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“Theo—”
“Humour me, sunshine. It’s taking everything in me not to drive back to the hospital and not kill that piece of shit myself. I can’t control what happened to you, but I can control this. So if you don’t want me to do something really fucking stupid, then please just—”
“Yes.”
“Yes?” His brows pinch as if he expected more resistance.
“Yes, Teddy.” I offer him a small smile. “You can shower me.”
33
THEO
Wearing only my boxers, I help Raine out of bed, and with my arm around her waist, we shuffle toward the bathroom.
She’s stronger than she was when she woke in the middle of the night, but I know it’s going to be short-lived.
She needs this though. She needs to wash the events of the last few days off her skin. I know it won’t help with the memories or the pain but it’s a start, right?
Raine stands in the middle of my bathroom with my t-shirt hanging from her curled-in shoulders. I’ve never seen her looking so defeated and I hate it.
I want my sassy, defiant sunshine to come back.
I want her to look me in the eyes and tell me what she really thinks of me. Hell, I’d even take her kneeing me in the balls over this… this… emptiness.
“Okay?” I ask softly as I wrap my fingers around the hem of my t-shirt, needing her permission to drag it from her body.
She nods once but her eyes never meet mine, instead they stay on the tiles beneath our feet.
“Sunshine,” I whisper, releasing the shirt in favour of her jaw. “Are you with me?” I gently encourage her to look up. It takes a few more seconds but her eyes finally follow, locking on mine.
The darkness in them makes my breath catch.
“It’s going to get better, I promise,” I say, resting my brow against hers.
“If you say so,” she murmurs.
“Raine,” I sigh, wishing I could do more, do anything that would help fix this.
Her palm lands in the centre of my chest and my eyes shutter at the contact.“Don’t,” she warns. “Just… shower,” she says, her eyes dropping again.
With a nod, I go back to her dragging my shirt up her body, revealing the bruises lingering beneath.I saw her get changed when we got back yesterday, but I didn’t get a chance to really see her.
“Jesus, sunshine,” I whisper, my eyes darting from bruise to bruise, the small dressing on her stomach.
No wonder she’s in so much pain.
Raine wouldn’t tell me what happened leading up to the car chase that night, but I got the CliffsNotes version from Christian, thanks to his friends on the police force. I know she was at that hotel to pull a job with Vaughn.
I want to believe that nothing happened, but from the haunted look in her eyes, I’m not so sure.
Fuck, it kills me to think about what she’s endured over the years at the hands of that sick fuck, but I won’t ever force her to tell me anything. I meant what I said, it doesn’t matter. When—if—she ever trusts me with that information, I’ll listen but until then, I’ll focus on the only thing that does matter.
Her.
“They look worse than—”
“Don’t lie to me. I can handle it. More than handle it.” Leaning forward, I press a quick kiss on her brow before dropping to my knees in front of her and tucking my fingers into her knickers.
