Page 40 of Dollhouse

As soon as we got to the penthouse, Rowen and Nico were both taken to another floor, where they were going to meet with their doctor.

Vlad brought me inside of the penthouse, then he left to go to one of the lower floors where the rest of them were. I don’t know how long I’ve been standing here, but the mention of a hot shower does sound incredible.

If he’ll be okay, I’ll wash the blood off… but if he’s not, then I want his blood on me.

Silently I pull away from King’s touch and take the stairs two at a time making my way toward King’s bedroom.

In the bathroom, I take the rest of my clothing off and set them inside of the small trash can beside the toilet.

I don’t want to be reminded of anything from tonight.

With hands that won’t quit shaking, I open the frosted glass shower door, reach my hand in and turn the water on, waiting until it gets hot before I step inside. I take the washcloth and some of King’s bodywash and begin washing myself, scrubbing Rowen’s blood off my skin, watching as the pink water circles the drain.

I’m scrubbing my skin for the third time when King steps behind me in the shower and wraps his arms around my waist from behind.

“Why did he call me Lee?” I blurt, needing to know what they know about me. He turns me to face him and studies my face for a minute. He dips his head and crushes our lips together. I place my hands on his muscular chest, shoving him away from me.

He narrows his eyes at me. “You know why.” I don’t.

“So, you three get to know all this shit and I get to be kept in the dark?” I roll my eyes and throw the wet washcloth at his face.

“You know exactly why he called you by your real name, Lee. I put some clothes on my bed for you.” He turns his back to me and begins washing himself, a clear sign that he’s done talking.

Why the fuck is he acting mysterious?

Obviously, if I knew why Rowen had called me Lee, I wouldn’t be fucking asking.

Instantly, chills shoot down my spine and the only thing that comes to mind is Sebastian.

Is he behind this? Is he the reason why a gang I’ve never heard of suddenly wants me? Did he find me?

In the back of my mind, I know he’s innocent. He’s not here, and he’s not the reason those Westside fucks want me.

They’re dead now, so I wonder what that means for me. I’m hoping they’ll let me go and I can resume my life, but I know that’s not likely. I know they’ll never let me go.

And I’m aware of the fact that Rowen knowing who I am has nothing to do with Sebastian.

Unable to be around King any further, I open the door and step out of the shower, taking a towel and wrapping it around my body. I walk into the bedroom, and just like he said, he’d laid out clothes on his bed for me. There’s a black t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants that I assume belongs to either Rowen or Eli because they are a little too small to belong to King. They’re all massive in size, but King’s legs are bigger than Eli and Rowen. He has massive thick thunder thighs.

I quickly dress myself, cinching the drawstrings on the sweatpants as tight as they’ll go, and roll them up at the ankles so they’re not too long. I pull on the black socks that were beside the clothes and walk back into the bathroom to brush my hair with King’s hairbrush.

When I walk downstairs to the living room, Eli has just entered and he stares at me with a dark but sad look in his eyes.

I gulp, my heart dropping to my stomach at the sight of him. “Is…is he okay?” He holds my gaze for a moment before he nods, and I let out a breath I didn’t know I’d been holding.

Like a sad little boy, Eli walks right toward me. I hold my arms out for him and he steps into my embrace, lowering his head on my shoulder. He’s allowing himself to be vulnerable around me.

“Doc says he’ll be fine. I’m going to grab a shower and go sit with him for a while. He’s still unconscious, but if you wait, we can go down together.” He raises his head, his fingertips trailing along my heart-shaped face slowly before he brushes my hair behind my ears. “Wait for me.” He presses a faint kiss to my lips, then turns toward the stairs.

Twenty minutes later, Eli returns downstairs. I am sitting in the living room, anxiously waiting for him. He holds his hand out toward me and I take it, and he leads us toward the elevator. We stop at the floor directly below us.

“We own this entire building. A lot of our staff lives here, but we turned this apartment specifically into our own little operating room for the staff on our payroll. With our line of work, going to the hospital isn’t an option,” he explains, unlocking the door and leading me inside of a dimly lit apartment that smells of disinfectant and copper.

My grip on his hand becomes tighter as he leads me down the hallway and opens the door to one of the bedrooms.

“Doc will return him home once he’s well enough and doesn’t need to be monitored. Until then, he’ll stay here with Doc and a nurse,” Eli says.

Wow, they really did think of everything. I can’t speak, so I nod, letting go of his hand and walking into the bedroom toward Rowen.

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