The Killer Queen ( Noella Briony ) novel Chapter 212

Palmer’s voice was a jumble of tones.

Noella wanted to pull her hand away, but remembering Palmer's wrist was still wounded and any tug might cause it to bleed again, she decided against it.

"Palmer?"

Palmer slowly opened his eyes, his gaze foggy, but at least he was awake.

"Noella? Wasn't I just dreaming? How come you're here?"

Instead of answering his question, Noella picked up the water glass from the nightstand and handed it to him.

"Take your medicine."

"Alright."

Noella watched Palmer swallow his medicine and helped him lie back down.

His eyes, typically deep and impenetrable, now sparkled with a vivid luster, following her every move without shifting away even for a moment.

Feeling her cheeks heat under his gaze, Noella suddenly recalled what Annie had said earlier.

"Boss wanted to head to Polaris Star to dig up some dirt on your past. He figured if he didn't, you would."

Was he so set on handling dangerous matters himself just because he felt they were too perilous for her?

Gazing at the frail Palmer before her, she noticed his pallor, yet his fever made his eyes moist and vulnerable, his gaze fixed on her.

"I seem to recall telling Annie not to disturb you, yet she still called you. Sorry for interrupting your sweet dreams."

"Why didn't you want me to come?"

Palmer reached out, his touch scorching due to the fever, his palm pressing hotly against Noella's cheek.

"Noella, tell me, do you worry about me?"

He wanted his girl to care, yet he didn't want her distracted on his account. But now that she was here, he yearned for an answer.

Palmer squinted slightly, a ghost of a smile playing on his lips, as elusive as the moon still hanging outside the window.

"If I told you and then found out you didn't worry about me at all, I'd be heartbroken," Palmer said, his words blending jest with delirium, his voice thick with exhaustion and longing.

Noella's eyelashes fluttered as she tucked Palmer back under the covers. "Go to sleep now. You don't have to worry about a broken heart. Yours is just fine."

The medicine kicked in, and it was hard to tell whether it was fatigue or happiness that brought a smile to Palmer’s face first.

She said he wouldn't be heartbroken – did that mean... she did worry about him, even just a little bit?

Noella frowned slightly as she watched Palmer drift off to sleep again. She couldn't shake the feeling that Palmer's fever wasn't due to his wound, but rather from catching a chill. His wound wasn't inflamed; the fever seemed more like the result of getting drenched.

Annie’s injuries seemed far more severe.

While Noella pondered, she felt her hand grasped by Palmer's, and he pressed a burning kiss into her palm.

"Goodnight."

Noella quickly withdrew her hand, yanked the covers over Palmer’s face, and left the room in a fluster!

Annie, who had just left the Pollack Mansion, glanced back towards her boss's home.

"Geez, I wonder if Ms. Noella will question how Boss caught a fever from such a minor injury? Probably not!"

After all, the wound was real enough, though the circumstances were somewhat convoluted. The outcome was the same, wasn't it?

...

The next morning, Noella yawned as she descended the stairs, only to see Sienna holding Malvina with a face full of motherly love.

Sienna was soft-hearted, her greatest trial in life being a tumultuous mother-in-law relationship, which now seemed to have reached a sweet resolution. Seeing the burn scars on Malvina, Sienna's tears flowed with empathy.