Besides, Hull was in there now, coaxing her to eat. As long as she wasn''t going hungry, Hull would let her sleep aste as she wanted.
In Barnaby''s eyes, Hull absolutely doted on Susanna. Back in the day, when they were running with him, if any of the guys dared to sleep in, Hull would be the first to yank them out of bed and toss them out the door. But now? With Susanna, he''d startedzing about right beside her. Honestly, it was only a matter of time before everyone started calling Susanna the boss''s girl.
When Derek heard Susanna wasn''t going to be up until two in the afternoon, his face wentpletely sour. He''d already been here twice sincest night, and still hadn''t so much as glimpsed her. Some daughter, he thought bitterly. Derek actually started to wonder if the kid Lacey had given birth to was really his at all.
"Would you care to keep waiting, Mr. Murray?" one of the staff asked him.
Derek''s face darkened. Wait for what? He hadn''t had a drop of water all morning beforeing here, and now lunchtime had alreadye around.
"I''ll be back this afternoon!" he snapped, gritted his teeth, and marched straight out the door. He seemed so furious that he hadpletely forgotten he was the one who needed something from Susanna. If anything, Barnaby got the strong sense that once Derekid eyes on Susanna, he''d try to boss her around the way he always did.
Ss came in just in time to catch Barnaby pulling faces behind Derek''s back.
"What''s your problem?" Ss asked.
Barnaby grumbled, “Old bastard—never did a thing for his daughter, but he sure wants to enjoy the benefits of having one. Shameless."
Ss just sighed. Here we go again, he thought. That mouth of Barnaby''s would get him in real trouble one day. Good thing Hull wasn''t here otherwise, he''d probably rip him apart by now. To be fair, that mouth had gotten Barnaby into plenty of troubletely, but nothing seemed to teach him a lesson. A leopard can''t change its spots.
Barnaby noticed Ss''s withering look and bristled. "What are you staring at me for? Do I look like a dog to you?" he demanded.
Ss said nothing, but Barnaby could tell he''d hit the mark. For a guy with a runaway mouth, he wasn''t half bad at reading a room.
Inside the bedroom, Susanna was so tired she could barely move a finger-her whole body felt boneless and limp. Hull scooped her carefully into his arms, letting her rest against his chest then lifted a spoonful of warm soup to her lips.
"Open up," he said, his normally cold,manding voice softened by an unmistakable tenderness.
Susanna cuddled sleepily into his arms, her voice soft and petnt. "Don''t wanna eat," she murmured.
She was utterly exhausted-her body ached everywhere, and she was sure she''d managed to hurt herself again.
"Come on, be good. Eat something and then you can go back to sleep," Hull coaxed.
"I really, really don''t want it," she protested.
"It''s just soup," he assured her, patient for once as he gently urged her on.
Atst, Susanna relented and let him feed her. The soup was rich and creamy, full of tender chicken and mushrooms. The truth was, she was starving. She''d woken up hungry, but there''d been no way to get herself up and then gull had insisted on ''hélping her'' again, leaving her even weaker.
Now that she saw it was only soup, Susanna obediently opened her mouth. She finished the bowl quickly, then drank the milk Hull gave her. Only then did he finally let her curl back up to sleep.
Susanna rolled over and muttered sleepily, "Mmm, it hurts a little there. Can you put some cream on it for me?"
Hull paused for a second, then a small smile tugged at his lips. “Of course."
Not bad at all, Last time, when he''d identally hurt her, she''d refused to even let him check the
wound how she was telling himet
exactly what she wanted. She е probably had no idea; she simply didnt want an infection, since she''d be the one suffering for in the end. Still, she was much too tired to get up and handle it herself, so he was her only choice.