Page 183 of Losing Faith

I let out a pained laugh. “Do you want to meditate naked with me?”

He quiets and another smile tugs at my lips.

“Is that blood?”

I look up and notice the red stains on the side of the tub from when I grabbed my towel. I bite my lip, silently hoping he’ll just ignore it and let me deal with this on my own.

“Please tell me you just got your period, Lisette.” The curtain is pulled back before I can reply and I keep my eyes on my leg, not having it in me to face him. “Jesus Christ.” He immediately pulls me into his arms.

I suck in a breath of pain as he lifts me out of the shower.

“What the hell are you—” he cuts himself off, shaking his head.

He rests me on the bed gently and I use some of the towel to cover myself but there’s no point since his focus is on the blood coming from my thigh. “Let me see.” He reaches for it, but I push his hand away.

“It’s not that bad. I just cut myself shaving and—”

“Don’t fucking lie to me right now, Lisette.” He looks between my eyes with restrained anger before his gaze softens. “Just let me help you.”

My eyes dart down to the ground before I pull my hand back. He lifts the towel before quickly covering it again, pressing the cut hard. I suck in a sharp breath before grabbing the shirt I laid out, quickly throwing it over myself.

“You need stitches.”

“No, I don’t.”

“Don’t—” he cuts himself off as I shove his hand away to pull the towel back and the bleeding slows, but the cut is deep. When it starts bleeding heavier, he moves my hand and applies more pressure.

I bite down my tongue as I grip the bed sheets. “Do you have a blood kink? Because we can totally take advantage of this.” I smile up at him, but he doesn’t even look at me.

My smile slowly disintegrates and just as I’m about to look away, his gaze meets mine.

“I was right out here. Why didn’t you call me?”

I shake my head at his words. “Why do you and Sire keep saying that? Every time I drink or get high or cut myself, it’s always ‘Why didn’t you call?’ You can’t help.”

He shakes his head at me, his eyes searching my face. “We can’t if you don’t let us.” He brushes a hair behind my ear before holding my face gently. “Nothing we say to you is going to work untilyoubelieve you can be helped.”

“I’m too far gone.” I shake my head out of his grasp but he holds me tighter.

“You don’t believe that.”

“It’s true.”

“So we don’t need to go see Isabelle.”

My brows furrow as I look between his eyes.

“If you believe you can’t be helped, if youtrulydon’t plan on fighting, then don’t give her false hope. Don’t let her fall in love with you if you’re going to leave her. She doesn’t need to gain a great sense of humor from you leaving.”

I blink my tears away as I try to move my face, but he remains holding me.

“Tell me right now what’s it going to be. Are you going to fight for your future or are you going to give up, because I’ll call your brother and he can fight this battle for you. You don’t need to do this alone, but decide now what’s it going to be because I love you, but I refuse to let you hurt my kid.”

I bite my tongue to hold back a cry. Squeezing my eyes shut, I shake my head silently.

“What does that mean?” he whispers.

“I don’t want to fight,” I choke out and a beat passes before he lets go of my face, but I quickly grab his hand, looking back up at him. “But I do.” I hold his gaze, desperate for him not to leave me.

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