The Devastatingly Beautiful Series by M Dauphin Page B

hurt pretty badly. I need to get inside and get them clean, maybe take some aspirin. Jesus this is all so fucked up.
    The door is unlocked so I walk in and freeze.
    He stayed. For me.
     

15
    Tatum
    She just stands there, not moving and staring at me, eyes wide, like she’s asking me to make it all better, but I don’t know how. I see so much blood and I hope to GOD it isn’t hers, but the way she stands makes me think that it is. I slowly walk towards her, not knowing if I will scare her or not. Just as I get within arm’s reach, she collapses. I react just fast enough to catch her on her way down. We sink to the floor, sobs wracking her body. I hold her tight, listening to her cry.
    After what seems to be an eternity, she speaks to me.
    “It was Brian. All along it was him.”
    I don’t talk. I need answers, but right now she needs to get cleaned up and possibly see a doctor. “Shh, don’t worry about that. You are alive. That’s all that matters.” And it is. She’s alive and I can breathe again.
    Picking her up into my arms, she winces when I press her arm to my body. I make a mental note to check each and every place on her body for marks from those assholes.
    We get to the bathroom and I make a move to leave her so she can have some privacy to get undressed, but her voice stops me.
    “Please don’t go,” she whispers as she looks down.
    Instead, I nod and stand there, watching her struggle to get out of her clothes. I end up helping her out of her shirt and pants, noting the bruises and scrapes along the way. The worst part is her left arm, where she was stabbed. The right arm looks like it has stopped bleeding, but the left hasn’t closed up and is still dripping blood. I know she needs to see a doctor, but right now I need her here with me more than anything. It may be selfish, but I thought I lost her. We need a little time before reality hits again.
    Once the water is warm, we move into the shower. Not able to use her arms for much due to the cuts and bruises, I grab the soap and start cleaning her back first. What would normally be something sensual and erotic as hell has me plotting the dismemberment of each of those fuckers that did this to her. Knife scrapes, stab wounds, a black eye, bruises all over her arms. The only thing that keeps me from going over the edge is the fact that there are no bruises from her waist down. She has some nasty bruising starting on her abdomen, though. My god, she has been through hell today and yet she is still standing in front of me, holding herself up.
    When I turn her, she instinctively moves her arms around her abdomen, trying to hide the obvious scar from so many years ago. I pause, looking her in the eyes.
    “You have nothing to hide, Molly,” I whisper. “You are the most beautiful person I know. Inside and out. Everyone has flaws, but that is what makes you perfect. Your body tells me a story of how strong you are and how much you have lived through. It makes you you. I wouldn’t want you any other way.”
    Her eyes start to glisten again and I do the only thing I know to do. I kiss her. I kiss her like her life depends on it. She stands there, not moving her arms, not moving closer. A little piece of my heart breaks for her. I need my Molly back, and dammit I’ll do anything it takes to get her.
    After her shower, Molly lays down on the bed. We bandaged up her arm as she is refusing to go to the hospital. After a battle of the wills, I won and she agreed to lay down if I did with her. I lay with her until she falls asleep. It hurts me that she is so closed off, I just want to make everything better for her.
    I hear my phone buzzing on the bathroom sink so I rush over as quiet as I can to answer it. Before I can get a word out, I hear his voice.
    “Consider this a warning, Nate. Keep the fuck out of our business and we won’t have any other problems.”
    The call ends. That motherfucker. Yea right I’m going to stay away. He just put a target on his