Page 43 of The Mafia's Captive

Her mood deflates. “Right. Of course.” She closes the distance between us and takes my hand in hers, examining it. “Let’s clean you up,” she says. I let her drag me to the kitchen. There, she washes my hand under the cold tap water. None of the blood is mine, so it doesn’t take long to remove it. With clean hands, I gently take hold of her chin and examine her.

“You’re the one who needs to be cleaned up. Your face is turning into a potato.”

She laughs. It’s sweet and cute and I want to hear that sound often.

“He shouldn’t have done that.” She looks up at me with her big doe eyes. I want to kiss her, but not yet. I let go of her, go to the refrigerator, and take out an ice pack. She’s still standing next to the sink when I come back and press the pack to her cheek. She’s still looking at me with that softness. It’s unnerving. When she speaks, I’m happy to respond, so I don’t have to think about why she’s looking at me like that.

“How was your trip?”

“Good. I got what I wanted.”

“That sounds nice.”

“How was your stay, besides being punched in the face?”

“Okay. I went to the doctor like you asked.” She says it as if I was asking for a report, but I was actually asking if she spent her time well. I know she went to the doctor to get birth control. He’s under my payroll and he himself sent him the report. He was even ready to divulge her medical information until I had to stop him. I want to ask her more about herself and what she was up to when I was away.

“I’m not asking about that.”

“What do you want to know?” Again, like I want a report.

“Never mind.” We enter a comfortable silence for a few minutes as I roll the pack against her cheek gently. After some time, she says. “What’s going to happen to him?”

“The man who punched you in the face? What he deserves.”

Her eyes widen. “You will not kill him, will you?”

“Whatever you may think of me, a monster is not one of them.”

Her demeanor changes from shock to skepticism. At least this I can handle. “Says the guy who’s always dangling murder over my head.” What can I say to that? If only she knew that I have never had, nor will I ever want to kill her, but it’s too late to disabuse her of that notion. I roll the pack on her face again and remove it. The swelling has decreased, but it’s still there. She’s going to have a black eye. Now people are going to think I’m the cause.

“I don’t think you can go to work tomorrow. You’re going to have to skip.”

“I’m off today and tomorrow.”

I don’t know why, but it’s great news to me. It’s probably because I spent the entire week missing and obsessing over her and I would love having her all to myself. “Good. You need the rest.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever been punched before. It feels… not good.”

“And no one should. Especially my men. I shouldn’t have gone with Colin. I should have left him instead.”

“It’s okay.”

“No, it’s not!” I don’t intend for it to come out so forcefully, and I don’t know what to do with myself now. “Do you still want to go for a walk?”

“What?”

“When I came, you said he hit you because you wanted to go for a walk. Do you still want to?”

“Oh.” She chuckles. “Nah. The walk has been punched out of me.”

This time, I’m the one who laughs. She says something about wanting to take a shower instead. “I want one myself.” I take her hand. “Let’s do that.”

“T-together? Don’t you have other stuff to do?”

“Not really.”

I lead her to my bedroom and to the shower. “Take off your clothes,” I say to her as I remove my jacket and unbutton my shirt. She looks a little dumbstruck. Is she being shy right now? “You know, we have seen each other naked before. This is nothing.”

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