Page 22 of Desperate Decisions

“I don’t understand. How could she do this?”

Elio raised a shaking hand to me and cupped my cheek. “I don’t wanna talk about her right now. Come as close as you can.”

I awkwardly balanced on the couch on my hands and knees, bracing one hand on his thigh and letting him pull me so that he could tuck his face against my throat. He breathed deeply, and I tried my best to keep any of the stress out of my scent so he would be able to relax.

Having him here helped a lot. If he was here, I could reassure myself over and over that he was still alive and I wouldn’t have to go through the absolute misery of losing a bondmate. I stayed like that until my wrists ached and my fingertips went numb.

Bianca had branded him everywhere, front and back, all over his torso. They would probably hurt for weeks and I had no idea how he was supposed to be able to sleep when no position would let him avoid them.

I fed him slowly with a few things I had on hand that would help hydrate: packets of soup, juice, Jell-O cups. Each moment that passed fueled my hatred of Bianca Gallo a little more. Elio was certainly putting on a brave face, but I could feel him struggling in the bond. Each of the burns was so crisp, leading me to believe he hadn’t moved while they’d been applied. Had someone held a gun to him while they did it?

I kneeled at his feet and offered him a hunk of watermelon in between the softest kisses, hoping I would be able to help. His skin was a map of his trauma, marks he would likely carry for the rest of his life.

What kind of monster did this to anyone, let alone someone who’d served them faithfully? I supposed that was the nature of monsters. It didn’t matter how much someone gave; they were always willing to take more.

Eventually we were both so exhausted that we were forced to try for sleep. I shoved all of my nest to the floor, ignoring my instinctual protest to that. Elio needed as few things touching him as possible. I stripped down the bed and put on fresh sheets, chewing my lip as he carefully lowered himself down and I adjusted the fan. With a fresh coating of aloe, I had done all I could do at this point.

I woke a dozen times in the night when his pain burst through the bond. Each time, I helped him get readjusted, applied more aloe when he rolled over, and lay as close as I dared. When he was asleep, he didn’t resist when I took his hand and curled into a ball underneath my singular blanket so I could be nearby.

A month ago things had been so simple, and now they were more fucked up than I could imagine. I laid a hand over my churning stomach, sleeping fitfully even without him waking me. My phone pinged and an email from the Tim Lavall Law Office popped up.

What the fuck was that?

I clicked into it.

As per the will of one Elio Angelo, Amara Pesci is now sole holder of the following accounts.

I set up sharply. “Oh, shit.”

Elio peeled open one eye. “What?”

“Why do I have your accounts now?”

“Fuck. I forgot to tell Tim I was still alive.”

I stared down at the groggy alpha in my bed. “Are you fucking kidding me? You gave me all your money in case you died?”

“It was the only way I could make sure you would be taken care of if I wasn’t here.”

Of all the things to make me burst into tears today, I hadn’t expected it to be that.

Elio sat up with a wince and cupped the back of my head. “Why are you crying? I just made you a millionaire.”

I choked out a laugh. “If you weren’t covered in burns, I would slap you.”

He laughed quietly and let out an exhausted breath. “Keep the accounts. I’ll open new ones. Could you find my phone so I can tell Tim I’m still kicking?”

“Yeah, of course.” I found his phone and his waterlogged wallet in the pocket of the pants he’d worn into the bath. Luckily manufacturers had gotten a hell of a lot better at keeping phones functional when they got wet, so it was still working when I brought it to him.

He tapped out a message and set the phone aside, lying back down with gritted teeth.

“How are you feeling?”

“Like shit,” he replied.

I stretched out next to him and he laced his fingers with mine, bringing my wrist up to his nose.

“They should figure out how to bottle this scent for the pain -relief properties.”

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