Consolation Prize (Forbidden Men #9)(128)

I nodded, knowing this. “Yeah,” I said. “Her biggest fear is having someone look her way and see anything less than perfect.”

“Exactly,” her father agreed. “I was so sure that her being with you would drag her into some spotlight she despised, and then you’d leave her floundering there because you came across as the kind of person who cared more for yourself than anyone else. You’d just flitter off, abandoning her, as soon as something else caught your attention. I couldn’t see how you could be any good for her.”

“And now?” I had to ask, holding my breath as I waited for his answer.

“And now,” he said with a weary sigh. “I’ve watched you put her needs before anything else. I’ve seen you take care of her like a man tending to his wounded mate. And I’ve finally come to realize you two have formed one of those unique, diverse alliances that impress me most. I think your flamboyance is just the thing to offset her structured ways. You’re exactly what she needs in her life.”

I shook my head, unable to accept his acceptance of me. “But he never would’ve gone after her if I hadn’t gotten into that fight with him.”

“Son,” he said in that strong, powerful voice of his. “You were defending my little girl. Don’t ever stop doing that. And excuse my language, but bullshit he chose her because of you. He chose her because he was full of hate. If he hadn’t taken her, he’d have taken some other black girl he came across, and she might not have been able to handle herself as well as my Juli Bug did. You did well. Believe that. Always.”





JULIANNA’S CHAPTER | 36





Chad’s words were flowing through my head as I came awake.

We’re all basically the same. We smile when we’re happy, cry when we’re sad, eat when we’re hungry, sleep when we’re tired.

Then I pictured Colton weaving his fingers through mine and examining the contrast we made together, like piano keys.

And then the strange dream was gone. I was suddenly awake, afraid and frozen before I realized I wasn’t in my concrete cave anymore. And I wasn’t even cold. I was in a bed with lights and warmth and soft blankets and pillows.

A rustling sound made me tip my face that way and open my eyes to watch Colton hang a dream catcher in the window. His back was to me, so he didn’t know I was awake yet. It gave me a moment to glance around the room and take in the fact I was still at the hospital. An IV was hooked to my arm and something seemed to be wrapped around my head. I lifted my sore arm and bandaged fingers slowly to feel silk with a top knot plastered to my forehead.

He’d gotten my head scarf and my favorite dream catcher from home.

It made me smile and love him even more.

“Looks good,” I tried to tell him as he fiddled with the dream catcher, spinning it to make it hang so I would see it from the front view and not the side it kept trying to twist and hang from.

He immediately whirled around, dropping his arms.

“Hey, you’re awake.” His smile, the very smile I’d wanted to see most when I’d been held prisoner, spread. He hopped down from the chair he’d been standing on and grabbed my cup from the tray to hand it to me.

I took it and began to gulp, before I sighed, refreshed, and asked, “How did you know I needed a drink?”

His eyes crinkled with amusement. “You were licking your lips. I figured you were either thirsty or you’d gotten too much of a thrill from checking out my ass while I was hanging your dream catcher.”

I swallowed a more healthy-sized gulp before saying, “Now that you mention it, I did enjoy watching your ass.”

He winked and his lips twitched into a grin. “Of course you did, baby doll. Who wouldn’t?”

“Conceited much?” I murmured, though I didn’t think I’d ever loved him as much as I did in that moment. I’d just survived the worst three days of my life and there he sat, making me smile, genuinely smile.

Tears filled my eyes, and they weren’t distressed tears...or at least, they weren’t all distressed tears. I was just so happy and grateful to be alive, out of that hole, and with him again.

More tears flooded my cheeks. My chin quivered because I tried so hard to stop them but couldn’t. “I love you so much,” I sobbed.

His expression broke. “Jesus, baby doll,” he rasped before his features contorted with pain and his eyes went wet. He pressed his forehead to mine and seemed to breathe warmth into me. “I love you too. So f*cking much.”

I cupped his cheek but was startled by the prickle of stubble. When I pulled my hand back, I studied this new look on him, blinking. “You haven’t shaved.”

He gave a watery laugh and wiped at his face. “Shaving was kind of the last thing on my mind after you went missing.”

I brought my fingers back to his cheek. “I kind of like it.”

Closing his eyes, he pressed his cheek deeper into my palm. “Then I’ll keep it this way.”

Studying his eyes further when he reopened them, I frowned. They were bloodshot and the bags under them seemed to be growing bags of their own. “When was the last time you slept?”

He shook his head. “I don’t think you understand, baby doll. You went missing. Totally f*cking missing. No one knew where you were, who had taken you, if you were okay, or...” His voice cracked. “Or if you were even alive. It scared the shit out of me. I didn’t do much of anything but freak the f*ck out while you were gone.”