Chapter 460/Protecting Love

Chapter 460

Julie’s point of view

His bloodshot, exhausted eyes locked onto mine. A deep, hollow fracture reflected in the dark depths of his pupils. "I didn’t think it was possible..." His hand rose, his heavy fingers wrapping around my wrist, pressing my palm tighter against his cheek. "...to bleed like this for a child I never even saw."

He went dead quiet. His grip on my wrist tightened until it almost hurt, his chest rising and falling in shallow, jagged beats.

My throat constricted, hot tears finally brimming over my lashes. My breath hitched in my chest. "I don’t know, Robert..."

He leaned closer, his eyes searching mine with a terrifying, broken intensity. "How did you survive this pain?! How?!"

I swallowed the bitter lump burning my throat, shaking my head as a single tear escaped down my cheek. "I didn’t... I’m still bleeding."

His heavy, alcohol-laced breath fanned over my skin. He leaned his forehead against mine, his gaze searching my face with desperate, raw longing. "Does it ever go away?"

"No..." I whispered, closing my eyes for a fraction of a second as the wet heat spilled over.

In that single, suspended second, the dark world outside this room evaporated. I forgot that Morgan was my father. I forgot that Violet was my mother a monster capable of erasing our very existence with a flick of her wrist. I violently ripped away every toxic thread connecting our pasts.

I threw my arms around his broad neck, digging my fingers into his hair, and pulled his face down into my chest with ferocious, desperate strength. I let myself shoulder his hidden burden, feeling, for the very first time in three years, that another soul truly understood the inferno burning inside me.

His massive, steel-hard arms wrapped around my waist like iron bands. He pulled me impossibly tight against his body, lifting me off the mattress slightly as he buried his face deep in the crook of my neck.

"I’m so sorry..." he rasped, his lips pressing hard against my collarbone, his warm breath burning my skin. "I’m so sorry you had to carry all of this alone..."

I pressed my cheek into his hair, my voice steeling with absolute devotion. "We’re going to get through this together."

He went still against me, his heavy chest expanding in a deep breath before he hesitated. "Julie..."

I shifted back slightly, my hands sliding down to rest on his shoulders so I could look into his eyes. "What?"

He stared straight into my soul. The haze in his eyes cleared for a brief, striking moment, leaving behind a gaze so intense, heavy, and raw it made my breath catch.

"I love you so much."

A warm, fragile smile broke across my lips despite the crushing weight in my chest. I stroked the back of his neck, secretly wishing he could stay drunk forever because the sober, guarded Robert would rather tear his own heart out than lay it open like this.

I leaned in, my lips brushing his cheek, teasing softly, "How much?"

He closed the remaining distance between our faces, his heavy, intoxicated breath fanning over my lips. His hand moved to the back of my neck, his thumb tracing the jawline as a raw confession rattled his chest.

"I’m head over heels for you... I’m fucking insane about you, and I would slaughter anyone on this earth for you."

I slammed my head forward into his broad chest, burying my face in his shirt as I listened to the frantic, violent thudding of his heart the truest proof of every single word that had just left his mouth. I lifted a shaking hand, my fingertips tracing the rough, prickling stubble along his jaw. My voice was a choked mix of tears and pure, unfiltered relief.

"I love you, Robert... more than you could ever imagine."

His heavy eyelids fluttered shut from sheer, bone-deep exhaustion. His muscles went slack, and he fell backward onto the mattress, his iron grip on my waist dragging me down right on top of him. He shifted his weight, pulling me flush against his side and burying his face in my hair as if terrified I would evaporate the moment he let go. Within minutes, his ragged breathing turned slow, steady, and deep, surrendering completely to the alcohol and emotional ruin.

I stayed wide awake in the dim light, resting my chin on his chest, watching the sharp, uncompromising lines of his face finally settle into peace. I raised my hand and gently traced my fingertips over his brow, smoothing away the faint crease between his eyes.

Then, the dark storm of reality crept right back into the room.

The truth I had spent the night running from slammed back into my lungs, suffocating me. Violet the woman who turned out to be my blood mother was the exact same monster who drove his mother to tears and suicide. And Morgan the father I had just discovered was his ultimate mortal enemy.

How is this love supposed to survive when Robert wakes up and faces reality with a clear, sober mind? How can I keep this secret from him when it’s only a matter of time before the entire house of cards collapses?

I bit my lip to suppress a quiet sob, carefully unspooling myself from beneath his heavy arm so I wouldn’t disturb him. I pulled the heavy, weighted blanket up over his shoulders, tucking it in around his neck. Standing beside the bed, my hand hovered over his sleeping form as my heart shattered into a thousand jagged pieces.

"I will protect you, Robert..." I whispered into the darkness, my jaw setting tight. "Even if the danger carries my own name and blood."

I turned and walked barefoot across the icy floor toward the bathroom, closing the heavy door behind me in absolute silence. Stripping off my ruined clothes, I stepped beneath the showerhead and cranked the cold tap all the way open. The pelting stream hit my skin like needles. I stood there, letting the freezing water crash over my head and shoulders, praying it would wash away the stench of the night and purge the nightmares rotting my mind.

I squeezed my eyes shut, cold water mixing with the endless stream of hot tears burning my cheeks. Dark questions circled my head like vultures waiting for a corpse.

What if Robert wakes up and finds out everything? What if he grows to hate me? What if he discards me just because my face... my blood... reminds him of Violet? The woman who destroyed his mother?