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“He did this?” He asks.
His voice was low. Anger vibrated with the question.
He lifts his hands because he knows it will comfort me. Did he do this? I need you to tell me. He asks again.
I sit back on my heels. Yes. It was him. I sign back.
As soon as my hands stop, I let everything out. A sob rips from my chest, and he falls to his knees, catching me before I collapse forward.
His arms circle me, embracing me into the only arms that ever made me feel truly safe.
My tears soak his shirt. I was too distraught at first to realize he had stood and began to carry me up the stairs to the bathroom. He gently sits me down on something solid, but I wouldn’t let go. I was terrified he would leave.
“I’m not going anywhere.” He places a kiss on my temple. “I’m just going to clean you up, ok.”
I let my arms drop, hanging at my sides as he grabs the hand towel from the loop holder, then runs it under the water.
I take a breath before having the strength to glance at myself in the mirror. My hair is ratted, and blood is smudged on the side of my mouth and down my chin. I look just as horrific as I feel.
Embarrassment hits again. The fact I was sitting here, bleeding because I made a stupid choice.
“Don’t do that.” His voice fills the bathroom. “You have nothing to be embarrassed about. This is on him.” He twists the rag. “Not you.”
I wasn’t sure if I was flattered that he knew me so well or irritated.
He gently raises the rag to my face, cleaning off the blood. I wince when it hits the open cut on my lip.
“Sorry,” he mumbles.
“Thank you,” I whisper.
He tosses the rag down, then reaches for my feet. His rough hands slip off my socks first, then he helps me slide off the countertop. I stand there as he carefully takes off each piece of clothing that was peppered with sauce or blood. I couldn’t tell which at this point. I stand in a pair of boy-cut underwear and my nude bra. I had envisioned Greyson stripping my clothes off of me plenty of times, but it was never like this. Nothing about this was sexual. He was attentive. Gentle. And he makes sure the shower has steam bellowing out from the door before he faces me. His eyes stay on mine, not my uncovered body.
“Hop in.” He steps around me. “Take as long as you need, I’ll clean up downstairs.”
“You don’t have to.” I rush out. “I can get it when I get out.”
He pauses, then slides his hand up on my cheek, his thumb caressing my cheekbone. “Will you just let me take care of you, Rosie? Please.”
With that he left me alone in the bathroom, and all I wanted was to feel his touch again.
Chapter 31
Greyson
I got out of the bathroom as calmly as I could. The last thing she needed was me losing my shit and raging in front of her. She was shaken up and although I wanted to hunt his ass down and show him the consequences of touching what’s mine, I refrained. She needed me more than I needed revenge, so I got her taken care of and escaped down the stairs to allow myself a moment to calm down.
My blood was pumping, my anger at an all time high, and I was fighting against some blotchy spots in my vision that began when I was descending the stairs.
I rub me eyes before I take in the mess. I don’t know exactly what happened, but judging by the scattered dishes, I have a pretty good idea. I take a few steps when I notice the gun on the floor. Pride fills my veins to know she protected herself. She knew how to use it. We’d went to the gun range countless times with Adam and Cap over the years.
I pick it up, checking the clip before I stuff it back in the drawer where she keeps it.
Twenty minutes later I had the floor clean. No remnants left of whatever happened at that dinner table. I wanted to know. I needed to know, but it had to be when she was ready. I wouldn’t force her to talk about it.
Soft footsteps come from the staircase. Tilly appears at the bottom in some pajama pants and a hoodie. My hoodie. The same lime green fuzzy socks wrapped around her feet. She hated being bare foot. Had since she was little and the only material she could stand on her feet was the soft fuzz. She never wore anything else.
“Hey.” I rinse my hands, using the towel to dry them off.
