Chapter 49

Our romantic getaway had turned out to be a disaster and I felt terrible for taking her someplace where the food had made her sick. We still didn't know for a fact it'd been the restaurant, obviously, but it seemed a fairly safe conclusion.

Worried that she was still going to be feeling sick when she woke up, I extricated myself from her gently, wanting her to get as much sleep as she could. Once I was out of bed, I left the bedroom to order some bland food for breakfast from room service, making sure they brought up plenty of sparkling water as well.

I had no idea if she'd want to eat, but I was trying to be prepared. If there was food, she could eat something if she wanted. If there was no food, there wouldn't be anything in our room if she was hungry. I didn't even have a granola bar with me.

With breakfast ordered, I grabbed a shower. When I walked out five minutes later, I was surprised to find her sitting up in bed, smiling and with a little color back in her cheeks. "Good morning."

"Hey," I said, rushing over and sitting down on the edge of the bed, as close as I could get without jostling her. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm okay," she said after pausing for a beat. "Yeah, I really am. I think whatever it was is out now. Thank God."

Relief tore through me and I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her close and just holding her for a minute. "Thank God is right. I was so worried that we were going to have to make a trip to the hospital this morning. Are you sure?"

"I'm sure," she murmured, giving me a quick squeeze before speaking with her head still nestled against my throat. "Hey, uhm, are you sure you're not mad at me?"

"I'm definitely not mad at you, but I am mad at me. I should've done more research before I made a reservation. The place is called Tentacles, for fuck's sake. I should've known one of us was going to get sick there."

She chuckled, her head shaking before she lifted it to look into my eyes. "You asked me yesterday if I'd heard of it, and I remembered last night that I had. It's one of the best there is around here at the moment, Dash. You couldn't possibly have known and I snacked a little bit at home before you picked me up. It could've been anything."

I sighed. "I know, but I still feel bad. I ordered breakfast if you're up for it. Just toast and stuff. I didn't want to get anything that might trigger more nausea."

She smiled. "Thank you. That sounds perfect."

While she was in the shower, our food came, and for a continental spread, it looked pretty darn good. To my surprise, Serenity tucked in before she'd even dressed, managing to eat some toast, fresh fruit, and a piece of a bagel before she smiled at me. "Thank you. That was awesome. It was exactly what I needed."

"I'm just glad you're feeling better," I said honestly.

While she went to get dressed, I packed our things, checking the bathroom to make sure we hadn't left anything behind. After handing over our bags to a porter, I slid my hands into my pockets and took a chance when she was done.

"Any possibility that you feel like going for a short walk down the strip before we leave? The jet's ready to take us home, but I'm hoping to squeeze in as many minutes as I can before we absolutely have to get on it."

"I'd love that." She took my hand when I offered it to her and followed me to the elevator and outside. As we left the hotel, she grimaced at me. "I'm sorry again for ruining the trip, but thank you for taking care of me like that. No one has ever done that for me before. Well, no one other than my parents, I mean."

I frowned. "You were married for half a decade after they died. If Ethan didn't take care of you when you were sick, what the hell did he do?"

She shrugged. "Mostly, he blamed me for having caught whatever it was and then he took off before I gave it to him."

"He took off?" I struggled to even get the words out, but it didn't seem to bother her nearly as much.

"To be fair to him when it comes to this particular issue, it was often my fault. Just like getting sick yesterday was probably my fault. I'm pretty sure it wasn't the restaurant. Some of the cold cuts I snacked on before we left must've gone bad."

"That's still not your fault," I said. "Getting sick hardly ever is, unless of course you go around kissing someone with the plague or something. That might be your fault."

She chuckled. "How about eating duck from a street vendor in Thailand?"

"That's weirdly specific. What happened?"

"I ate the duck," she said, chuckling as she glanced up at me while we walked.

I grinned. "Not all it was quacked up to be?"

She groaned and smiled. "No. Ethan warned me not to eat any of the meat on the street, but I didn't listen. I figured I owed it to myself to try it while we were there. God, I was sick for days."

"What did he do?" I asked, unable to stop myself thanks to the morbid curiosity.

She sighed. "He got so angry, he left me in Bangkok. I caught a flight home a few days later. Once I was feeling better."

My eyebrows shot up. "He just left you there?"

She nodded. "Oh yeah. He was furious, but I wasn't alone. He hired a bodyguard to watch me."

Disbelief ricocheted through me, followed shortly by violent anger, but I didn't let it show. Instead, I wrapped my arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer, dropping a kiss on top of her head. "Well, from now on, you won't have to fend for yourself when you're sick. I'll wait on you hand and foot. I can't believe he left you in another fucking country. What about when you just had the flu or something?"

She grimaced. "I didn't see him until it was over."

We got into the car and I held her closer then. Once we were seated on the jet, I held her again. The way home wasn't quite like the last flight home from Seattle. Serenity was really tired but she stayed glued to me, which I didn't hate at all.

I kept my arms around her, wishing I could travel back in time to protect her from ever having met that asshole. Grappling with all the different ways in which he'd abused her and let her down, I was quiet while she slept. When we got home, I even carried her to the car waiting on the runway.

I thought she was asleep, but a few minutes later, she suddenly looked up at me. "It was great to be able to go on such a spontaneous trip with you. We should do it again and next time, I'll stay away from cold cuts and seafood."

I groaned. "It wasn't your fault, Serenity, but we will do it again. I enjoyed it."

"A whole night on the bathroom floor together. How romantic," she teased weakly, then fell silent again. I realized just how much trauma she was still carrying from that relationship. She carried it well, but it was there, right under the surface.

More determined than ever to be there for her, I went back to her apartment with her, helping her get her bags up and to make sure that she was okay. As always, we were met by cameras and both of us largely ignored them until one reporter called out a question I couldn't just let go unanswered.

"Are you guys getting serious?"

Serenity didn't say anything, still tucked under my arm.

I replied. "Yes, we care about each other and we're seeing where things go, but as far as I'm concerned, I'm off the market."

We went inside, but once again, Serenity kissed me passionately as soon as the elevators doors shut behind us. "I can't believe you told them that, but I feel the same way."

She whispered it between kisses and I pulled away from her to look into her eyes. "Does that mean you're ready to make this official?"

"Yes," she said, kissing me again all the way up to her floor. I walked her into her apartment and she slid her arms around my neck once more after I'd dropped her things in her bedroom. "Thanks again for taking such great care of me and for planning such an amazing trip."

"I hate to have to leave you right now, but I promised Lance I'd be in the office this afternoon and I've been out so often lately that I really can't leave him for another whole day."

"I understand," she said softly, toying with the ends of my hair. "Say hi to him for me."

"I will. I'll talk to you later, okay? If you want, I can always come back when I'm done, but I'll let you get some rest and tell me what you want to do once you're awake."

She nodded. "Thanks, Dash."

"Anytime." I pressed a kiss to her forehead, desperately wishing I didn't have to leave but doing it anyway and heading straight to the office from her place.

On the drive over, I thought about how great it'd been to get away with her even if she had been sick. I also thought about how I'd never been off the market before and even I knew a person wasn't supposed to leave their significant other by themselves when they were sick. It was preposterous, especially since he'd managed to convince her it was always her fault.

With my head still spinning about everything, I was about to walk into the building when Ethan suddenly appeared. He came out of the foyer and walked right to me, not looking like he was planning on stopping at all.

I turned to face him, mentally bracing myself for the showdown I knew was coming. Ethan was sure to be pissed after that big public statement I'd made the other night, but I was pretty pissed at him too and I definitely wasn't about to stay out of it this time.