Page 51 of Aldo

“I can’t.”

“Why?”

I clutched his arm. “I smell him. I want it off. Please.”

He went tense and nodded curtly. He led me to the bathroom, turning on the multiheaded shower and stripping out of his clothes. I frowned at him, and he simply huffed. “You are not getting in there alone. You look as if you’re going to fall over any second.”

I had to admit I felt that way. My head ached and I was weak. I hated feeling so feeble. I allowed him to help me undress, and I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. My neck was black and blue, with bruising all around the base. My eyes were red. I turned, gasping at the sight of my back. It was as darkly bruised as my neck, with long scratches from the concrete wall and floor. My arms showed the trauma as well. My knees were scraped and sore. So were my hands. I met Aldo’s eyes in the mirror, the fury in them hot and burning, his fists clenched. He saw my distress and laid his hands on my shoulders, his touch gentle.

“I wish I could kill him all over again,” he muttered.

I shook my head. “I need you right now, Aldo.”

“You have me.”

He ushered me into the shower, blocking the spray and adjusting it so it didn’t hit my back directly. He didn’t let me do a thing, soaping me carefully and washing my hair, taking great care not to touch the area where I had been hurt. His tenderness did something to me, eased my tension, and I found myself crying silently as he continued his ministrations. He tilted up my face, frowning when he realized I was sobbing. He froze. “Am I hurting you, baby?”

“No,” I managed to whisper. “It-it’s just all…” I had no idea how to finish that sentence.

“I understand. Cry as much as you need, but make sure you cry with me. Don’t hide it.”

Those words only made me cry more. He kept tending to me, talking quietly until he was done. He made me sit on the bench in the shower as he washed, handling his own body far rougher than he had mine. When he reached for the shampoo, I picked up the bottle. “Let me. Please.”

He kneeled in front of me, and I washed his thick locks, ignoring the dull ache in my hands, enjoying the action of massaging his head, hoping it felt good. He stood and rinsed, shutting off the water flow. He dried me off, rubbing some ointment into my back. I tried not to flinch, but I knew I did, and he looked grim as he finished. He pulled a loose T-shirt over my head and handed me some pills.

He dried off and pulled on some sweats, then led me to his room, drawing back the covers. “I had everything cleaned, so you’ll be comfortable. Do you want me to close the curtains?”

“Please.”

He did so using a remote, and the room became dark.

“Will you stay?”

“If you want me to.”

“Please.”

He lay beside me. My back was too sore to press on, so I turned on the side that hurt the least. He moved closer, wrapping an arm around me. Our chests melded together, and I felt the heat of him soak into me.

“Is this okay?”

“Yes.” I patted his chest. “I’m not afraid of you, Aldo. I like your touch.”

He pulled my head to his torso, his fingers stroking my neck in soft passes. We were quiet for a moment, then I spoke. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“I should have waited for Terry. I had a headache, and I was angry. But I shouldn’t have left.”

He sighed, his breath warm on my head. “I’m sorry for what I said that made you angry. I was being an ass. I didn’t mean it, Violet. I was reacting, not speaking the truth. You do mean something. Something big. I’m trying to sort it all out. I was coming to you when I got the call.”

He was silent for a moment. “I’ve never experienced fear the way I did when I realized he had gotten to you. That I had failed to protect you. That I might never have the chance to tell you I was sorry and that I cared so much it frightened me.”

I lifted my head, meeting his eyes. “When he was choking me, all I could think about was I would never get the chance to tell you that I loved you. That you would never know how happy you made my life and that I would never regret a moment I spent with you. I was so sad that you would never know how incredible I think you are.”

His eyes glittered in the dimness of the room. I was shocked to realize he was crying.

“I don’t deserve that.”