“No. You asked me to come outside . . . and said that I didn’t have to do anything you wanted for a year, so.” She shrugs. Not even a hint of a smile touches her lips.
Although salted ocean air breezes across the yard, peppered with the scent of flowers, it becomes bloody stifling. And here I thought the fight of my life occurred in Saudi Arabia. I’ve to battle the woman I love. Force her survival. “Stay here, then, Luxury, and watch me plant the flower. How long could it take, huh?”
Luxury waves a careless hand. “Have at it, Vic.”
Okay, move quickly and efficiently, Victor, before you lose your willing audience.
Or I could hold her hostage.
No.
That’s a little too deranged—too old Vic and Luxury.
I silently berate myself. I hadn’t thought this out much. I’ll need a small shovel, the seed, and perhaps a watering can? But if I leave to retrieve these items, will my woman stay?
I only bet when all the variables are analyzable.And I bet on her.
For a second, I’m lost in the past and the dark thoughts I harbored for Luxury.Young. College-educated. The deceased mother must account for some form of low self-esteem. Impressionable to a vulture like me.
I thought that way.
I’m reaping what I bloody sow.No,Luxury has reaped the shite I fucking instigated.
And all her “low self-esteem” was really just Luxury’s mum's keeping her sheltered after Gina was raped. This poor girl, her whole life, she's been influenced by the actions of others and hasn't been allowed just to grow and be her own person. She’s been influenced by arseholes. Arseholes like me.
Disappointed in myself, I pull out my mobile and call Burt. After ten minutes of Luxury cocking her brow at me, a gardener arrives with a spade and tin watering can. I settle down next to the planter.
“This is new, Lux.” I have another laugh, gesturing to the things around me. “I’ve only gotten dirty in the past to take a life.”
I’ve almost dumped the entire bag of dirt into the pot when I realize I should’ve made myself a hole. I decide to use my hands. “If you were wondering, we’re planting the flower called Tan Hua, or Queen of the Night. Or perhaps know of it asKadupul?”
Dirt embeds beneath my fingernails as Luxury says, “You forgot Dutchman’s Pipe Cactus. That’s another name for,” Luxury pauses to contemplatively bite her lip, “Epiphyllum oxypetalum.”
“Epiphany . . . lummm . . .” I become the zany bloke from an alternate universe where assassinations or murder are incomprehensible. Then because Luxury hasn’t responded in the slightest, I chuckle. “I cannot pronounce that.”
“Does royalty admit their . . .” As if realizing she’s engaging in a discussion without a 9mm pointed at her skull, Luxury pauses. Torture flashes over her face as her eyes bite shut.
I go straight to her on my bloody fucking knees. We’re at eye level as I kneel in front of her seat. My palms rub over her hips, and she pulls them away.
The gasping, sobbing mess of a woman exclaims, “We can’t be happy, Victor!”
“Fine! I will live in misery as long as I have you.”
I push her hair back. Clumps of dirt fall over Luxury’s shoulders as I endeavor to look her in the eye. “Just be. For as long as you need to, Lux. Just be.”
“Just be depressed and angry and . . . and . . .”
“Yes! If you need to cry or fight or bloody have nightmares, then so be it. If you let me hold you through your night terrors, I vow to hold you tighter than I ever have before.”
Each night since our return from hell, she’s cried. Awake or asleep, it doesn’t bloody matter. It seems eons ago, when our lives collided, that I was fascinated by Luxury’s tears. Or even when I watched her at the hotel our first night. But now, I would do anything to make them stop.
I go mad, ranting, “You’ve my word, Little One, I’ll not let you go. I’ll not slumber for the rest of my bloody life just to hold you while you’re asleep and ensure you’re safe.”
A callous edge bleeds into her lush tone. “I don’t want you to hold me. I’ve endured enough misery for a lifetimebeforeyou! Then I met you, and I was merely apawnto hurt you. But I was the only one hurt.”
“All because ofme.I bloody know, Lux. I’d become a pauper to take it all back—”
“It’s like I endured the weight of the world. And then you! And then you.” Her venom dies down to a croak. “After you, I became this sacrifice for the whole purpose of bringing you to heel forsome bitch! If it had to happen, I would rather it have been some random fuck who picked me up off the street to terrorize me. I was tortured because ofyou, Vic.”