Page 59 of A Girl and HER Prince
He ran his tongue over his lips. “Just help me stop the bleeding, okay?”
Was she hurting him by talking about this? Deedee’s plan to make him jealous might be working… or did he just not like to think of his friend as a killer? If he thought Deedee was capable of this, would he suspect Livvy as being behind this too? She hadn’t known that this day could possibly get worse, but it just did.
Livvy straightened the bandage back over his stomach, mostly to cover the incriminating marks.
His stomach was going to be okay… maybe some stitches like she’d said—she’d had worse skinning her knees while hiking.Kind of.But it was his forearm she was mostly worried about. Livvy wouldn’t touch that bandage for a while, though she still made sure that it wasn’t soaked through, which was difficult to tell after getting stuck in that rainstorm outside.
She tested the ties to make sure they were tight, but not like a tourniquet or they’d have to worry about amputating later… and yet if the bandage bled through again, they might not have much of a choice.
Were all her trips to the emergency room with her brothers going to carry her through? “Tell me if you start bleeding again,” she told him.
“Will do, nurse.”
She sighed, burying her head into her trembling hands. “I wish I knew what I was doing!” Even if she had a small ounce of First Aid training, things might be looking better.
She felt his hands in her hair. “You’re doing great!” he reassured her.
Oh, Venice! She peeked through her fingers at him. Even as he lay injured before her, he seemed more concerned for her. How would either of them survive these next few hours? She was freezing in her swimsuit and soaked through, and yet he was worse off after losing so much blood.
The whistling wind was muffled where they huddled, but she could still tell it was pretty bad outside, and the chill that spread through this limestone cave sank into her bones. Livvy wouldn’t be able to hide how cold she was pretty soon. Already, she saw the anxiety written all over Venice’s expression. She’d added to that stress by making him think his friend had tried to kill him.
“Maybe Deedee gave the ring to someone else,” she whispered.
He nodded, but he looked distracted. Now that she’d put the idea of the betrayal in his head, she knew how hard it would be to get out. “We’ll get it sorted when we call my father,” he muttered.
She shivered.
“Livvy!” He gave her a stern look and held out his arms. When she hesitated, he smiled gently over at her. “This isn’t about you,” he reassured her. “It’s purely for selfish reasons. They’re a little low on blankets in this establishment; I’ll need a human one.”
“Right? Couldn’t the Greeks have left something softer than rock and coins and marble behind?” She smiled at the idea, though perhaps more in embarrassment as she lowered herself next to him, making sure that she’d picked his side that wasn’t hurt.
His arm went around her and immediately, as his warmth soothed her, she was glad she’d given in.
This is how we’ll survive the next few hours.
“Dang!” he said. He ran his hands over the goosebumps prickling over her skin. “Do you have no circulation system? You’re like a block of ice.”
“I knew it! I’m making you colder!” She tried to pull away.
“No, no.” He tugged her back. “No,” he said next to her ear. “Although maybe we’ll just…” He picked up a handful of her hair and settled it over the rock behind them. “We’ll just move this wet stuff out of the way.”
Livvy grinned. She’d have to sit very still, so that her hair wouldn’t go slapping into them in a waterfall. His thumb moved in a circle over her bare arm. Her skin erupted into more goosebumps—the kind that sizzled with heat. Was it disturbing that he knew exactly what to do in this situation? His roaming fingers found her charm bracelet next.
His eyes went to hers. “I can’t believe you gave up your sleeves for me.”
She laughed in embarrassment. “Anyone would do the same.”
“No, no, I think you’re overestimating your fellow man.”
“Oh, I see. You’re the type to be all jaded and bitter about the world?”
“You would be too, if you saw the half of what I have.”
Livvy winced. She hadn’t meant to bring up bad memories. Deedee had told her a little bit about what had happened when his family had fled their home country. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I know you had a rough childhood.”
“Yes, well, let’s just say thatnoneof us really want to go back to that country… let alone rule. Achilles definitely doesn’t.”
She held her breath, knowing that this was about her accusing Achilles of being the one who’d tried to kill him. “You know him much better than I do,” she said. “I’m sure this will all make sense after this is all over.”
