I stroke her cheek again, pretending she fell asleep instead of me striking her.
“Is she going to be okay?” Maximo asks.
I nod. “She’s going to be better than okay.”
“Do we need to go to the hospital first? We can go to Dr. Pietri; he won’t question it. He owes us.”
I stare down at Eden’s leg for a long time. I’m sure it’s broken. A woman as strong as Eden wouldn’t cry in pain like that at anything less than broken. It’s probably shattered.
I know how to treat most wounds and ailments. I’ve healed most of Arlo’s injuries without any issues. I’m not sure if I can repair Eden’s leg if it is broken in more than one place and requires surgery.
She could never walk properly again if I don’t take her to the hospital.
But I can’t. I don’t want to give her up. She may think I’m her savior at the moment, but I’m not. I’m still a monster.
“No. Take us home.”
Maximo doesn’t question me again. He knows the decision I made might lead to her death and he doesn’t care. Eden is mine to do with what I want. I stole her. Saving her was only to reclaim her as mine, not because I cared or have a heart. She’ll realize soon enough when she’ll never be able to walk again. At least I won’t have to worry about her running away from me.
9
Eden
My eyes flicker wide as the sharp pain in my leg wakes me up. My head is pounding, telling me not to dare move my head off the pillow. I’ve been drugged enough times now to know the familiar feeling. Although, this time it’s different. Achier than before.
Matteo.
He’s hovering over my leg; his hands gloved as he inspects it. He stops when he sees I’m awake. He takes the gloves off and tosses them to the floor as he sits on the edge of the bed.
“How are you feeling?”
“Like I was in a car accident and raped.”
He winces when I say the word rape. I don’t understand why he would care. That’s why he left me with Armas in the first place, so he would rape me and do the dirty work Matteo was incapable of doing.
“So you remember what happened?”
I close my eyes as the images start flooding back. Me slamming my car into a tree, Armas taking me to his place and raping me, Matteo rescuing me, and then striking me in the head as I asked.
I rub my head on the back and find the bump that has formed.
He narrows my eyes. “Still happy I knocked you out?”
“Yes,” I say, despite the agony I’m in now.
He turns from my eyes to give my leg his attention again.
“It’s bad, isn’t it?” I ask.
He doesn’t respond. Instead, he moves down the length of the bed until he’s resting next to my leg.
“Can you move your toes?”
My eyes widen at his request. I don’t want even to try to move a single part of my leg.
“That’s what I thought.” He peers back into my eyes trying to tell me something he won’t tell me with his words.
I swallow hard as a lump creeps up my throat. My mouth runs dry as Matteo stares at me like I’m the most important thing in his world.