Page 24 of The Killer Who Kept Me

“No problem. The food is almost done, and I’ll have it brought up.” Benny left to go to organize the X-ray machine situation, and Paulo, Em, and I went upstairs. Cosmo didn’t follow, but I was sure he was finding shit out.

Paulo opened the bedroom door and hit the light. It was slightly smaller than mine, but not by much. It was light and dark grays, with black accents or whatever. I wasn’t a designer. Point was, the bed was big and comfortable. He had his own bathroom, and most of all, no one was fucking getting near him.

“We’ll get you comfortable clothes as well.” I placed him on the bed.

“You don’t have to do that. I have stuff at Ramsey’s.”

I didn’t want him to wear another thing that fucking dickbag had given him, but maybe he had sentimental things.

“Is there anything from Ramsey’s house you want?”

His brows furrowed. “Like his couch?”

I chuckled and Paulo snorted. “No—I mean if you want it…but I meant anything of yours, sentimental things?”

Em bit his lip. “No. I don’t have much I care about. My phone charger would be nice. I had some books.”

“I’ll get a charger for you and if you know the titles of the books, I’ll make sure you have those as well.”

“Mr. Tancredi, I?—”

“Call me Saros.”

“Okay, Saros. I don’t know why you’re doing all of this. I helped you out, but I am sure you could have handled it on your own.”

I sat on his bed, close but not too close. “That’s the thing—no, I couldn’t. I’ve watched the footage at least fifty times, and there’s no scenario that I’d have made it out of there without your intervention.”

“Oh, well, then how about we call ourselves even?”

I smiled—the man was adorable. “Em, I’m not going to force you to tell me about your life, who you really are, or what you’ve been through. I hope in time you do, but I won’t push you. What I do know is, the life you were living wasn’t good. I’m a bad man, Em, but I’d never treat anyone who worked for me the way Ramsey has you. I won’t tolerate it.”

“He won’t let me go, Saros. It’s weird. You know, like he hates me but at the same time refuses to leave me be until he is ready.”

I took a deep breath, trying so hard to keep my temper at bay. “He doesn’t have a choice now. You’re not going back there, and if he wants to play, I’ll fucking play. He will lose every goddamn time.”

There was a knock on the door, and the X-ray machine was rolled in.

“Can Em and I have some time alone please?” Paulo asked. “I’d like to do the X-ray and if he’s comfortable do a full examination to make sure there are no other issues.”

I regarded Em, who merely nodded.

“Very well. Food will be here soon, so don’t take too long.”

I had to leave that room anyway. I was going to punch something, and I didn’t want to scare Em any more than he already had been.

“See you soon.” I left the room and went straight to my gym. I needed to release this anger.

CHAPTER TWELVE

“Life is to be lived, not controlled, and humanity is won by continuing to play in face of certain defeat.”

~ Ralph Ellison

Em

Once Pauloand I were alone, he immediately went about setting up the X-ray. I stayed quiet and let him work. I followed instructions and when I misunderstood something, he didn’t smack me or call me an idiot. It was quite nice.

He listened to my breathing, checked my ears, nose, and throat. All the stuff a general practitioner would do.

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