"Don't panic; I have everything under control. No one is going to hurt you." I couldn't help laughing at the worried look on his face. Then he looked really concerned when that laughter turned into howls of pure cackling. I'm sure he thought I was losing my shit, but nothing could be further from the truth. My mind was as clear as a bell in the Italian countryside."Elena, what…?""Do you know what killing people with kindness does to them, Ryder? It eats them up inside, especially when they've done you wrong. Though they may have no conscience, some part of them, some minuscule thread of humanity, destroys them little by little.""I've always taken the high road. I've always shown kindness. Even when I was being torn apart inside and out, I put a smile on my face, and I never hit back, but this there's no way. I want them to pay. You think I'm afraid of some washed up never has been actor and his crackhead of a daughter?" I laughed even louder.His eyes widened when I cracked my neck

"No one has ever really loved me except for you. I know that now; I think I've always known it, but I wasn't in the right head space back then to understand it fully or to appreciate you and all that you've done. You and I both know that I was a major screwup in more ways than one. I know you tried to help me. I know you did your best, and that's why I know that I need to be here with you because when I looked back on my life once things started to become clear again, whenever I thought of the past, you were all I saw." "You were all I needed, but I wasn't in the right place even then because I still found myself trapped in a marriage that I didn't want and never wanted. I know as long as I live, I will never be able to make it up to you for the pain that I caused, but please give me a chance to at least try. I have to try; I think I'd die if I don't make this right. I can't not have you, Elena, not and stay sane." "Why? Why would I do that? So that you could hurt me again? So that y

I was as nervous as I was the first time I touched her. Back then, my nervousness stemmed from the newness and, yes, the fact that I was so in awe of her that it was like a fairytale come true just to breathe her in. This time my hands shook with emotion because I never thought I'd be here again.I know I have a long way to go and that there's so much more that needs to be done on my part, but the truth of the matter is I've never been able to keep my hands to myself when it comes to Elena, and it used to be the same for her. This was always the one place we were compatible, and I'd missed this closeness more than my next breath.With each bit of her flesh, I revealed I held my breath, waiting for her to stop me and hoping with everything in me that she didn't. Earlier, she'd said that it was just sex, but for me, it was so much more. I needed desperately to reforge the bond between us, the bond that I'd thought was so irrevocably broken.And when she trembled beneath my hands, I sent

She's finally asleep again, leaving me alone with my thoughts. I felt a bit uneasy as I lay there beside her thinking about my next move. When I insisted Zak and Tyler bring me here, they weren't exactly on board, but they understood my need to get to her. Their reason for not wanting me to rush things is that there was no set plan in mind.But I couldn't not come to her once it came to light that Janie and her dad, along with Mary and the others, were planning to not only harm her but take her life. The fear I felt in that moment overshadowed everything else, and all I could think about was getting to her, if only to stand in front of her, protecting her from the danger.They weren't planning to rush right out and harm her, but for me, it made no difference; even a second more away from her after hearing that would've been too much for me to bear. But as usual, I didn't think about what came next; I just couldn't ignore the need in me to be next to her.Tyler and Zak had offered to ha

As expected, she wasn't handling the news of Rachel's betrayal very well. I held her through her crying jag, which broke my heart into pieces, and then I had a time of it getting her to calm down and not do anything rash once the tears were over.She wanted to confront the other woman as soon as she returned in a day or two, but I had something better up my sleeve, something I was hoping she'd agree to not only for her sake but for my own peace of mind as well.Since I couldn't stay here with her just yet, there was no way I wanted her here alone, so when she took a trip to the bathroom to wash her face, I made a quick call to the guys with my suggestion, but since we didn't have a lot of time before she got back I didn't exactly get an answer from them, not that I needed one in this situation. As long as it was about her safety, I wasn't about to take any chances, and I was almost certain they'd see things my way. So I waited for her return to put my plan into action and hoped for th