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My stomach lurched, nausea rolling through me. This was all wrong. She was supposed to look at me like I was her salvation. Like I was her everything.
But she just looked…broken.
“I need to make sure you’re not injured,” I said, keeping my cadence slow so that I wouldn’t spook her.
I covered her tight fists with my hands and encouraged her fingers to unfurl. She didn’t resist as I carefully peeled the ruined dress off her to check her over. A shadow of my murderous rage tightened my jaw when I took in the bruises forming on her arms, but I forced myself to remain calm. Any show of anger or aggression might terrify her. As it was, her disassociation was terrible enough.
When I was satisfied that her body was otherwise unharmed, I picked her up and turned off the shower. I wrapped her in a plush white towel and carried her to the bed, my sodden pants leaving a wet trail on the floor. I wouldn’t strip them off just yet. She didn’t need to see a naked man after what she’d just endured.
I laid her down on the bed and tucked her under the duvet. Her eyes were closed again, but I knew she wasn’t sleeping. She was drifting somewhere blank and quiet, her mind refusing to process the night’s awful events.
Satisfied that she wasn’t watching me, I quickly took off my pants, dried off, and put on a pair of black sweatpants. I got into bed with her. She didn’t struggle or tense when I pulled her into my arms. She was limp like a lifeless doll.
I wanted to roar out my frustration and fury, to release some of the volatile emotions that were tearing me up inside.
Instead, I caressed her gently, soothing her with light strokes of my fingers over her soft skin. After a while, her breathing evened out, exhaustion pulling her down into sleep.
I lay awake until the sun came up, tormented by my fear that she would never look at me as her savior ever again.
Chapter 11
Massimo
Not long after dawn, Evelyn stirred in my arms. She twitched and let out a soft whine.
I shook her gently, waking her before she could relive the nightmare in her sleep.
“You’re safe, farfallina,” I promised, brushing a kiss over her temple.
She shivered and curled into a tight ball, protecting herself.
From me?
“I will never hurt you,” I swore, my voice ragged and desperate. “Look at me.”
She peeked up at me, her eyes cautious.
“I’ve got you.” I pulled her closer, wrapping my arms around her as though that would be enough to bind her to me.
“I know,” she whispered, but she wasn’t reassured. The words were soft with horror.
So, she did see me as her captor, not her savior.
“Why?” I beseeched. “Why did you try to leave me? I thought you wanted to be mine.”
Had it all been a lie? A careful deception so that I would leave her unguarded and give her the opportunity to slip away from me?
The prospect made my chest ache.
Her delicate features tightened with pain. “You made me think you cared. And then you set me aside. Why would I stay when I’m nothing more to you than a possession, a plaything?”
Confusion pinched my brow. “What are you talking about? Of course I care.” I cared so deeply that it terrified me. I’d almost lost her last night. Maybe I had already lost her in all the ways that truly mattered. Her expression was shuttered, her eyes tight with betrayal.
“You bought that girl,” she said, her lips twisting with disgust. “And then you asked your drug lord friend to take me away. I wasn’t going to wait around for you to come back and manipulate me into your bed. I won’t be fooled again.”
My insides twisted. She had it all wrong, but the damage might be irreparable.
“I did it to save her,” I insisted. “She’s safe with Adrián now. I set her free and made sure no one could touch her.”
