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Her arms slip into the sleeves of her robe, and she wraps it around herself, tying the knot at her waist. The hives have started crawling up her delicate skin to her neck. They're not as bad as they can get and that’s a blessing in itself. The maids are quick, rushing in and dumping the milk into the bath as Maksim watches wide-eyed.
"What the fuck is wrong with her?"
"Nothin’," I growl. Because she's flawless. She's perfect. This is just a small setback.
I guide her to the bathroom by the elbow, the only spot where I'm allowed to touch, and turn my back while she disrobes. She then gets in with a hiss, the water and milk mixture sloshing a bit. After a few deep (but choppy) breaths I calmly ask, "Decent?"
"Yeah, yes, thank you, Parker."
I nod, even though she can't see me, and I can't see her, but I stride off, shoving Maksim out with me by his arm, and I close the door behind me. We stand toe-to-toe. He may be an inch or two taller than me, but that ain't shit.
He looks as bothered as I feel unhinged.
"What was that? Her skin was fucking nasty."
It takes everything in me not to throttle him. "She has an issue with being touched, and she was toucheda lottoday."
"She has an issue with being touched. She can barely tolerate being out of her house, or loud noises, or crowds."
I quirk a brow. "Isn't that what you wanted? A marriage on paper?"
"What I didn't want... was a weak wife."
"Get out, Maksim."
"You think I'll just let you be in here with her naked in the other room?"
"What's wrong? Afraid I'll touch your gorgeous little wife? Make her come on my fingers, lips, tongue, and cock all while you're sleeping across the hall?"
He grabs the lapels of my suit and gets in my face. "What I won't be, is made a fool of. Real or fake."
"And I'll still be there through it all," I grin maliciously. "Taking care of her because you keep thinking there's something wrong with her, and all I see is someone that's fighting tooth and nail to stay above water. She isn't like us, Maks, she wasn't raised like us, playing with guns before we learned to walk or talk. But the woman I knew before the one you see now, would've clawed your eyes out for even breathing her way. So she can't handle being touched, so what? It means the wrong man touches her and the kitten you see turns into a feral street-cat. You just haven't earned seeing that side of her."
He lets go of me. "Put your hands on my woman when we're married, and I'll record it when I gut you like a pig, and show her the video of you squealing for your miserable fucking life."
He turns to leave and when his hand is on the doorknob I ask, "Then who will take care of her?"
He sniffs, and without looking back at me he says, "I will."
"And I fucking doubt that."
I dab the cotton ball into the calamine lotion and tap it on her back where she can't reach, then blow on it so it dries a little quicker, mesmerized by the goosebumps that rise on her skin.
She turns her head to the side, so I can only see her angelic profile. "He's right, youknow."
"What's that?"
She faces forward again, probably to hide from me. "I'm weak."
I hate that she heard that asshat say that. I hate that she tries to hide her emotions from me. But I can read her more easily than I can read a book. It’s in the way her shoulders curl inward and her spine bows forward. In the way she tenses instead of relaxing while exhaling. Iknowher. "You're not weak, Sabrina. You're... finding your way back from whatever it is you went through that you won't tell me, your mom, or your therapist about."
"What do I have to complain about, Parker? Look at my life. It's perfect. Anyone would kill to take my place." Her voice quakes a bit, but she clears the emotion out of it quickly, like she’s ashamed I know she has a heart.
"Would they?"
"Poor little rich girl..."She hums and I let her oversized t-shirt roll down. The bath got her hives under control and hopefully, by the time she showers this shit off in the morning, they'll be gone.
"Money doesn't mean you're safe from the cruelty this world has to offer, Miss Winters. Look at Raven."