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But why did he start doing this in the first place? He’d always been very, very careful to keep the dangerous stuff far, far away from her.
Why now?
Maybe when I was done begging Shayne to forgive me, I’d ask him.
I wasn’t expecting her to be laughing when I arrived at the hospital.
But Ameer was very, very personable, and he was hilarious.
If I had to choose anyone to be here right now with her, it would be him. He was a fatherly figure, looked as if he could be knocked down with a feather, and was the most unassuming badass I’d ever met.
Every single suspect we ever encountered underestimated the man.
They didn’t underestimate him for long if they were trying to hurt him in some way, though.
He was very swift in retaliation if needed.
I slowly stepped into the room, unsurprised when the movement caught both of the occupants’ attention.
Ameer stood up, sensing that I needed privacy, and left.
Shayne turned her attention to me and stared, allowing me to take my fill.
She looked like she’d been run over by a truck.
Both of her eyes were blackened. She had multiple contusions on her face, and the fucking bruising was already taking over almost every available inch.
Her hands were marked up with welts, too, looking as if she’d used them to shield herself from an attack.
And, quite frankly, she had.
I was going to murder Elliette with my bare hands.
I didn’t give a good goddamn that she was a woman.
All I cared about was showing her what she’d tried to take from me, then forcing her to watch as I did the same thing to her.
“Shayne,” I said softly, reverently.
“I’m okay,” she lied.
I didn’t like that she was trying to downplay this.
“I’m so sorry,” I whispered, sounding just as broken as I felt.
She looked down at her lap. “I had a feeling this was coming.”
“But not like this,” I said as I forced myself to catalog every single bruise. “Do you want the lights off?”
Her shoulders slumped. “I was waiting for the doctor to come back with the results from a test…”
I walked toward her slowly.
“But for now,” I said as I walked toward the light over her bed, “we don’t have to have them on quite as bright, right?”
I didn’t wait for her agreement. I turned the lights off over her bed, and visibly saw her shoulders wilt.
“I’m not lying when I say it doesn’t hurt,” she promised.
