Read Online True Perfection [Aspire 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) by Allyson Young - Free Book Online

mean it. I can’t stand seeing the little ghost I wake up to. It reminds me of my past mistakes with her. Go. Come back during regular visiting hours.”
    Gordon nodded and reached into the corner to snag Haley’s overnight bag. There was nothing else of hers in the room. She carefully put everything away each time she took something from it or changed her clothes. The symbolism of it struck Gordon, and he mentioned it to Warren. “It’s like she’s prepared to leave at a moment’s notice. I don’t get it. She has devoted herself to you and obeys me, yet she’s ready to head out.”
    When Warren merely shrugged, clearly tired, Gordon let it drop and headed for the door.
    “Hey.” Gordon turned back at Warren’s voice. “Take her to bed, Gordon. Make her feel something other than the guilt she doesn’t own. Think of me when you’re doing it.”
    Gordon laughed and left. He met Haley hurrying back down the hall and whirled her around with one hand. “We’re going home, little one. We’ll come back to visit later.”
    He thought she would protest, felt it in the tensing of her body, and took pity on her dilemma. Did she obey him or return to Warren’s room? He didn’t want her to have to make that choice when there really wasn’t one.
    “Warren suggested it, Haley. You need a proper shower and actual food. A rest would be in order as well.”
    His subservient, quiet little woman meekly preceded him out to the car and let him buckle her in without another word. It was unnerving, despite the fact that he now believed he knew why she was behaving in such a manner. Gordon planned to shake up the status quo that very afternoon.
     
    * * * *
     
    Haley soaked in the big tub off the master bedroom, luxuriating in the hot, scented water. She had scrubbed her hair under the shower with Gordon’s help and wrapped it up in a towel while the bath filled. It didn’t feel quite right to be so comfortable while Warren lay in a hospital bed, but she was exhausted and justified it by assuring herself that she would have more energy after a bath and a rest. Gordon had stripped her then put her into the shower before climbing in to help her wash, and the familiarity of it all made her heart ache. She was so tired of waiting for the axe to fall, and on one hand wanted to get it over with. On the other, she hoped for more time. More time to see Warren back on his feet, and more time to obey Gordon and show him that she cared just as much for him as she did for Warren before they told her to leave. Yet she was equally terrified they would take her on vacation and reject her there, when she would have no place to turn. Her thought process had begun to feel a bit skewed over the past couple of days, but she was too exhausted to spend any time trying to sort it out.
    Gordon came back into the bathroom carrying a tray laden with a variety of snacks and a steaming cup of tea. Real tea, not that swill the hospital served. Haley felt like someone had punched her in the chest. Jeffrey had called her food swill right before he stabbed Warren. The room got blurry and she heard the tray crash onto the counter before Gordon yanked her up and out of the tub. He wrapped her in one of the big bath sheets and carried her into the bedroom where he almost fell onto the mattress with her. She clung to his heat and solid frame.
    “Breathe, Haley, take deep breaths and hang onto me.”
    Haley did as he said, and the fist around her heart loosened and she was able to unclench her fingers from the fabric of Gordon’s robe.
    “What happened?” he asked.
    “I had a flash of Jeffrey stabbing Warren,” she whispered. “I’m so sorry, Gordon.”
    Gordon pinned her to the bed, his big frame hovering over hers. “Look at me!”
    Startled, Haley did as he ordered, and the rage in his eyes had her shutting hers.
    “Look at me!”
    Oh God, it was happening. Gordon was going to tell her how angry he was with her. He was going to tell her what she