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The bruise on her forehead was more prominent under the bathroom lights. I held the sides of the porcelain pedestal sink so tightly I thought it might shatter.
“What you did . . .”
I hadn’t wanted her to see that violence. I’d planned on paying the jackass a visit so she would be able to trust my word she wouldn’t have to worry about him again.
“No one has ever supported me the way you do.”
I looked away.
Her words were too painful, and I was barely hanging on as it was.
“I’ll never forgive myself for letting him get his hands on you again.” And I’d regret that until the day I died. Probably even past that.
She turned my face, forcing me to meet her gaze. “Stop that.”
“How can you stand the sight of me?”
She pressed up on her toes and kissed my cheek. It burned my skin. She hadn’t kissed me in any capacity in over a decade. I’d dreamed about that moment every night since I’d pushed her away. But now it hurt. Because I hadn’t earned it. I wasn’t what was best.
“You are so bullheaded.”
How could she even have that ghost of a smile on her face at a time like this?
He could’ve fractured her skull. He could’ve—I swallowed down the bile. What if he’d killed her?
“Don’t take up for me. Not now.”
I needed her out of my space. Her sweet scent was choking me, a reminder of what I’d never have.
And what I needed so damn much.
I’d pushed her away once and it had taken everything I had. I didn’t have it in me to do it again.
“I’ll do whatever I want.” She lifted her chin.
And it was another stab to the chest. I loved her strong will. I loved her fight. I loved that she never let me run over her.
I loved her.
Time, distance, space, or the world exploding couldn’t change that.
“That’s what scares the hell out of me.”
Don’t touch her. Don’t touch her. Don’t touch her.
But I couldn’t keep my hand from grazing her forehead.
“Take pictures.” Her throat bobbed as she swallowed.
It couldn’t have been easy for her to ask that. But we needed evidence of the crime. I hoped she’d seriously consider putting him behind bars this time. Although I wasn’t sure that was how the law worked for people of their stature. Could he just pay his way out?
I pulled my phone out of my pocket and snapped images of her injuries from several angles.
“My phone too. For back up.”
Reluctantly, I backed away from her and grabbed her phone from the nightstand. The screen lit when I picked it up, revealing a text from Winston.
Replenish the ice.
