"Willing to is a shit way of putting it," Daniel said, shaking his head. "I am determined to."
"Like the sound of that better," he agreed with a nod. "Oh, and I know you're technically still and FBI agent and threatening you might get me pinched, but... you get my fucking meaning here," he said, giving Daniel a hard look then moving down the hall to talk to the girls as they walked out of the bathroom.
Faith had changed into something he didn't think she would normally be caught dead in. She, in general, seemed to prefer clothes that made it easy to jump to action if the situation called for it- jeans and tanks or tees or, alternately, workout gear.
But Corey's taste ran more toward the feminine and she hadn't packed jeans and a tee. No, she had packed a skintight electric blue body con dress with a square-cut bodice and a short hem, showing off her shapely legs. Her feet, though, were absurdly still clad in the combat boots she had worn to work.
It was a look.
Daniel felt his lips curve up into a big smile as Faith was obviously bitching to K about the dress, grabbing a handful of the stretchy material and he was pretty sure he heard her say something like, "No spandex, my ass."
She and K exchanged a few words, he reached out and wrapped a hand around the back of her neck, pulling her close so their foreheads touched, then released her and walked away and out of the hospital.
Corey and Faith walked back toward him a moment later, Faith grimacing, Corey sporting what Daniel could only label a wicked smile. It was right about then that he figured maybe she had packed that dress on purpose.
"Nice dress, sweetheart," Daniel said, just to get a reaction out of her.
"A fucking club dress. In a hospital," she snapped, shaking her head.
"What the fuck is that?" another male voice called suddenly and there was Salvatore. He had been rushing past, but caught a glimpse of Faith and skidded to a stop, brows drawn together. His eyes got to her face, and he laughed silently, shaking his head, and shrugging out of his suit jacket. "Here, kid, can't have you walking around in a dress, God forbid," he said. "I'm heading up. You waiting here?" When she nodded, he gave her a small reassuring smile and moved off. "I'll be down as soon as I know something."
"At least let me belt that," Corey insisted, curling her lip up at the material hanging almost down to Faith's knees, her body looking completely shapeless underneath. "Daniel, give me your belt," she went on, doing a gimme hand at him.
"Who the hell do I have to impress in the emergency room, Cor?"
From there, it was an argument to which Daniel cut in and told them he would be back in twenty, after he checked in on Max.
He walked down the hall to the sound of Max's loud, booming laugh and felt a bit of the knot in his stomach untie. He knew he was alright, but it was one thing to know it, and another to have proof of it. When he rounded the corner into his room, a smiling copper-haired nurse with freckles was walking out, shaking her head.
"She was cute," Max said as soon as he saw his friend. "I like freckles," he added as Daniel pulled up a chair and all but fell down into it, suddenly feeling completely drained. "You alright? I can call nurse freckles back in here to look you over. Everywhere, you know... just in case," Max smiled, the dimple etching into his cheek at the motion.
"How's that pain medicine treating you?" Daniel asked with a smile he didn't feel.
Max snorted, shaking his head. "This ain't the pills. This is just happy to be alive and have pretty women waiting on me. The dose they gave me is barely enough to take the sting away. They didn't seem to factor in that I am about seven inches taller and a hundred pounds heavier than their average male patient. How's that D'Onofrio kid doing? Took one to the gut..." he said, shaking his head.
"In surgery. No updates yet."
"Bet it's a fucking mess in there. Leg too. That fuck was out of his mind shooting off like that."
"Yeah, well he'll be paying for it for the next thirty-someodd years of his life."
"Come on," Max snorted, "we both know he won't last a week once he gets inside. But can't say I'd be mourning his loss. Your girl alright?" he asked suddenly, tone serious. "She was losing it in there. Didn't think she was capable."
"There's a lot of soft underneath that barbed wire," Daniel agreed, looking up at the clock. It was closing in on ten. It was going to be a long ass night. And he had spent way too many overnights in the hospital in his life.
"She still pissed at you?"
"It seems to be on pause, but I'm sure it will come back full force eventually."
"Well, lucky you're a stubborn fuck. For what it's worth, I think she'd be worth the hassle."
Daniel nodded, knowing he was right.
True, it was new. And he might have only known her for a couple of weeks. But that was enough, enough to know there was possibility there. He wasn't a sap. It wasn't love. Nothing that silly and instant. But there was intrigue, there was interest, there was affection. And those were three things he hadn't felt for a woman in a good, long time.
"Heard I'm off the case because of you," Max added, getting his attention again. "I kept my cover until you blabbed. Would have been a hell of a case."
"I'd say I'm sorry," Daniel said with a shrug. "But that'd be a lie."
"Figured as much," Max said with a nod. "Don't hold it against you."
And he didn't.
That was a great thing about Max- he didn't hold grudges.
Part of it was because, unlike Daniel, he wasn't married to his job. He had people and things to go back to when a job blew up. The other part was that it was simply hard to rile him. He stood on what forever seemed to be unshakeable ground. Nothing got to him. It didn't matter how bad shit got, he always took it in stride.
