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now.   That
would be a perfect end to a perfect day.”
    But when they got inside, there were no
thieves, and Easton dropped heavily onto the couch, lying back and resting his
head.   His eyes were black and blue,
his lip swollen and split, dried blood around his nostrils.  
    Kennedy went to him, pulled his shoes
off.
    “What are you doing?” he said.
    “Making you comfortable.”
    “I don’t need you to undress me.   I’m an adult.   Getting my ass kicked didn’t turn me
into a child.”
    “Let me help you, Easton.   Let me take care of you for once.”
    He sighed and dropped an arm across his
face.   “It’s too damn bright in
here.”
    “Do you want to go up to the bedroom?”
    “Oh, you’d love that, wouldn’t you?” he
teased.
    “I’m just trying to help.”
    “I guess you still haven’t learned your
lesson, then.”
    Kennedy sighed.   He was being prickly and a little nasty,
although she couldn’t really blame him.   He’d been through hell.
    “Are you thirsty?” she asked.
    After a long pause, he nodded
slowly.   “Water would be nice.”
    Kennedy went to the kitchen and got him a
glass of water with ice, carried it over to the couch and handed it to him.
    Easton sipped gingerly at the water,
wincing a little.   He reached his
fingers into his mouth and groaned.   His fingers came away dark with blood.
    She gasped.   “What’s wrong?”
    “Nothing, nothing.   Just a loose tooth.   Fuckers were starting in on my teeth with
a pair of pliers when Kane Wright interrupted them to negotiate with Jimmy.”
    She couldn’t believe her ears, sure that Easton must be joking.   “Pliers?”
    “Yeah, pliers.   They had me tied to a chair in some
dingy basement with old dried blood stains all over
the floor.   And they were torturing
me for fun.   Jimmy DeLuca really
liked making me scream—he laughed like a hyena every time I yelled.”
    Kennedy wanted to cover her own
ears.   Seeing Easton like this, his
large, muscular body draped on the couch, looking almost broken—it was
painful physically for her to witness it.
    His suit was dirty and ripped, his face
was swollen, his voice hoarse and rasping.
    “Thank God you lived,” she said finally,
tears streaming down her cheeks.
    Easton finally took his arm away from his
face and blinked at her.   “You
stayed,” he smiled, almost a grimace.   “You didn’t take the money and run.”
    She shook her head.   “Of course not.”
    “You’re the reason I’m alive, Kennedy.”
    “That’s not true—“
    “I know what I know.”   His voice grew suddenly louder,
forceful, and she realized that he wasn’t broken.   Not at all.   He was like a proud lion that had been
torn open in battle, but he wasn’t weak from it.
    If anything, his true strength was
showing through.   His eyes met hers
and she felt his power and strength and it was enough to melt all of her fear
and anxiety away.
    “I would’ve done anything to bring you
back safe to me,” she admitted.
    “You did do anything.   And you did everything.”   He reached out to her and she allowed
him to take her hand, pulling her slowly towards him.
    “I don’t want to hurt you,” she said.
    “Sit down,” he commanded, pulling harder.
    She sat down on the couch, her hip
pressed against his lower abdomen as he turned slightly towards her.   His hand fell on her leg.  
    “You need to rest now,” she whispered,
caressing Easton’s hair, pushing it away from his forehead.
    “Bullshit.   What I need to do,” he said, “is look at
your beautiful face.”
    Tears started dripping down her cheeks
again as she laughed self-consciously, wiping them away.   “I was sure I’d lost you.”
    “You’ll never lose me, Kennedy.”
    “Promise?”
    “It’s a damn promise.”   His hand massaged her leg.
    She felt her skin break into goose
bumps.   As she looked at him lying
there, his eyes so calm and focused on her and her alone, she grew