Marlin's Faith: The Virtues Book II by A.J. Downey Read Free Book Online

own, her delicate fingers curving around the deeply suntanned, broad back of my own hand, scarred and rough as it was from use in my trade.
    When I looked back up at her face, it held apprehension. I gave her small hand a tiny squeeze of reassurance and she visibly relaxed.
    “I wanted to say a proper thank you, but I’m not sure that simply saying ‘thank you’ is enough for everything you’ve done.”
    “Don’t think nothin’ of it, Baby Girl,” I said, “You just work on you. Don’t worry none about me.”
    We lapsed into a comfortable silence and I leaned back against the headboard, hyperaware of how warm and gentle her hand was in mine. It felt good, that small contact, but I couldn’t help but feel uneasy about it at the same time. I mean, she’d been through a lot , and I know it was just holding my hand, but she was in a bad place and needed to heal and I felt like this big dumb ox next to her… shit, I don’t know.
    “When it was quiet, like this, they sometimes let us listen to the radio.”
    I went very, very still. I swear it was like her light, clear voice stopped my heart right in its tracks. I felt my breath catch in my chest and I dared not breathe, waiting for her to continue. It wasn’t the first time she’d spoken about her time with those fucktards, but it was the first time she’d spoken with anything other than total anguish in her voice.
    “There was this band that would come on. I liked their music; it was like their songs spoke to me. Encouraged me in my darkest hours to hold onto the light. Ever hear of Ashes & Embers?” she asked me.
    I nodded carefully, “They’re that band from up in New England, aren’t they?” I asked quietly.
    “I don’t know. I just know that’s who sings the song.”
    “What song? Do you remember the title?”
    She was quiet for a long moment and when she spoke it was almost too quiet to hear, “Hope Never Dies.”
    I chuckled, “She is kind of a superhero isn’t she?” I joked and I was rewarded with a smile.
    “Or a super villain, depending on the day and her mood.”
    It was my turn to smile. The Captain sure had his hands full with Hope. She damn sure opened a can of whoop-ass on the bunch of us boys back when Tiny had run his mouth… which fuck, that seemed like ages ago with everything that’d happened between then and now, ‘cept it really was only like last month or something. Three weeks before on the outside.
    “What was that?” Faith asked and I came up for air out of my deep sea of thought.
    “A lot’s been going on the last few weeks. It all blurs together sometimes. You know?” Faith gave my hand a gentle squeeze and nodded against the pillow.
    “I know. I’m sorry…”
    “Oh, hey, no. Nothing to be sorry about. You don’t get to own none of this. We all know this was something that was done to you. Not something you picked to have happen, not something you got into without a fuck ton of help from all the wrong people. I know that, your sister knows that, the Captain and all the rest of the crew knows it too. You don’t get to go blaming yourself for none of it, Baby Girl.”
    I watched storm clouds of emotion traverse her too-sharp features. Each one blooming and twisting, her thoughts whirling behind those bright, aquamarine eyes of hers before she finally murmured, “I want to believe you.”
    “Well that’s up to you, Honey. I don’t expect you to. Hell, I never expect you to trust another soul let alone another man again, but I’m telling you, you can trust me . Okay?”
    She settled into deep thought after that. Her eyes far away and distant while she presumably searched around inside herself. For what, I don’t know. For now, I was just content to watch her think. To watch those aquamarine eyes drift shut and to listen to her light breathing deepen and even out. Her sleep was slightly more peaceful, but by no means perfect, but I can say one thing… her hand in mine, it was oddly more perfect than I