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I turned my gaze away from Leander during his scrutiny. The fury in his eyes brought back an enormous amount of guilt, so much that my stomach churned painfully. It was the same look he had after Marchese’s men nearly beat me to death. I didn’t need a reminder of either of those events — the beating, or its aftermath.
His fingers trailed down my arm, past the gauze on my bicep, to my forearm. Prying the handcuff apart had left a series of deep gashes, which he was now studying. When I looked up, his eyes narrowed in silent question.
“I did that,” I said, looking away again. “To get the handcuff off.”
He didn’t say anything, but his hand drifted down to my lower abdomen and down even further to the top of my thigh, where I impaled myself on the barbed wire. Good thing I was up to date on my tetanus shots.
I didn’t bother looking up before supplying the answer. “That was me too. A fence.”
He slipped behind me, his hand splaying across the taser mark on my shoulder.
“That was them,” I said, glancing behind me. “That’s how they got me.”
“I know,” he murmured. He pressed his lips to my shoulder blade and turned me slowly. “Let’s get you clean.”
“The cameras?”
He nodded, drifting back to the bathtub and testing the water with his hand.
“I can manage. You should go get some rest.” He looked as awful as I felt. Even though it had only been two days, it looked like he’d lost five pounds that he didn’t exactly have to lose.
“I’m not going anywhere and I’m not going to argue with you.” Both brows lifted, waiting to see what my next move was.
“Then come in with me.” I sidled closer to him, kissing his tense jawline.
“Bennett.” Shit. I couldn’t remember the last time he actually used my name in an angry way.
Acknowledging defeat, I eased into the water carefully, propping my left arm up on the towel he draped over the edge.
Kneeling next to the tub, and sadly still dressed, Leander wet a sea sponge and dabbed behind my ear. I winced and jerked away, but he held me in place with one hand threaded through my hair.
“You have blood in your hair,” he murmured. Confirming his observation, swirls of dark brown stained the water when he squeezed the sponge to clean it.
I stopped his hand and angled myself so I could see him. “Promise me we’ll handle this together.”
He shifted further behind me so I couldn’t see him as he continued sponging the dried blood off of me. A not-so-subtle way of ignoring me.
“Leander…” Two could play the name game.
“You’ve done enough.”
I scoffed. Enough as in let myself get kidnapped and shot? Yeah. My contributions to the group project were stellar.
“The police said you killed two of your captors,” Leander continued. “Not to mention, you freed yourself. I’d say your participation in this endeavor is over.”
“I mean it,” I said, ignoring the body count. I didn’t know if he somehow felt a need to catch up to me, kill-wise, or was trying to make me feel better by pointing out I wasn’t a fucking damsel in distress. “I don’t want you doing anything without telling me.”
“Is it because you want your own revenge or because you don’t trust me to take care of you?” His voice may have been quiet, but I detected a sharpness all the same.
I turned to face him, my brows drawn together sharply. “Neither. Why would you even say that?”
He gritted his teeth and looked away.
Touching the side of his face, I guided him back toward me gently.
He put off answering as long as he could before it came out in a rush. “I wasn’t there for you before, Bennett, and I nearly lost you. Now this has happened and I nearly lost you again. If I do, I may as well end it all. There is no life for me without you. I tried to live without you once and it broke me. You are the reason my wretched soul continues to exist. So, no, mon coeur. Don’t sit there and expect me to make promises you know I won’t keep. I willnotput you in harm’s way again. I will not—”
I pressed my lips to his, silencing his outburst.
