Page 67 of Healed

I looked down at Steph to see that she had crawled into the foetal position and was quietly snoring.

“See you in the morning, princess,” Dante said to me, and then slapped Rachel’s ass.

“You called her a princess. Am I a princess, Dante?” Rachel asked him, trying to use his back to push herself up. She failed twice, slapping back down against him.

“You’re a fucking nightmare,” I heard him reply as he walked down the hall.

Once I heard his door shut, I crossed the room and looked down at Vienna.

“You were pretending to be asleep, weren’t you?”

“Of course I was!” he snapped back. “How could anyone sleep through that?”

“What did you think was going to happen?” I laughed down at him, seeing him still clutching himself. “You heard me say taser!”

“Obviously I fucking didn’t! And I don’t know… maybe a little orgy if I was particularly lucky.”

“When have you ever been that lucky?” I asked, laughing even harder.

“I was just beaten almost half to death! I figured I was due some luck.”

“That was your mistake then, wasn’t it?”

“Uh-huh,” he said, looking up at me with sad, big eyes, his bottom lip protruding out. “Will you make it better?” he deliberately made his voice all soft and sweet.

“Goodnight, Vienna.”

“But—”

“Goodniiiight,” I said, singing the last bit of the word.

I nudged Steph awake and somehow managed to convince her to come with me.

She stumbled into my room, spread out on top of the covers like a starfish, and started snoring again almost instantly.

Sighing heavily, I pushed her onto her side to make sure she didn’t choke on any potential vomit, grabbed one of my pillows from behind her head, and made my way downstairs, curling up on the sofa.

Chapter 19

Vienna

“You know what you did,” I huffed the next morning when Dante tried to offer me a coffee. “You all know what you did.”

“I don’t recall doing anything.”

“Oh, do you not, Dante? Because I recall you bringing that menace into our lives,” I replied, pointing an accusatory finger at Rachel.

“Drink your coffee and shut up,” Dante said, shoving the scalding cup into my hands.

“Grow up, Vienna,” Rachel said, hiding her grin behind her cup. “What’s a little taser amongst friends?”

“Shh,” Steph mumbled, face down on the table, her arms wrapped around her head.

“Don’t start the shushing nonsense again,” Gabriella told her, rolling her eyes. “It was bad enough last night, it was even worse when Rachel and Dante snuck down here this morning—thank you so much for putting pants on, by the way.”

Both Rachel and Dante raised their cups in a silent “you’re welcome” and then smirked at each other.

Gabriella shook her head. “And it’s somehow even more annoying now. No more shushing.”