Page 30 of Room Twenty-Seven: Theirs to Punish

“Wait. Are you crying?” The question hasn't quite left my lips when I realize she’s shaking. “Hey.” Grabbing her shoulders, I gently push her away from me so I can look at her face. Her eyes are red and swollen, her hair is wild, and her clothes are tousled. “What the fuck happened?”

My blood boils in my veins as I take in her disheveled appearance. Someone hurt her, or at the very least tried to. Whoever did is about to be hunted down by three very angry men.

“I’m okay.” She sniffs, wiping her nose with the back of her hand.

“No, you’re not.” Her words only fuel my rage. Does she still not trust me enough to confide in me? Or even worse, is she protecting someone? “Tell me what the hell happened before I turn the city upside down.”

“Can we go inside first?”

With a nod, I wrap my arm around her to keep her close and guide her to her apartment. She tries her best to stop crying, but every once in a while, a ragged sob escapes her. I manage to stay calm right until the moment she unlocks her door. Her sleeve slides up, exposing angry red marks with four distinct scratches.

My hands ball into fists so tight my palm hurts. I welcome the pain, letting it distract me from the burning anger inside. “Who did this to you?” I growl, ready to track down whoever touched her. She quickly pulls her arm away, covering the mark with her clothes. “Don’t even try to hide that. You need to tell me what happened right fucking now before I lose it completely. And trust me, it won’t take much before that last shred of restraint is gone.”

“Please don’t make a big deal out of this,” she pleads, her voice so small and shaky it makes my chest ache. “It was just a misunderstanding.”

“Misunderstanding, my ass.” Pulling my phone from my pocket, I shoot them a quick group text telling them she is here now. “I’m texting Bane and Luke so we can figure this out and get you home.”

Luke replies immediately, saying they are on their way.

“I am home,” she announces.

“Hopefully not much longer.” I should probably talk to the guys first, but after seeing her like this, my mind is made up. She’s not living here by herself any longer. She’s going to move in with us. At least into our building.

Just the thought of having her close by, knowing she’ll be safe, has the raging storm in my head simmer down a little.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Let’s talk about this when the guys get here.” I’ll need backup if I want to be sure she’ll go for it. Hopefully, Luke can sweet-talk her. He seems to have a special connection to her in his own way. Now that I think about it, we all do. “Do you have a first-aid kit?”

She nods and points at the only other door in her loft. “In the bathroom under the sink.”

“Sit on the bed, and I’ll get it.” The first-aid kit is right where she said it would be, stashed under the sink next to some cleaning supplies.

When I exit the bathroom, Lilly sits on the edge of her mattress, her legs dangling. That’s not what catches my eye, though; it’s the large colorful painting hanging on the wall.

I’m not sure how long I stare at it, but when Lilly says something, it feels like a few minutes have passed. “You recognize it?”

“Of course I do.” How can I forget the place where we spent every free minute together for a year? It was my happy place—no, our happy place.

Tearing my eyes away from the bright flowers and rays of sunshine so similar to our meadow, I give Lillian my full attention. Sitting beside her on the mattress, I set the first-aid kit in the small space between us. “Let me see.”

Lilly pulls off her cardigan and holds her arm out to me. I grit my molars together so hard, the grinding sound is deafening. The deep red marks have already started to turn shades of blue in some areas, and the scratches look angry and slightly raised.

“I’m fine, really. It looks much worse than it feels.”

I know she’s trying to calm me down, but it’s doing the opposite. “Please don’t downplay this. It makes it seem like you’re protecting whoever did this to you.”

Lifting her arm gently onto my lap, I clean it with some alcohol wipes before slathering the scratches with antibiotic ointment.

“I’m not. It was just some guy at a bar. He wanted to give me a ride home, but I didn’t want to go with him.”

“What did he look like?” I ask calmly while wrapping her arm with a thin bandage wrap so neither one of us has to look at it any longer.

“Niklas, please let it go. I’m not protecting him or downplaying anything. I just want to forget about this.”

A part of me wants to point out how he might hurt someone else if she doesn't speak up, but now is not a good time to push her on it. I’m letting it go for now, but I won’t forget either.

With the large room being silent, it’s easy to hear the heavy footfalls approaching from the hallway. A moment later, the door bursts open and three men pile into the loft. Bane and Luke are through the door first with my father close behind them.

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