Page 18 of Vengeful Union

“Are neanderthals?” I roar. “Get the fuck out of here. I’ll take it from here.”

“I’ll just... wait outside.”

I don’t care if he takes a flying leap off the roof.

When he pads down the stairs, I turn back to Lara, who is pale as a ghost and looking like she’s about to pass out.

I scan the room, finding a dirty sandwich on the floor.

“You’re hungry.”

Lara nods, still shaking.

“He said... he said I had to beg?—”

Tears start to roll down her face, and she wipes at them angrily. Some of them are mixed with the blood trickling down her face.

“Let me take you to clean up in the bathroom. Then I’ll get you something to eat.”

She just stares at me warily.

I hold up my hands. “Look, as much as I want to, I can’t let you leave this house, but I can feed you and tend to your wounds. I’m not a monster.”

“I can’t really believe that right now.”

She’s looking at me earnestly, with swimming eyes, and it’s a tiny arrow in my heart. She probably doesn’t deserve this.

Hell, no one deserves this.

“Please. You need food, and I’ve got to stop the bleeding.” I gesture down to her thigh, and she looks down at it before holding a hand to her head, swaying on her feet.

I slowly take her hand, and this time, she doesn’t pull away.

I lead her to the bathroom.

I look at her for a long moment.

“Are you going to run for it if I let go of you?”

She keeps silent, but in the condition she’s in, I don’t think she’ll get very far. Plus, Oscar is still outside, no doubt under orders by my father to stand guard no matter what.

I rummage around in the bathroom.

There’s a first aid kit in the medicine cabinet, so I grab it and sit it on the counter.

Lara sits down on the edge of the tub, and I look at her warily before quickly leaving the room.

I need to get her cleaned up and fed before I can interrogate her.

I feel like the world’s biggest asshole for having to do it in the first place.

But I need to remind myself why I’m doing this.

Bree.

Chapter Seven

7

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