Page 76 of Wicked Devotions: Part 2

“Stop.” I drag deep breaths in as I push his hand away. “Stop. I can’t. He was going to,”

Banks straightens and cups my face with both his hands. “Breathe. Breathe, Harper. It’s just me. I won’t do anything youdon’t want me to.” He strokes my face with his thumbs. “I’m here and you’re safe.”

I put my hands over his, letting his warmth seep into my palms and comfort me. After a few deep breaths and looking into his ocean blue eyes, my heart slows back to its normal pace. Instead of him helping me, I pull them off on my own. His eyes never leave mine until I turn to step into the shower.

“Do what you can, I'll help with anything you can’t get done,” he says as I close the curtain.

An angry purple bruise has bloomed over the right side of my ribs. I notice dozens of small cuts as the suds from my body wash run down my body, exposing them through the dirt and sand that seems to have covered nearly all my body somehow. I put shampoo into my palm and thoughtlessly lift my arms to wash my hair but wince when the motion pulls on my IV at the same time excruciating pain explodes in my side.

Banks rips open the curtain when I cry out. His face is drawn tight in concern. “I’m going to get in and help you, okay? I’ll leave my boxers on.”

“Okay.” I must be a pitiful sight, tears of pain on my cheeks and my body bruised and broken.

He quickly strips down to his underwear and gets in with me, closing the curtain behind us. I tip my head back under the water again while he gets some shampoo and works it between his palms. He runs his hands over my hair, gathering it and putting it on top of my head. I watch his face as he concentrates on working the shampoo through my strands and down to my scalp with his fingertips.

For the first time in what feels like days, even though it’s only been one day, I feel my muscles relax one by one. Maybe it’s a combination of the medication and IV and the princess treatment I’m getting, but my eyes begin to droop. Sleepiness settles over me as he repeats the process with the conditioner.

By the time I’m dried off and being tucked back into bed, I can barely keep my eyes open. Cy combs my wet hair and then puts it into two braids for me. When I drift off to sleep, the four of them are spread around the room with me, settling in to sleep on the floor or in a chair. I feel safe and protected as I sink into a deep sleep.

Chapter

Thirty-One

DECLAN

Ihaven’t been able to sleep, so I’ve just been staring at Harper all night. She fell asleep holding Banks’s hand and is still clutching it as he sleeps on top of the covers facing her. Emerson and Cy are spooning on the floor beside her. At one point a nurse came in and changed her IV bag out for another. I didn’t even realize there was a nurse here. Dad must have had one brought in.

My fingers run over the beads of my mom’s rosary while I sit in silence. She can’t be here to physically comfort me, but her rosary has never failed me. I glance down at the black beads and smile at the sight of the cream-colored ribbon I stole years ago from Harper’s hair tied to it.

I’m surprised Harper hasn’t noticed the ribbon. Or maybe she has but hasn’t put two and two together. I have an entire collection of ribbons I’ve stolen to add to my collection sinceshe moved in with us. She never complains about them going missing, though.

The sun’s nearly up when Dad pokes his head in the room and locks eyes with me. He gestures me out into the hall with a tip of his head. My muscles ache when I stand, but before I leave, I grab a blanket and drape it over Banks. He’s got to be cold just wearing a pair of my shorts after helping her in the shower.

Dark circles around his eyes are the only indication that Dad hasn’t slept at all either. That and the fact that he’s wearing the same clothes. A few drops of blood splatter dot the front of his shirt.

“Are you okay?” he asks me.

“I’m fine. Just can’t sleep. You?”

“Fine.” He waves off my concern. “Harper?”

“She’s in pain and hasn’t spoken much to us, but she’s been asleep for about four hours.”

“That’s good. Your mom said they spoke quite a bit after Dr. Meier left.”

“Did she tell Annabelle anything?”

“Not really, but she refused a rape kit, said that he didn’t get a chance.”

“He was going to, though. Her pants and underwear were pulled down when we found her.”

“At least you got there in time.”

Relief for her rushes through me. It’s been one of the biggest concerns I had, that we didn’t get there in time. At least that fucker is dead now. I wish I had been the one to pull the trigger.

“Did you find White?”

“Yes. We took him to Weigman’s shanty. We didn’t find out much more than we already assumed. Five years ago Flynn struck up a deal with White for Harper. Then as Scott was being taken down, he reached out to White and had him transfer huge sums to an overseas account. White told him he wantedAnnabelle for never talking to the feds about this. Even though he was the original whistleblower in the case that ultimately brought Flynn down.”

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