Page 249 of Chaos has a Name
It was no longer surprising when he had to do it, but each time, it still made him upset.
How could it not?
Seeing her battered, bruised, and hurting was the one surefire way to make every male in the house irate and borderline bitchy.
It was a struggle not to take it out on her since they wanted to blame the victim for putting herself in harm’s way, or Ivan for dropping the ball.
Yeah, she gave them the warning before for a reason. Elizabeth knew exactly what they were like.
Seriously.
They were predictable.
Not only had this rubbed him raw, seeing her hurt, it was the way she had been hurt.
It was how she’d been taken.
Had she not been tenacious, tough, and stronger than anyone he knew, this wouldn’t have ended well. If his wife couldn’t get herself out of bad situations by using her wits and skill, this would be a nightmare for all of them.
Elizabeth was the easiest woman to love, once you managed to calm down the need to protect her. Smothering was something he wanted to do.
And she’d hate it.
So, instead, he did what he could.
Chris patched her up.
Now, she was sitting there, and he was swabbing and picking trace out of her hair, and off of her tank and jeans.
Oh, and the silence was very telling.
While he wasn’t trying to come across as being irate, he absolutely was as pissy as hell.
And she read the room.
“Are you angry at me?” she finally asked, sensing the tension and lack of conversation from the man.
Chris sighed as he was waiting for the numbing injection to kick in so he could drop a couple of stitches into her hairline where she’d been clocked.
“Not at you, Bethe. I’m just rattled by the situation. It was too close. We might have lost you, and we’re all worked up over that. Give us some time to adjust.”
She just sat there.
When he stared into her eyes, he saw it.
“You’re safe now.”
Still, she said nothing. So much for being comforted and leaning on one of her men. Chris was definitely not in the mood to hold her up.
It appeared she was swallowing the fear, and not going there with him.
“I’m about ready to stitch you up. Are you going to be okay?” he asked.
Elizabeth just nodded.
As he started, he watched the single tear fall, and it broke his heart in ways she’d never understand. At one point in his life, he’d given up on feeling this kind of love.
Oh, he’d loved Cyra, make no mistake about it, but he’d never been able to love her this deeply. At the time, his heart still belonged to Elizabeth.
