Delirious Love

Chapter 3

Atlas' Perspective

I wasn't sure what to do, probably for the first time in my life.  I knew this girl was going to go back to her own life in a day or two when she healed. For some reason, when I thought about her leaving I was sad. Not because I would miss her, but because I saw how weak she was. And that made me think about how close she was to getting assaulted by Harod and probably killed after. Then my thoughts wandered longer and I thought about the thousands of women every day probably in this city alone that were too weak to fight and didn't have us to swoop in and take care of things.

But we couldn't save everyone. Truthfully I didn't want to. I was never a generous person, I kept to myself and was only called in when something was urgent or when my brothers needed muscle and coldness.

I looked at her in front of me, eyes slightly looking down at me, filled with confusion and fear. I wasn't sure whether it was fear for me or fear of the whole situation. Probably both. She crossed her arms expectantly, waiting for me to speak. I swallowed and started laying out the night before.

The more I spoke the more tears gathered in her eyes. She bit the side of her lip, trying to keep her breath even through her nose and not let me see her chin tremble. I noticed it regardless. I missed nothing on a human face especially not emotion or how people's eyes revealed their whole heart.

"We barely made it in time. We took care of him, and did our best to heal you. Our family doctor is very talented. I was the one who took you here, to let you get rest and be safe until we could bring you back home."

She took a deep breath and asked me "Ok, but who is your family? Who are you really? You are not just some random men who happened to walk by and save a damsel in distress. Hate to sound... cliché but I'm sorry I'm not believing that."

I thought about how much to reveal. We were private. Practically undercover. We had made an oath to each other to never speak about our business. The fact that I had somehow convinced Orion to let me bring an outsider in our home was unbelievable. I realized she was still waiting for my answer.

"We are brothers, and we run businesses around the city." Short and simple, definitely not what she had asked for.

She narrowed her eyes and scrunched her eyebrows towards each other clearly unsatisfied with my vague answer. "Tell me your name at least." She sounded tired, like her pain was coming back.

I put my hands around her forearms, I could almost wrap twice around. I pulled her closer as I stood up, looking over her. I was around a foot and a half taller than her. I moved my tight hand to her chin and tilted it up to make her look at me. She resisted at first, but realized it would be futile with how weak she was and how firm my grip was. Not enough to hurt her right now, but enough to keep her looking at me. I moved my face closer to hers and whispered "Atlas."

I felt her shiver. I knew it was because of my proximity. I wasn't ignorant to my looks, not arrogant, but aware. She shut her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened them she looked up at me with those beautiful eyes and said "I like that name." Her voice was barely a whisper. I noticed her grimace in pain even though her face quickly returned to neutral. I gave her a slight smile and let her chin go. I guided her to the bed and had her sit down. She laid down on her side without any complaint or fear, probably because she didn't have the energy. I pulled the satin sheet up to her shoulder and sat on the bed until I heard her breathing slow.