Page 50 of The Woman on the Jury

I went back to her head, finishing up with the blood, then sliding some triple antibiotic across the gashes.

But I wasn’t done.

In a completely unnecessary move, I grabbed a Q-tip, globbed on some more triple, and started to slide it down the scratches on her chest.

Was it my imagination, or did her breathing get quicker and more shallow at the touch? Did her heart start hammering? Did a little shiver move through her?

“Got anything for him to wear?” Salvatore asked, spoiling the moment. “He’s gotta get this leg scanned,” he added as I forced myself to take a step away from Halle.

“Grab him a shirt,” I said to Miko, waving toward the loft where the primary bedroom was located.

Halle stayed perched on the island as Miko and Salvatore helped Venezio into one of my button-ups, so he didn’t have to lift his arms.

He looked like shit.

Face all cut and busted, barely able to move even with Salvatore and Miko to support him.

But he still stopped to look at Halle.

“Sorry I failed you tonight,” he said, and it was the first time I’d heard anything resembling emotion from him.

“Right. Because you totally stood a chance against four guys,” Halle said, rolling her eyes at him. “I’m Halle, by the way,” she said, giving him a small smile.

“Venezio,” he said, nodding.

“I’ll help get him in the car, and come back, so we can work out a plan,” Miko said, nodding his chin toward Halle.

Then I said something that I think shocked me more than anyone else in the room.

“She’s staying here from now on.”

CHAPTER TEN

Halle

He’d carried me in through the apartment so fast that I could barely even see it. It was just a blur of gray and black before I was taken into a bedroom, placed onto the bed with more delicacy than I would have thought possible, then left me there.

He’d even shut the door.

And it felt very much like a ‘you keep your ass right where I put you’ kind of thing.

I mean, I wasn’t complaining.

If nothing else, I was safe.

Also, I mean, it was the nicest room I’d ever been in in my entire life.

My entire apartment and half the neighbor across the hall’s apartment could fit in this one bedroom.

The walls were a dove gray.

The bedding was a thick linen in an off-white shade.

The bed and all the furnishings were a deep stain that was almost black.

There was a door half opened at the side of the room, and I could make out the corner of a shower.

Apparently, crime was an incredibly profitable business.

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