"Knew you needed a win too, man. But I couldn't let you have this one. They mean too much to her."
Max's head cocked to the side, watching his friend for a long minute, eyes intense. "You'd botch a job because it would upset her, huh? Fuck man, you really like this one, huh?"
"She's down there in a fucking skintight blue dress that the chick from Limits brought her," Daniel admitted, shaking his head, trying to keep his desire at bay. He had done nothing but think about her and jerk off for fucking days.
"Hold up," Max said, leaning his head against the bent-upward bed and closing his eyes, "let me just picture that a minute..."
"Picture what?" yet another female voice said from the side and Daniel turned to find a blonde this time- all tits, ass, thighs, and hips, plump in the way that Max liked them, and big brown eyes that were lit up at seeing him. Apparently word got around the floor about a good looking and charming guy who had just had a near-death experience and was looking to flirt around because of it.
"Babydoll, my ring on your finger," Max said, not missing a beat. "Can't you just picture it?" he asked reaching out to take her hand and the woman blushed. A nurse, hardened from all the craziness she had seen in her time, blushed because he took her hand. "It's a good look, right?" he asked when she didn't answer.
"If you want to shut him up," Daniel cut in, trying to ease the girl's obvious discomfort, "I would absolutely sign off on whatever forms you'd need for some heavy sedatives."
To that, the girl laughed, pulling her hand away. "I actually just came in to tell you that your mother called and she and your sister are on their way in from upstate to see you."
"Aw shit," Daniel said, standing and scooting his chair back to where he found it. "I better get the fuck out of here before your mother comes in and screams at me for not taking better care of you," he added, moving toward the hall.
Max smiled, knowing it was the truth. "That's cool. Me and nurse..."
"Madison."
"Madison here have some catching up to do," he said, giving her a smile that likely melted her panties right then and there.
"Madison," Daniel called from the doorway and the woman turned to him with a small smile, "if the sedatives don't work, I wouldn't object to elephant tranquiliz
ers either," he told her with a grin as he moved down the hall toward the elevators.
And all but plowed into Vin.
"What are you doing on this floor?" Daniel asked, immediately suspicious, looking back toward Max's door where a cop in blue was standing guard. Why there wasn't an agent there was beyond him.
"Don't worry," Vin said with a tired smile. "I'm not here to off your friend in there. The surgery floor machine was out of coffee," he explained, holding out the tray of three he had in his hands. "I'm a man of action, you see," he explained oddly. "Sitting around in a waiting room for hours to see if my son will live through the night is not something I do well."
"Any updates?" he asked, then was quick to add, "Faith is worried sick."
"Yeah, those two seemed to get over their issues with each other the past week or so. Nice to see after what they've been through. Especially if he doesn't make it. She would never forgive herself if she let it end like it had been going the last decade. She's a good girl, Special Agent Harrison. I don't want to see her hurting like I've seen her hurting this past week."
That was a threat if Daniel had ever heard one.
And, as cool as only a seasoned crime boss could be, he delivered it, clamped a hand on his shoulder, then walked away.
Two threats in one night over the same girl, a girl who could if she really put her mind to it, give him a world of pain herself.
He couldn't fight the smile he had as the elevator doors closed and slowly went back down toward the main floor.
He found he liked that she had people around for her. Whether or not she wanted or needed the protection, they were there to give it to her. He also knew it wouldn't be the last of the threats if he knew anything about Xander, Gabe, Trey and her other guys at the gym, and even Corey. She was surrounded by people who saw how great she was and wanted to protect that kind of unique vulnerable strength she had.
Luckily for them, they wouldn't need to band together as a force against him and his possibly bad intentions. Because he had no plans on hurting her again, of betraying her trust.
He knew it wasn't going to be easy.
He knew that when you shattered a glass and glued the pieces back together, there were always cracks.
But he didn't intend to use glue.
He meant to burn things hot enough for long enough that the fucking glass melted down and could be remolded again- flawless, stronger.
If he knew anything about Faith, he knew she was probably going to fight him the whole way too.
He was kind of looking forward to it.
SEVENTEEN
Faith
Sometime around one in the morning, Salvatore finally came down to the waiting room where she and Daniel had been sitting in relatively comfortable silence for the better part of two hours, both staring at the television, seeing the news report of the shooting pop up, but neither actually watching, both lost in their own thoughts.
Corey had gone back to work a couple minutes after Daniel came down from visiting with Max, saying she needed to make sure the 'dungeon monitors' were doing their jobs, which Faith knew was bullshit because Corey would never allow a security guard in her club to be under qualified or unobservant of unsafe behavior happening in any of the scenes. That was not how her club operated. It was the safest of the fetish clubs in the City and also the least cheesy. She ran a tight ship.
She just wanted to leave her alone with Daniel.
There was nothing subtle about how she and even K to an extent were trying to help them along.
She had buttoned up Salvatore's jacket somewhere along the lines and had cocked her legs up awkwardly on the chair, trying not to look like she was seriously considering using Daniel as a pillow. She was, but she knew she wouldn't allow herself to do so.
