Page 54 of Sold to My Ex's Brother
“Are you ready to go?” I ask, glancing over the others once they seem fully dressed. Luna and Anna are standing close together, almost as if they are fearful about what stands on the other side of that door.
“I guess so,” Luna replies, and I push open the door. Anton looks around at once, coming to my side, arm around my waist to support me.
“Are they going to be okay?” I ask him softly, gesturing back over my shoulder to the two women behind me. He nods at once.
“I have a couple of cars waiting for them, to take them to a safehouse until we can get them set up with something more permanent,” he replies. I breathe a sigh of relief, finally allowing myself a small smile.
“Thank you, Anton.”
His gaze is fixed on me as we pause at the door, and I finally look back over at him.
“What is it...?”
“Let me take you home,” he tells me, his voice low and gravelly. And I know it is not a request, but an order. He has waited long enough to ensure my safety, and he will not risk another second before ensconcing me in the comfort of our apartment.
I nod. “Let’s get out of here.”
26
ANTON
I turn on the bath,letting the water begin to fill the tub. Glancing around, I do what I can to make the place more comfortable, turning down the lights, making sure that there are towels and a robe prepared for her when she’s out of the bath.
And then, I look behind me, to where Maya is still sitting on the bed. And I feel a punch of concern in my guts, seeing her staring into space, too shocked by everything to so much as react to the fact that we’re home.
I can’t say I blame her. She’s been through a lot.Wehave been through a lot.
I straighten up and make my way over to her, planting my hand on her shoulder. She jolts slightly, and then looks up at me, her gaze distant.
“Hey,” I murmur. “Come on, let’s get you washed up.”
She rises to her feet, allowing me to lead her through to the bathroom, where I help her undress, taking off the lingerie that Artem forced her into and casting it aside with a grimace. I knowplenty of guys would find that shit sexy, but what I desire about her isn’t contained in what she wears.
It’s something in her that I can’t resist, that I have never been able to, and that I don’t seem to be planning to any time soon.
I ease her into the bath, letting the warm water flood over her naked body, and she closes her eyes, letting out a long sigh as she tilts her head back and allows her hair to dip beneath the water.
For a moment, I just look at her; it doesn’t seem as though she is carrying any major injuries, a few bruises on her arms, but I have already put down the man who did that to her. She just needs to rest, for her sake and the baby’s, and I will do what I can to make sure that happens.
When I reach her face, I find that she is looking at me. There are dark circles around her eyes, but a small smile on her lips, which is something. She reaches up to touch my face, guiding my gaze down to her.
“Thank you for helping those other girls,” she tells me softly. “I know that you must have just wanted to get out of there, but... but they went through so much, and I couldn’t just leave them there, knowing that.”
I brush a strand of damp hair back from her shoulder. “That’s okay.”
Truth was, I knew there would have been no getting her out of there if we had tried to leave behind the women that she had been imprisoned with. My woman’s heart is too big.
“But we need to focus on you right now,” I remark, as I reach for the shampoo bottle behind her. Outside, rain is pattering againstthe window, and the dim lights make this place feel almost relaxing, despite the circumstances.
She catches my arm before I can set to work, looking up at me hopefully.
“Will you... Will you join me in here?”
I cock an eyebrow. I didn’t think she would want anyone close to her, after what she had been through. But, as she gazes up at me, I know that she is not going to take no for an answer. And, after everything that’s happened, I feel the sudden surge of need to feel her body against mine, and I straighten up to strip out of my clothes.
They are still spattered with blood, smeared with the gore from the bullet that killed my brother. I don’t know if it has really sunk in yet, the reality of what I have done, but in that moment, I knew I couldn’t allow him to stand in front of me and speak about the mother of my child like that. As though she was just another whore, another girl he could do with as he pleased. As though she wasn’t even a person.
As hard as it might be to admit, the world will be better off without that man in it, and besides, right now, I’m not trying to let myself get caught up in those thoughts.
