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“Beast, I’m talking to you!” she says, drawing my attention back to her.
“Yeah, what?” I ask, leaning against her door frame, my arms folded across my chest as I take in my fill of her and push thoughts of Carter out of my head. I don’t know what’s up with him lately but his attitude towards Kate fucking stinks, so maybe I don’t feel so bad sticking around to watch over her when that arsehole can’t even bring himself to ask her if she’s alright.
“You should go home,” she says, frowning as I step into her bedroom.
Her long dark hair is dishevelled and the bruise around her eye is deepening to a nasty purple. Her lips are swollen from the her split lip, but it’s the pain in her eyes that fucks me up more than I care to admit. She’s good at covering up the things that hurt her. I’d seen the look on her face when her dad hadn’t once asked her if she was okay during their conversation or applauded her for dealing with four grown arse men pretty much on her own. If that had pissed me off, then Christ knows how it made her feel.
“Nah, I’m good.” Without thinking, I take a step closer to her and gently press my fingers against her cheek. “It hurt?”
“I’m fine,” she replies, swallowing hard, her gaze flicking from my eyes to my lips and back again. She steps backward, my hand falling away.
“Didn’t Joey give you any painkillers?” I ask, tucking my hands into my pockets to prevent me from touching her again, because fuck if she wasn’t right about me saying one thing and my body doing another. I’ve got to reel my fucking urges in around her, or rather my hands.
“He did, they just haven’t kicked in yet…”
“What’s up then?”
“I want to take a shower.”
“Okay?” I frown. “So what’s stopping you?”
Kate’s cheeks flush a deep red. “I can’t take off my clothes, it hurts like a bitch every time I move,” she whispers and her vulnerability kills me. She’s not someone who easily shows her emotions; in fact, she does everything in her power to never show weakness. It’s been drilled into her to never let anyone see what hurts you the most. Just like the rest of us. We’re a bunch of tough motherfuckers.
“Where’s Nadia? Can’t she help?” Nadia is their housemaid, a little Italian woman with more fire and spunk than all the entire fighters of Tales. Plus she cooks a mean carbonara. I like her.
“It’s her night off.”
“So call her and tell her to get back here.”
Kate shakes her head. “Her son is visiting, she’s got her family around tonight for dinner. Besides, I’ve already ruined your day off, I don’t want to ruin hers too.”
I let out a breath and scrape my hand over my face. “You didn’t ruin my day off. I’m glad you called me.”
Kate pulls a face. “Is that because my dad has given you a bonus for stepping in today?”
“No, it’s got nothing to do with that,” I reply tightly, even though it’s true and Carter’s done exactly that. Doesn’t sit right with me that he’s rewarded me for my involvement, but ignored the fact his own daughter handled the situation like the badass she is.
“Yeah,” she scoffs, shaking her head.
“I’ve always said that if you need me, then you call me. You did that at least, even if you didn’t stay fucking put like I told you to.”
“Like I’ve said before, I don’t much like being told what to do,” she retorts, dragging the sleeve of her hoody over her hand and letting out a hiss of pain as she pulls her right arm out of the sleeve.
“Well, it’s about fucking time you started!” I snipe, and without really thinking it through, I grab the hem of her jumper and step closer.
“What are you doing?” she asks, her voice hitching.
What the fuck am I doing?
“Helping you undress, that’s why you brought the subject up, right?”
“This isexactlywhat I was talking about,” she mutters, her lips smooshing to the side as she chews on the inside of her cheek. “You can’t stay away.”
“Don’t get carried away. There’s nothing in it,” I say, not certain who I’m trying to convince more.
“But—”
“Just keep still. Let me help.”
