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“Drink the water I brought you and then go to sleep.”
Her eyes fly open, and she turns her head to look at me. Her dark brows pull together in confusion. She thinks I’m lying. She probably thinks I’m going to hurt her, take from her, and even though I could, I won’t. Not like this anyway. I want her to want me, to need me, and depend on me. That won’t happen if I hurt her tonight.
“Drink.” I motion to the water bottle on the nightstand.
She scoots over and reaches for the bottle. Good girl. I watch her unscrew the cap and take a few large sips before setting the bottle back where it was before.
“Now lie down and go to sleep.”
She gives me a questioning look but does as she’s told. It isn’t out of trust but mere instruction because I haven’t harmed her, she’s decided not to put up any more of a fight.
Resting her head on the pillow, I grab the blanket and pull it up and over us as I settle down next to her. I leave a few inches between our bodies on purpose, allowing her a tiny bit of space. That’s all the space she is going to get though. She will sleep in my bed every night, even if I’ll make sure of it.
Watching her out of the corner of my eye, I can tell she is trying to keep her eyes open, but they keep fluttering closed. Her strength is refreshing, but even as she struggles, exhaustion soon gets the better of her.
Of course, the sleeping meds I put in her water might have helped as well. I grabbed the water and pills as a precaution because I wasn’t sure if she would be asleep when I got into the room. I want to be able to inspect her from head to toe, and tent to any wounds without her fighting me.
Staring at her, I watch as her breaths even out, and the worry eases from her features.
A few minutes later, she is completely out. Reaching across the space, I touch her face, tracing my fingers along her high cheekbones and my thumb over her plump lips.
Yeah, she won’t wake up until tomorrow.
Pushing the blanket off, I get up and go back into the bathroom to get the first aid kit. When I get back, I push the blanket all the way off her body so I can take a good look at her knees. She has some good-sized gashes, some of which still have gravel stuck to them.
I take my time cleaning her wounds, then put ointment on both sides before I inspect the rest of her body. She’s wearing one of my plain white shirts, which has a smile tugging at my lips for some reason. I like the way she looks in my clothes and surrounded by my things.
I do my best not to think back on my little obsession with her. I’ve kept an eye on her since the funeral, which was not easy since her father kept her locked away.
Lucky for me, her dear old dad has a gambling problem, which only escalated after his wife’s death. He thought as the head of his family, he couldn’t run out of cash, he was wrong. The more money her father took from me, the deeper his debt became, and the closer she got to being mine.
Looking down at my prize, I take her in and smile. She must not have seen the women’s clothes I bought for her on the other side of the closet. I highly doubt she would have chosen my shirt on purpose if she knew there were others available.
Pushing up the sleeve on the shirt, I look over her slender arm, and find some bruises forming on her upper arms from Roger grabbing her so harshly. Gritting my teeth, I feel the need to kill him all over again. No one touches what’s mine, and no one bruises her flesh. Killing Roger was a warning to my men tonight.
Touch or hurt her in any way, and your life is over.
Pulling the blanket back up, I cover her body once more and put the first aid kit back in the bathroom. Standing at the edge of the bed, I stare down at her.
Romero thought he could kill my mother and that I wouldn’t seek revenge. He probably didn’t see me as a threat then as I was not interested in taking over the family business at the time. I was young and foolish, letting my uncle run the family after my father died of a heart attack. Romero was a foolish man to underestimate me, and tonight he learned a valuable lesson. He watched me take the one thing that matters to him. His only child. His incredibly naive and sheltered daughter.
