a prisoner in the psych unit.” Connor’s fists clenched, ready to swing.
Sarah set her hand over his. “Don’t turn this into an argument, Connor. He’s raised some valid points. Let him finish and clear the air.”
It would take a hell of a lot more than a spritz of apology to clear the air of the bullshit, Connor thought with a silent sneer. The actions of the family weighed heavily on thefuck off and don’t come crawling backside of the scales in his opinion, but it wasn’t something he could say for Jenna.
His little girl deserved to have her own voice heard.
“Connor.”
He shuffled carefully until Jenna came into view. Her beautiful green eyes were wide open, direct on his, with an awareness that startled him. Her spark outshone the bruises, the scars. “Baby.”
The smile she gave him could have coerced him into forgiving anyone without a whimper of protest. “You came back from the abyss.”
“So did you.” There were too many steps to walk to go around to her side, so Connor climbed back onto his bed, Aaron Abernathy forgotten in an instant. “I thought you were dead, Jenna. I honestly thought I was too late.”
“I wasn’t scared.” Her hand rose from the bed an inch, wavered in mid-air long enough for Connor to slide his under it. With a content sigh, she rested the bandaged lump in his palm. “The last thing I remember was the fire growing cold, and then I did. I just…drifted away on the quiet.”
He dropped his forehead to the back of her hand, throat tightening at the image of her sliding into death, cold and alone and shattered. “I swear I tried to find you, baby. Without Luna, I’d’ve cut down every fucking tree in that forest to find you.”
“Luna.” Jenna’s face became radiant at the mention of her dog, despite the perishing bruises. She looked around as though the faithful bitch might pop her head up from under the bed. “Where is she?”
“Living the high life with Sarah and her family while we’re recuperating. She loves the kids and I think Zeke might be spoiling her.”
Sarah cleared her throat softly. “That would be me, actually.”
The smallest, sweetest laugh hiccupped from Jenna’s chest, easing into a low moan. “The gang’s all here. Just like in the beginning.”
“Things are a bit different,” Connor mused, “but yes, we three are right back where we started. With a few very important changes implemented.”
“Yeah? Like what?”
God, he wanted to kiss her until time ran out. Erase the next six months of healing and discomfort so she could go back to living. Not as a number in constant fear for her life, but fully, freely, as a woman with a troubled past and a bright, hopeful future. “Like, I love you. Like, I can’t live without you.” He kissed the bandages covering her wrists. “Like, I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”
“Like, for real?”
He laughed. Afor realsound of happiness that had eluded him for days. She brought sunshine and rainbows into his life, and he could never replace or replicate what she offered him every time she pinned him with those lush green eyes or blinded him with the beam of her smile on full. “For real, Jenna. We survived what could have been a tragedy, and I don’t see any reason to waste the time we have together. I can’t be me without you. I don’t want to be anything without you.”
She sucked a hard breath in through her nose as tears filled her eyes. They flashed to Sarah, then back to Connor. “Take these off. Take the bandages off.”
“It’s not time,” Connor argued. “The surgeon wants them covered for a little while longer, baby. Soon, I promise.”
“Now,” she insisted. “I want to hold your hand when you ask me.”
Fuck it. This was the biggest moment of his existence at the most inopportune time, but he couldn’t care less. His woman wanted to hold his hand, skin to skin, while he set the course of their lives spiraling off into a completely new direction, then so be it. “Sarah, can you please get some sterile hand gel and some fresh bandages?”
Wide-eyed, she glanced at the door as though the police were about to storm the room with smoke grenades and laser-sight rifles. “You’re going to do it?”
Connor grinned, understanding she wasn’t referring to Jenna’s hands. “The gang’s all here, Sarah,” he repeated Jenna’s earlier words. “It’s right. The three of us have been a unit since that first night, the night Jenna’s life changed for the better.” Damn it, he needed to feel Jenna’s skin against his as much as she did. “We’re heading into a fresh start now. Seems poetic we start it with the three people who made it possible to begin with.”
His best friend, the woman who’d stood by his side for years and given him hope in the darkest times with Jenna, sniffled helplessly. “Damn you, you sappy bastard. Okay, okay. I’ll get what you need, but there’s a loose end Jenna needs to tie up first.” She tilted her head toward Aaron as she wiped her cheeks dry, hurrying out of the room.
Connor met the older man’s eyes, read the emotion in them, and realized this would never be over in its entirety until Jenna chose the ending to the chapter. “Five minutes. That’s all you get tonight.”