The Deal Breaker (Book II)

Chapter Ten - Kiss of Death

                                             Chapter Ten

                                              Kiss of Death

 

I was relieved to know I got home before David had. I went into the bathroom and stripped out of the bloodied clothes, stuffing them into a trash bag I’ll take into the city tomorrow night. The shower was longer than necessary, mostly because I sat at the bottom of the tub with my arms wrapped around my knees and my chin resting on my arms. I kept replaying the night over and over again, from the horrific fight between me and my so-called bodyguards, to me storming out of the Foster mansion after heated argument.

It wasn’t until I heard the garage door open was when I finally stood up and began shampooing my long, dark mass of hair. I swear, it grows an inch a day. Some days I want to just chop it off because it’s a pain to deal with. I could hear David walking through the living room as I was rinsing the body wash away and shutting off the shower. The bathroom was foggy, making it difficult to see the door. I wrapped one of the worn towels around my body and rolled my hair up in a towel I’m pretty sure hasn’t been washed since I’ve arrived from the hospital.

“David?” I called as I stepped out.

“In here!” His voice sounded from the bedroom.

I stepped into the bedroom and saw David taking off his shoes and pulling off his jeans. He looked up at me and gave me a tired smile. “Hey, you,” I said as I leaned in the doorway.

“Hey.” He pulled on a pair of basketball shorts and a white t-shirt. “I’m exhausted.”

“You look it.” I stepped forward and dug through the dresser for pajamas. “You shouldn’t work so hard, you know.”

“Someone has to pay the bills.”

Although he said it as a casual thing, I found it strange to say. “I can pitch in, you know. Have Mr. Foster give me an advance.” Liar, liar, pants on fire.

“No. I’ll be fine.”

I dropped the towel and pulled on a pair of shorts and a red tank top. “Seriously, I can—“

“I’ll be fine, Joanna.”

I looked over at him, surprised by his grumbly tone. He really was exhausted. Dark circles were under his eyes and he seemed to barely keep his lids from closing. “You need to sleep more. And I do plan on paying. No argument.”

He frowned, but was too exhausted from working to argue.

Awkwardly, I crawled into bed beside him and stared up at the ceiling. David didn’t say anything as he shut off the lights and immediately drifted off to sleep. Surprisingly, I was rather exhausted myself. Part of me wondered if it had to do with fighting off what I thought to be threatening vampires, or if it was yelling at Matthew. Either way, I began to drift off, not thinking of anything for once.

The bed was empty when I awoke other than a scrap piece of paper with David’s messy scribbles.

Didn’t want to wake you. Bringing home pizza after work. –David

Who couldn’t smile at the thought of pizza? I grabbed the piece of paper and tucked it between the lamp and the nightstand before tossing the covers aside. It was much later than I thought. I slept over twelve hours, apparently, and it was just past six o’clock in the evening. I realized I’d have to take those blood clothes to the city sometime tonight, but I was still too groggy from sleeping so heavily. Instead I ended up hovering over the coffee pot with crazy eyes and a chipped mug between my hands.