Born Mine
Chapter 79

I was released from the hospital in three days and Darius kept a watchful eye on me since then. I could tell he didn't yet trust me to be by myself and I didn't blame him. The first thing he did after we returned to the house was tell me to move into his room. I had already been sleeping there so it was just semantics to make things more official.

Ever since I told him that I loved him, it was like a weight had been lifted off me. I didn't realize how much of a toll it took on me to hide how I felt for him. I had been lying not just to him but also to myself and it felt like I was carrying a huge weight. The moment I let the weight go, it was like everything was moving smoothly.

Since Faye had been taken care of, Ian and Jared were allowed to go back home. I knew I would miss having them around but I also felt bad that they had to put their lives on hold for me. They didn't seem to mind however because they both told me that they would do it again in a heartbeat.

I woke up sometime around ten and to my shock, Darius was still in bed. He was awake and typing on his laptop but he was still in bed. He was always out of the room before six.

"Welcome to the land of the living," he teased when he noticed my stirring. "Did you rest well?"

I nodded while trying to stifle a yawn as I stretched both hands above my head coincidentally letting the blanket drop to reveal the top of my breasts. I saw Darius' eyes zero in on the spot and he licked his lips. He looked like he was one move away from throwing his laptop across the room and fucking me senseless like he did last night and while I loved the sound of that, I wanted a productive day so I quickly rolled out of bed taking the blanket with me.

I frowned when I realized Darius was wearing sweatpants. I must have been deeply sleeping to not have heard him taking a shower and getting dressed. I wrapped the blanket around my body and only dropped it when I got to the door of the bathroom.

By the time I got out, Darius was out of bed and properly dressed. His phone was by his ear but he was speaking too fast for me to hear what he was saying. All I heard were the words bar, wait and now. I stood there in my robe waiting for him to finish and when he hung up the call, he turned to me.

"I need to go to the bar," he explained. "I haven't been there in a while because of everything that was happening and the paperwork is piling up by the minute."

He turned to leave and I decided to blurt out my question before he had the chance to leave.

"Can I come with you? I really enjoyed working at the bar and now that Faye is gone I was thinking it would be safe to go back."

His hand froze on the door knob and for a second I thought he was going to refuse. "Fine, I leave in ten minutes."

I squealed to which he rolled his eyes playfully and disappeared from the room.

I finished in nine minutes and when I got down the stairs, Darius was checking his

watch to be sure I made it on time. He rode his bike and as much as I hated to admit it, I had missed his bike. It just felt like him.

When we got to the bar, it wasn't time for Serena's shift yet so I waited for her in Darius' office. It was just as I remembered and instead of taking the chair, I decided to lie down on the couch. The corner of his lips tilted up as he watched me but he didn't say a word. The silence between us was comfortable and soothing and I felt like I could bask in it forever.

The silence also gave me time to think and a random thought popped into my head. I sat up so fast that I got dizzy and Darius turned to me in concern. I had to wave him off to assure him that I was fine. He didn't believe me but I saw some of the tension leave his shoulders.

"I don't have a card," I blurted out the thought that came to mind earlier. "I broke mine when I- I- ran away. How am I supposed to buy stuff?"

Darius shot me an incredulous look and shook his head. I was surprised he hadn't grown tired of me yet. He opened one of his drawers and pulled out a black card then placed it on the table. My eyes widened as I realized what it was and I stood on shaky feet.

"It's yours now," he said as if it were no big deal. "Feel free to knock yourself out." "This is your card?" I asked almost dumbly and Darius nodded. "What if I max it out?"

"I don't think you can max out this card, Leindra but for the sake of the argument let us say you do, I'll put more money inside. Life isn't as complicated as you make it out to seem."

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I stood there with my mouth opening and closing like a fish. I could not believe it. I pinched myself to be sure I wasn't imagining things. I reached out to pick up the card and it felt cold to touch. I slipped it into my pocket and made my way back to the couch.

"One more thing, Leindra," Darius called out and I turned to him. "Try not to break this one too. I'd hate to have to replace it earlier than necessary."

I flipped him off and he laughed. It felt good to know that our usual dynamic had not changed.

The moment the clock struck two, I was out of Darius' office. Serena was setting up and when she saw me, her eyes widened and she rushed over to pull me into a hug. I relaxed in her arms and allowed myself to bask in the comfort that was my friend.

"I didn't know you were returning. Darius doesn't tell me anything."

"It was just this morning I asked to return," I explained and her mouth formed an o shape. "I missed you so much. We haven't had time to ourselves since all this madness started."

"Luckily everything is over now."

She led me over to the bar and thankfully it wasn't very busy today. There were very few people and most of them were respectful. It was like the drunken idiot had decided to take a day off. I was relieved that I had an easy first day back. I would have lost my mind if I had to deal with crazy customers.

Time seemed to fly by and soon it was time for our break. We went to the back and sat cross-legged on the floor at the top of the stairs leading to the basement. I regretted not bringing something to eat but Serena pulled out a sandwich and gave me one half. I muttered a quick thanks to her and devoured the sandwich.

"I heard what happened," she began slowly. "I wanted to come see you but Darius said

it would have been better if I didn't. He said something about overwhelming you."

I was more grateful for Darius in that moment than I had been in my entire life. I had wondered why no one spoke about it and it didn't even occur to me that Darius was the one who told them not to. It was amazing how well he knew me and how quickly he was able to make decisions for my benefit.

"I'm fine now," I assured her. "I don't really want to talk about it. I get embarrassed just thinking about it. I thought I was doing the right thing but it turns out I was just under Faye's thumb."

"Faye is manipulative, there is no shame in falling for her tricks. You didn't know her, it was only natural that you believed what she said. What matters is that you're safe now and everything is back to normal."

"Amen to that," I mumbled. "Maybe tomorrow we can go on a girl's date, just the two of us. It's been a while since we have spent time outside of work or Darius' house."

"Just give me a place and a time."

Our break was over as quickly as it started and we made our way back to our stations. Things were going perfectly fine until the door to the bar opened. On instinct, I turned to check who had walked in and I froze. The bottle I was holding slipped from my hands and shattered on the ground. Serena jumped and rushed over to my side to see if I was okay but I couldn't pull my eyes away from the man who had walked.

I recognized those features anywhere; dirty blond hair that fell across his forehead with hazel eyes that sparkled with mischief. He even walked the same way; like it was his world and we were just living in it. His eyes met mine and his lips curled up into a smirk.

"Who is that?" Serena asked and when I didn't respond, she turned me to face her. You look like you've seen a ghost, who is that?"

"That's Brandon, my ex."