Downfall(47)

I groaned and raked my hands down my face. “You hop in the shower and worry about your kid. I’ll go outside and check on Lester.”

She made a face and reached out a hand to lightly trace my eyebrows. “You almost passed out coming up those stairs last night. I can stick my head outside. It’ll be fine.”

I grunted again, because she was right, but I refused to acknowledge my own limitations out loud. When you were an apex predator, you never showed your weakness. That’s how you ended up as prey.

I held onto her hand as she moved to climb off the bed. Her blue eyes were shadowed when they met mine. She was something else to me now, someone important and precious, but I still barely knew her; having her last name and knowing her father was a world-class prick didn’t change that. I needed her to give me everything, not just her body.

“We still need to talk, Orley. Don’t run away from me.”

For a split second, I could tell the thought had definitely crossed her mind. She cleared her throat and turned her hand over so she could squeeze mine. “I know. We’ll talk.”

I let her go, only because I believed she was going to come back to me, and because I could see that she knew even if she did run, I would come after her.





Orley



Lester wasn’t on the stoop in the morning when I collected Noble from Erica’s after calling off work for the day. He wasn’t there when I went out to grab lunch because my fridge was empty and the only thing Solo had in his was bottled water and old pizza. The homeless man still hadn’t made an appearance by dinner time, and Solo was doing a really bad job of hiding his growing concern every time I reported that the older man was still missing in action. On the plus side, Noble loved her mini-sleepover and was already rambling about the next time she was going to spend the night with Riley. I promised her I would make it happen, while selfishly enjoying my fake sick day. It felt like it’d been forever since I’d gotten a full day with my kid. Even if I had to pry Noble away from Solo’s bedside every five minutes because she was so worried about him, it was nice to get my fill of childish chatter and sweet hugs and kisses. She missed me, too, but I came in second next to her favorite neighbor.

I left her with him while I ran to the store so I could grab enough stuff to stock both fridges. I felt like I needed to keep busy to keep my mind of the fact Channing had set Solo up. The details of the fight made my skin crawl, and I could barely make it through the gritty reply Solo insisted on laying out for me. As a result of Channing’s dirty play, I was worried Solo was moving a little bit too slow to be a proper babysitter, but the instant my daughter curled up next to him on his bed, she crashed. I loved the way her black curls tangled in a chaotic mess around her face as she cuddled up to the big, tattooed fighter like he was her own personal teddy bear. Seeing her little body wrapped so trustingly around Solo’s broken and battered one did something to my heart. It hurt, but in a good way. It was a sensation I’d never felt before, which was pretty much a daily occurrence now that Solo inserted himself into my life. Even when he told me to be careful because he couldn’t go with me to the store, it sent shivers up my spine. No one worried about me or my safety like he did.

Every time I turned around, he was doing or saying something that made me feel things in a whole new way. I knew living in the city was going to change me, that I was going to be forced to grow up and adapt. I had no clue moving here in a panic was going to force me to learn how to love… not only myself and my child, but someone else, as well. Love wasn’t for the weak and timid. It took leaving the gates of my old life to toughen me up enough to even consider risking something as fragile as my heart and my daughter’s happiness.

After filling both fridges, I made dinner at Solo’s apartment while he entertained Noble. I was slightly resentful all the man had to do was smile at my kid, and she was perfectly content in his company. I had to jump through hoops and run through a marathon of activities to keep her occupied. I pouted about it until I got a kiss from both Noble and Solo. One warmed my heart and made me smile. The other turned it inside out and made my breath catch.

We ate dinner together on Solo’s leather couch, and for the first time in my entire life, I felt like I was part of a family. I wasn’t worried about saying or doing the wrong thing. I wasn’t struggling to find my place or willfully searching for approval and acceptance. I had a place where it was easy to feel like I belonged and no one else could possibly take my place.

Solo was a trooper and sat through two different Disney movies, chuckling occasionally as Noble belted out the wrong words to several of the songs. He promised her repeatedly he would take her back to his old school for a couple more classes and so she could run around the track once he was feeling better. She fell asleep with her head in my lap and her tiny legs across his. For the first time since leaving my old life, I let someone else put my daughter to bed. She was the only other girl who was allowed inside Solo’s bedroom as far as I was concerned, and it made my heart squeeze, that the huge, tough guy went soft as melted butter for my kid. He didn’t seem to mind giving his bed up to the almost four-year-old at all.

Before Solo made his way back to the couch, he stopped in the kitchen and made a couple drinks. He laughed at me when I told him I couldn’t stop at a liquor store and get him a six-pack like he asked. I wasn’t sure if he was amused by the fact I was still underage, or because I was probably the only human living in the city who didn’t have a fake ID, or know how to get one. Either way, he made do with the vodka that lived in his freezer. I took the second drink from him and looked at him over the rim of the glass. He could’ve asked if I was ready to talk. He could demand the answers I really did owe him, but he didn’t. He settled back on the couch, wincing a little with each movement, and silently waited until I was ready to put everything on the line for him. One of these days I was going to figure out how he read me so well when I was sure he’d never dealt with anyone who came from my world before.