"He's out," he said, dark eyes tired, skin more pale than she had ever seen it before. "They said the bullet in the leg was trickier than they anticipated. Nerve damage. The stomach wasn't as bad as they thought. Closed him up and have him on antibiotics."
There was no one word to describe what relief felt like- but the best way Faith could explain it was that it felt like a set of hands that had been holding your heart and your stomach hostage suddenly released and there was a sense of equilibrium in your body again, an ability to breathe and think clearly when your breath had been shallow and your brain had been a swirling cyclone of unfinished thoughts.
She hadn't been aware of standing somewhere in the middle of his speech and she hadn't been fully aware of her intentions before she found herself throwing her arms around Salvatore, knocking him back a step, before his hands went around her.
"It's alright, kid," he said, rubbing at the pressure between her shoulder blades. "He's going to be alright."
Except that wasn't entirely true.
Because just an hour after surgery, Anthony got a massive infection despite the megadose of antibiotics he was on. He had a soaring fever that made him seize twice before they got it under control.
It wasn't until the third day that his body finally seemed to accept that it wasn't going to die. And it wasn't until then, either, that any of them left the hospital except for short trips to take quick showers.
That included Daniel.
She hadn't realized how much she wanted him there until he never left her side. Until she felt his hand hold hers every single time an update came down to them. Until she finally gave in and fell asleep on his chest only to wake up with the side of his face on top of her head, asleep as well, his arm protectively around her. Until she finally started to see that despite the dishonesty at first, that everything about his words and actions since his true identity was revealed pointed to him being all in, being serious, wanting to fix what they broke.
He got her coffee and he massaged the aches out of her back and neck and shoulders from sleeping in awkward positions. He ran out to grab food to bring back so she didn't have to miss an update. He took her key to go home to freaking feed Rhoda when she herself had almost forgotten that such a fish existed anymore.
He filled the silences that seemed to get more painful by the hour- telling her little tidbits of the places he had lived as a child, telling her how he knew from the first day of oppressive dry heat in Texas that he wasn't meant for those types of climate. He told her about what Christmas was like in a ski resort in Colorado. He told her about his time in Quantico, about some of his missions, especially that of the one in Navesink Bank.
"You know, I trained a girl, we all- K, me, Gabe, and Xander, trained a girl who is in The Henchmen MC now," she told him, finding it funny that even in a world as big as theirs, they somehow found common associates like that.
"Wouldn't it be funny if we had to show up there together for some reason?" he'd asked and they both laughed at the idea.
Somehow, long hours, not enough sleep, and tense emotions seemed to strip away Faith's defenses, made her more open to discussion about them, about a chance for their future, about letting go of the past.
"I'm not asking to take anything from you Faith," he said when she had sat silent after asking for them to seriously give it a shot. "The opposite really. You get to go on being yourself, helping the women you help, scowling at bar patrons, bossing around Vin, naming fish after members of the opposite sex, being a smartass, making your own decisions. I just get to be there too. For the ride. Except I'd be the one driving since someone doesn't have a fucking driver's license," he added to try to lighten the mood.
"I bet I'd drive circles around you," she said, brow lifted.
"Well, you go get your permit and we'll see about that," he offered. "But you know that that means you will have to stick with me for at least three months..."
She felt the weight of that, let it sink in for a moment, and decided it didn't make her anxious, it didn't make her fearful, and she didn't want to fight it. "You took defensive driving courses at Quantico, right?" she asked, lips tipping up.
Daniel's rose to match hers. "Yeah, babe."
"We'd have to head out somewhere rural for that, city girl," he said, his hand landing on her thigh.
"I could use a vacation," she told him with a small smile.
"Alright, you're on then," he agreed.
"Alright then."
There were grant, romantic people in the world, ones with all the flowery words and poetic declarations.
Faith was not one of those people.
'Alright then' was about as good as he was going to get.
And he didn't complain one bit about it either.
EPILOGUE
Faith- 2 months
"You better stop fucking cursing at me, Anthony, or I am going to take that goddamn cane and shove it up your ass," she snapped. They were only about three minutes into what was supposed to be a good, invigorating walk to get him moving and to get him out of his foul ass mood.
He was barely moving.
And his mood was that of a four year old being forced to walk instead of ride in a carriage like their little brother.
"It fucking hurts, Faith. What the fuck do you want from me?" he hissed, slamming a hand into the bark of a tree and sucking in a few shallow breaths.
"Yeah, well, it has to hurt. You're an addict and you can't have pain pills in rehab so just suck it up and stop being such a baby."
Anthony didn't exactly have a lot of visitors at rehab. Most of that was due to him being a complete and utter asshole when he was first detoxing and a grumpy, in-pain jerk since then.
It wasn't that he wasn't hurting; he was. The nerve damage in his leg made it impossible for him to walk right again. He was numb from the knee down and had stabbing pains in his thigh and hip whenever he got in motion. It was something the doctors claimed would lessen if he just dealt with the pain and did the physical therapy he was supposed to.
Dark Secrets (Dark #2) Page 21
