Page 38 of Blood and Lies (A Twisted Duet 1)

“I need to put you down now, okay?”

Some of the heat dissipated, and I groaned, clutching harder, not wanting it to go.

“Tatum?”

Finally, with effort, I managed to open my eyes. Big, brown, almost black, familiar irises stared back at me.

“Tatum, you need to let go of me so I can put you down.”

I noticed the scar next to his eye, his elongated pupil, and everything came rushing back like a disease.

Castello…Vico…the woman…the lashes…

Fear, panic, pain, every bad, soul-sucking emotion known to man crawled its way back into me. My lungs no longer took long, deep, steady inhales. I only managed a few shallow breaths, my chest too tight to allow anything more.

“Tatum. Loosen your arms so I can put you down.”

Flooded with confusion, I glanced at my arms, only noticing now that I had them tightly clutched around his neck while he cradled me against his chest. That was the heat I felt—the warmth. It was Castello. How was it possible that a hard, stone-cold man like him could be so warm to the touch?

With a jerk, I pulled back my arms, but Castello’s eyes remained focused on mine.

“Can you sit?”

“Yeah.” My cheeks flushed crimson thinking that I had held onto Castello for dear life—a life he was determined to take.

“I’m going to start the shower, then I need you to get in, okay?” I heard the concern in his voice, saw it in his eyes, but I didn’t trust it. Especially since his words kept repeating in my head…“I swear, on my life, that I will not fail this family and that I will make them pay for taking my brother’s and my father’s lives.”

On his life. He swore on his life that he would make me and my family pay. In other words, kill us—kill me. So why all the concern for me now? Or was it all part of the game, part of his plan to break me?

I couldn’t look at him, letting my gaze fall to the floor. The warmth was gone, my body shivering and trembling, aching with such force that I was sure it had the strength to break me in half.

“Come on. You need a shower.” He placed his hand on my shoulder, but I shrugged it off.

I got to my feet, not caring that I was completely naked, my legs shaking beneath me. “Because I stink?”

“Because it will help ease the pain.”

Confusion settled in the pit of my stomach, and I looked up at him. “Why the sudden concern whether I’m in pain or not?”

He pulled his hand through his hair. “Just…please just get in the fucking shower.”

For a moment, I was stunned. Please…Castello just saidplease.

The way his eyes remained on me with concern was unnerving since I wasn’t sure whether I could trust it. But the fact that he had just said please had my heart beating just that little bit faster. With every ounce of defiance that had pulsed through me the entire time I’d been here, I couldn’t ignore the use of that word—which was why I forced my body to obey and turned toward the shower.

“Wait.”

I froze, apprehension sending chills down my spine. See, I knew not to trust the sudden change in him. My stomach turned, bitterness creeping up my throat. I was completely naked and alone with him in a bathroom I didn’t recognize. We weren’t back in the room he kept me in. There was no trace of a bathroom in that room…unless there was another hidden door I wasn’t aware of.

He moved closer, my heart pounding louder and louder with every footstep. Waiting, anticipating, fearing what his next move would be, I closed my eyes, pretending I could shield myself, that I could protect myself from him…my mind, at least.

Then the softest, most gentle touch against my spine took me by surprise, and I sucked in a breath.

“Does it hurt?”

I bit my lower lip, pushing back tears I forced myself not to cry—not now. I was tired of crying, of being weak.

My reply was a mere shake of my head because the truth was I didn’t feel the burn on my back anymore, not when I felt his touch on my skin. The trepidation curdling in my stomach overruled every other physical feeling, yet his touch caused my insides to coil tight.

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