It wasn't until early morning, when Nicole opened her eyes to see Ethan sitting very close to her bed, sleep holding her hand tight in his sleep. She heard movement by the door and saw Parker standing up from the chair.
"He's been asleep for a couple of hours. He wanted to be here when you awoke."
"Why are you here?" she asked quietly.
He shrugged. "Moral support, you could say." Parker dug his hands deep in his pants pockets. Even though he had pulled an all nighter in the chair, he looked very well dress with it being so early in the morning. She had a feeling this man had an annoying streak of cleanliness. There was also an aura that he wanted to say more, but didn't know how to go about saying it. "Ethan said my big mouth got you in more trouble."
She smiled weakly. "If you didn't do it, he would have found something else to be mad at me about. He intended to kill me long before you took away the money he wanted. I can understand you wanting to rub his deceit back in his face. You're forgiven."
Parker nodded his concession and left just as Ethan began to stir awaking from his tired sleep. As soon as he saw she was awake, he leaned over and kissed her soundly, possessively.
"Will you always be at my bedside every time something happens to me?" she asked teasingly.
"I want to be there even if there's nothing wrong with you always, Nicole."
His confession seemed to shock both of them.
She looked away from him to gather her thoughts. "Are you sure you aren't trying to make up for the pain my mother caused you."
Ethan could admit his revenge was wrong. "I had every intentions of stealing your heart and body, Nicole. Using you mentally like your mother had done to me. I thought I could remain impassive to you, but I think somewhere between getting revenge I found myself becoming receptive to that inner beauty only you could have. Soon it wasn't about Lynne or revenge; it was just about making you happy. I've done some pretty horrible things, Nic, to you and myself. All were pretty stupid." He kissed her knuckles, then elevated to her mouth capturing her in a passionate kiss making her feel good all over.
When he pulled away she had the most beautiful smile on her face, but his looked regretful.
"What is it?" she asked reaching up to smooth the furred brow of his.