Page 127 of Scream
This makes her cry harder, and I'm starting to panic. What the fuck is going on?
She pulls away from him, tears still spilling, and she hiccups. "No, it's okay. You don't like it. I don't have to see my best friend every day. Rory doesn't have to come here during holiday. I don't"hiccup"need to have a safe neighborhood to run around, instead of Central Park. Or see my best friend whenever I want, even though we were kept apart for years.”hiccup“And... There's so muchpinkhere. And you hate it.”
Maksim looks at me for help as she crashes her face into his chest and letting out a small string of incoherent words – her lips pressed into his chest – but he still holds her.
"Sabrina, baby," I go to her and rub her back, and she reaches for me by the suit jacket I still haven't taken off as she leaves his chest for mine. I rub slow circles over her shoulder and down her back, letting her soak my shirt. "Baby, we're keeping the mansion. I... Ilikethe pink," Maksim gives me a pointed look that screams ‘kiss ass.’It's not a lie, per se. Yeah it's girly, and it's frilly, and I'd never let my war buddies I still talk to come hang out, so they don't break any of the glass figurines, but it'sherhappy place. She has a cozy vibe here, made it her own, and it smells like her. Everywhere I look, it's her.Because of that simple fact, I love it here. I wouldn’t change a goddamn thing except maybe ad black-out curtains, but that’s more for me. So I can fuck her on every available flat surface without Mrs. Silverstein across the street seeing something that might make her have a stroke.
She looks up at me, those green eyes rimmed red, a bit of snot on her nose, and I hold back my grin. "You do not."
"Well, I don't hate it, Babygirl. C'mon. You're tired. You haven't eaten since lunch. We've all had a long day. Let's get you out of your heels and into bed. Yeah? We can work something out in the morning. A week at the penthouse, a week here." I look at the tall guy staring at us. "Yeah?"
Maks sighs in resignation and nods. "Yeah, we can do that."
I give her a quick, tight hug and plant a kiss on her forehead, before bending to scoop her up bridal-style and handing her off to Maks. "Take her up to the third floor, get her in her PJs. Let me find something for her to eat."
“Maksi, you can’t carry me up three flights.”
He growls. “Watch me, wife.”
“Ah, well, if you insist…” She trails off, leaning her head on his shoulder, fingertips walking up his chest until they land on his other shoulder. He side-eyes me, and I know we’re both thinking the same thing – we’ve spoiled her rotten.
I fucking love that.
We part ways, and I find the fridge fully stocked. I'm gonna have to shoot a text out to Veronica, the house lady, and thank her for still coming in and taking care of things while we're gone. I make a couple of sandwiches, ham and cheese for me and Maks, then cheese and pickle for her - an English delicacy - her words, not mine.
Except when I reach the third floor, she's in the middle of the bed, sound asleep, curled into Maks like a kitten, and fuck, she's beautiful. I'll never tire of voicing the way she makes it seem like my heart is beating and walking outside of my chest, but it does so because it's her. I give Maks a once over, noting the tiredness of his expression. I hand him his sandwich and climb into bed beside her, unable to stop thinking about how many times I was just down the hall, sitting on the top step, waiting for her nightmares to start so I could come in and soothe her.
"Thanks," Maks grumbles, wiping his mouth with the napkin that I wrapped his sandwich in. "That was actually pretty good."
I grin, chewing a little faster to swallow my bite down. "Five siblings. Had to learn how to make something fast." I shake the last bit of my sandwich at him. “These were the easiest.”
He grunts at me, but I don't mind it. I know he's as fucking tired as I am. "Sabrina said something about Rory. That's your baby sister, right?"
Looks like he did have his cyberpunk do research on me. "Yeah. She was supposed to spend the summer with us, but... well, you had us move into the penthouse, and Rory didn't want to impose. Haven't seen her since before the wedding."
"She was there?"
I shake my head. "Her and Sabrina are pretty good friends," I reply, not wanting to recall the look on my baby sister’s face when I told her it wasn’t me getting married to Sabrina. I don’t want to recall the look of devastation on her face when I told her we wouldn’t be living in the mansion anymore. I especially don’t want to remember the way my sister looked defeated when I handed her plane tickets instead of an invitation. I broke her heart in so many different ways. I’m close with all of my siblings, but Rory is the one who taught me to be patient. The type of patience that helps you stay still when the world around you is pure anarchy. It saved my life just the same as it almost killed me.
"I'm... sorry about that."
I shake my head. "We sent her on a trip around Europe instead. She sends me pictures every day. She's in France now. She'll be back on campus by the end of July."
He grunts again, but it's more like a sleepy hum now that his belly is full. "This... meeting I'm having with PresCorp on Thursday. I... I want you there."
I nod, swallowing the last of my sandwich. "I can do that. I'll arrange for the guys to keep our girl for the day. She needs quality time with Raven, anyway. What you did for our girl tonight, Maks, I appreciate it. I'm sure you made her feel... heard. I'm sure it can't be easy relinquishing control like that."
"My father once told me women will either make you weaker or stronger," he scoffs. "If they make you stronger, more powerful, there's a target on their backs." He puts the napkin on the nightstand but he's still looking at his hands, twirling his marital band around his finger. "They can spot the vermin in your gardens, protecting you from those you believe are your allies. What he didn't tell me, was that my wife could become my ally and create more for me as well.
“I am starting to see her strengths more than her weaknesses. Ilikethat she's letting me in and still keeps everyone else at bay. Ilikethat she's not only trusting me with her body but is still distrustful of others. Ilikethat she doesn't have to physically torture or maim others, instead can find ways to keep her andmyhands clean. Her mind... is incredible. And I feel like such a fucking cazzo that I didn't see it sooner. Her beauty, of course... but fuck, she could've asked me tonight to leave the penthouse behind and move in here permanently, and I would have caved in a heartbeat."
"Damn, I should've pressed a little harder then." I joke.
He agrees with me by nodding once. "You should have. But you should know, Savage, I see you as an ally, too." He exhales deeply. "I'm navigating this marriage blindly for the most part. But watching you love and care for my wife with a certain... precision, has been eye-opening."
I lift a heavy shoulder and let it fall. "Loving her ain't hard, Maks. Trust your intuition when it comes to her. Don't just listen to her words, I mean, they're important, sure. But Sabrina's…expressive. Don't know if you know anything else about my sister, Rory, but she was deaf most of her life. I couldn’t afford getting hergoodhearing aids until she was almost an adult, and even then, she switches it off or takes it off. Says it gets too loud and can't think.
“Maybe that's why I picked up on Sabrina's sudden changes after that motherfucker raped her, but when I was kid, my mom kept popping them out and Rory was a silent ray of sunshine in the midst ofchaos. She was a quiet baby in a house full of fucking rowdy kids. I couldn't understand why she never woke up when my brothers, Dayton and Luke, were outside shooting my dad's gun, using glass bottles or cans for target practice. I knew something was wrong with her, but I was a kid. Couldn't do much about it."
