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When I don’t hear her response, I flip on the light. The scene before me has my stomach rolling and every fiber in my being on high alert. Her bed is disarray. Pillows are thrown to the floor, her duvet is pushed all the way to the left, and small bloodstains smear over her sheets.
Not seeing her there sends me into a panic mode until I step forward and see her sitting on the bathroom floor with her hands behind her back. Her dress is hiked up her legs, displaying a naked bottom half with blood and other liquid painting the inside of her thighs.
Immediately I’m caught between helping her or hunting Teddy down. I jerk my chin into the air and hit the wall next to me. Charlie jumps with the sound and moves her eyes to mine. “Please not you too, Lucas.” Her lip quivers and her body shakes.
Suddenly, all of the disgust and anger leave me and become replaced with sadness. She wouldn’t think I’d actually hurt her, would she? I sink to my knees and bite back every word I want to scream.
I crawl in front of her slowly. “I’m not going to hurt you, Charlie. I would never hurt you.” I reach out to brush the hair from her face, but she flinches again.
“Teddy said the same thing.”
I rake my hands through my hair, then drag them down my face. Right now, Charlie needs me to be soft. She needs me. I sink back to my knees and hold up my hands. “Look—” I clear my throat. “I promise I’m not going to hurt you, okay? Let’s just focus on getting you cleaned up for now, and we will go from there.” She looks at me with skepticism in her eyes and doesn’t respond.
I reach out again, slower this time, and lightly nudge her shoulder forward to see behind her back. I unbind the red tie that’s knotted firmly in place. Once the fabric is clear of her skin, red marks and indentions snake around her wrists, adding more fuel to my fire.
I move her back to her place and sit directly in front of her. I don’t want to scare her or move too fast, so I’ll let her go at her own pace.
After a few silent beats, she finally breaks the silence. “What did I do to deserve this, Lucas?”
The pain in her voice paired with her bloodshot eyes and shaky body have the beast in my body raging. But on the outside, I stay calm. “You didn’t do anything, Flower.”
She smiles with a quiver before scooting closer to me and leaning her head into my chest. “I really did love him.”
I wince with her confession even though I’ve already known this. “I know.” I pet her hair.
“I don’t think I love him anymore.” Her voice fractures.
“I know.”
I should probably say more or do more, but I’m just not sure what. At this point, all I’m seeing is red, and I’m ready to take every ounce of it out on Teddy. So instead of talking, I do what she’s used to. I comfort her the same way I’ve done numerous times before.
I gently push her away and stand from the floor. “I’ll be right back.”
If she would have asked me to stay, I would have, but she didn’t object. She let me leave her room without a fight, but imagining how the scene between her and Teddy played out, I don’t blame her. She’s out of fight for the night.
I hurry back to my room and snatch the dark blue comforter from my bed before hurrying back to Charlie’s. It’s probably best Teddy has left because there is no telling what I would do if I saw him right now.
I drop the thick comforter in the bathroom doorway before walking to the sink and grabbing the washcloth next to it. I wet it with warm water, then lean back down to Charlie. “I’m just going to clean up your legs a bit, okay?” No words come from her mouth, but she nods with approval.
Lightly I brush the cloth over the inside of her thighs, making sure I don’t go too high to make her uncomfortable. After I wipe away all of the blood and cum from the worthless bastard, I hand it to her and turn around so she can clean the rest of herself with a little privacy.
After a moment, I turn back around and see the cloth lying on the floor in front of her. The white terry cloth material is now stained a dark pink. I try not to focus on it, but my eyes keep finding their way back to it. I finally shake away their persistence before I pick up the comforter and wrap Charlie in it.
A groan leaves her lips as I hoist her into my arms. “I’m sorry.” She nestles her head to my chest without a word.
I carry her from her bathroom, down the hall, and then into my room. I set her gently on the bed, scared I’ll hurt her. I’ve always seen Charlie as somewhat fragile since she’s a woman. Every time we would train together, I did my best to take it easy, but her strength always proved to be more than I thought. But right now? Right now Charlie is fragile. The man she loved raped her. He put her through something no woman should ever have to go through and then came to me to clean up the mess.
I’ve always had respect for Teddy. He’s taken me and my brother in, helped raise us to be like him, but this isn’t who I thought he was. Something like this is never okay, so I’ll take all he’s taught me and use it against him. Loyalty or not, he fucked up and he knows it.
I grab a shirt from my dresser before walking back to her. I slip it over her dress, not wanting to make her uncomfortable by undressing what little clothes she has on. “You can stay in here tonight. I’ll take the floor.”
I lean her body onto my pillow, then pull the comforter back over her before settling on the floor right next to my bed.
“Lucas.” A quiet cry comes from her. “Please.”
Without another word, I already know what she’s asking, so I get up, crawl into the bed next to her, and do what I do best when it comes to Charlie. I fall right back into our old routine and hold her while she cries.
