Guard Me (Broken Heroes 4)

I pick her up carefully, cradling her to my chest and make my way up to my apartment. I take the stairs up all four floors. I’m less likely to see someone in the staircase than on the elevator, no one takes the stairs in this place, they’re all a bunch of lazy fucks.

When I finally make it to my place without running into a single soul I sigh in relief. The less people know about me taking her to my room the better. I walk inside, and close the door behind me. Then I head into the bedroom and gently sit Violet on the bed, rolling her body to the side. I don’t want her lying on her back until I get to check on the marks on her back.

Peeling the shirt off her gently, I inspect her marred skin. I clench my jaw, and force my hands to steady. Her whole back is covered in long, red, and swollen streaks. Some places are turning blue from bruising and in other places the skin has actually broke. Her arms and shoulders are also marred, and there is one angry streak that crosses her beautiful face.

I’ve never felt this overwhelmed with guilt and fury in my life. I’m so fucking angry I want to kill everybody in this building. Everyone who ever touched her, scared her or even looked at her… I want them all dead, every single person. I want to give her the vengeance that I know she deserves.

Pushing my anger aside, I get up and grab my little first aid kit out of the bathroom and start cleaning her broken skin before she wakes up.

Once I’m finished I want nothing more than to get a whiskey from my office, and drown myself in the entire bottle, but I’ve promised her that I’d be here when she wakes up, so instead I lay down next to her and watch her sleep.

I have no idea how much time passes until she wakes. It might have been hours or days I don’t know, nor do I care. All I know that I don’t think I will ever get tired of just looking at her.

Even with her face bruised and swollen she is still the most beautiful person I have ever laid eyes on. Her eyelids blink open slowly and for a moment I have this fear in my chest that she is going to be scared of me… scared of my touch now that she has seen me kill, but then she smiles. It’s a tiny one and it probably hurts like hell to do it but it’s the last thing I was expecting from her.

“You kept your promise.” Her voice cracks.

“Of course I did. I let you down once, and It’s not going to happen again.” The smile wipes from her face, and a frown forms against her full lips.

“You didn’t let me down Ivan.” I clench my jaw, holding back my anger. She has no idea the raging war of insanity that’s taking place inside my head.

“I did let you down. I told you I wouldn’t let anyone hurt you, and I did. I failed you, and that’s not okay with me Violet. It’s just not.”

She looks sad, and I don’t want her to feel bad for me, not at fucking all. She just got whipped with a belt for christ sakes.

“Don’t be sad.” I rub a knuckle across her bruised cheek. “I don’t want you to feel bad. None of this is your fault. You didn’t ask to be brought here. I vowed to protect you until the auction and I failed you. This is on me, and whatever misery I feel for failing you is my own. Let me feel bad, let me hate myself I deserve to feel this way.”

“Ivan.” She whines, and pushes up onto her arms. I can see the pain in her features as she moves closer to me, her body hovering above mine. “I’m just lucky that I found you that night when I got out of my cell. If I didn’t I would already be dead, so while you’re wallowing in your misery, just remember that you saved my life that night, just like you did tonight.”

I know she’s right. I fucking know it, but that doesn’t mean I want to admit it. I open my mouth to respond but close it. There was nothing more for me to say. I would just have to keep a better eye on her, watch her cell at all times…unless… an idea enters my mind. I could get her a cell phone. Something she could keep just in case. I bet if I went down to my office I could find a burner in one of my drawers. I usually always used one when contacting Rossi.