“Oh, please,” he scoffs, getting comfortable again while failing to hide the pain written all over his face. “I’m a fucking beast. I could walk laps around you.”
“Right,” I laugh, watching the way his head falls onto his pillow and a deep sleep consumes him. I shake my head, unable to look away from the sight. He looks so peaceful and innocent when he sleeps. The hard lines of his face soften and the darkness seems to fade away. He looks so pure like this, though I bet his dreams are anything but.
A fierce jealousy cuts through me as I grab my silk dressing gown and tip-toe out of his room, not wanting to wake him again. I’ve never been able to sleep like that, not even when I was alone in my apartment and my biggest problem was keeping hidden from my father. Life has never been kind to me. Each night was always a struggle. I’d have to have my TV on with the sound almost on silent, just enough to block out the noise of the busy city outside my window. The lights had to be off, but I couldn’t stand complete darkness. Then once I had everything the way I liked it, I would stare at the ceiling for hours, my mind spinning with the thought of someone breaking through my door … someone just like the DeAngelis brothers.
Who would have known ...
There’s enough light so I don’t have to bother finding a light switch as I step out into the long hallway. I can see almost perfectly, though creeping around in the dark when Roman and Levi are close by probably isn’t the best idea either. I can only imagine what would happen to me if they thought I was someone else.
Reaching the stairs, I pause to take a breath. Thirty steps in total. I can do it. At least, I hope I can do it. Walking in a straight line isn’t so bad. I don’t have to focus so much and there’s definitely not as much jostling around, but stairs? Holy fuck. Who would have known walking down a set of stairs would cause me so much panic?
I grip onto the railing with everything I’ve got and go to take my first step down. Pain immediately shoots through my stomach as my muscles clench, and I silently curse myself for not asking for pain meds sooner.
I take another step and then another before my breathing turns into loud hisses of pain. Hell, it’d be a shitload quicker if I just threw myself down the stairs head first. At least that way, I wouldn’t be able to stop myself until I hit the bottom.
I struggle through one more step before a gruff scoff sounds from directly behind me. I barely get a gasp out before Levi is scooping me into his arms and flying down the rest of the stairs, Roman hot on his heels. “Put me down,” I screech, my voice echoing through each of the empty rooms.
Levi hits the bottom step and places me back on my feet, holding me steady until he’s sure that I have my balance. I push his hands off and take a hurried step away from him, rejoicing in the flash of pain that crosses his face. “Sorry,” he mutters as Roman joins him. “You were hurting. It was just easier.”
I narrow my gaze on him, hating the way they stand together like an impenetrable force, both more than ready to take me down at a moment’s notice, but as I look them over, I realize they’re both fully dressed. “Where the hell are you going?” I question, trying to hide the pain that tears through my stomach as I take in their black attire, clothes they commonly wear when they’re about to fuck someone up.
“Business,” Roman mutters, not willing to give much more than that, though he’s already said enough. I know exactly what kind of business they plan to do tonight. “Why are you out of bed? You should be resting. Walking around is only going to tear your stitches.”
“Not that it’s any of your business, but I was trying to get something to ease the pain,” I tell him, only moments from questioning him about their little business outing when he cuts me off.
“Pain?” Levi questions, his eyes wide as his back straightens. “Why’s there pain? It should be starting to ease by now. At least, eased enough for you to be able to sleep through it.”
I scoff, crossing my arms over my chest. Clearly this guy hasn’t experienced an evening of fucking while your guts are torn to shreds quite like I have … though it’s hard to gauge the kinds of things these guys have done in their lifetimes. “Well if I didn’t spend my night fucking Marcus into a coma, then I probably wouldn’t have quite so much pain. But you know what? If I also didn’t have a bunch of psychotic assholes kidnap and torture me, then I wouldn’t have any pain at all. But shit happens, right?”