Page 40 of He Should Be Mine

“I thought I’d give your stomach a break.”

“My stomach is used to me swallowing a lot,” he says, grinning as he tears off a piece and pops it in his mouth. “Just saying.”

I ignore him. We sit in silence for a few moments. He sips his juice. I sip my coffee. He continues to munch quietly on his toast. Then suddenly he winces.

My gaze drops down to his neck, just above the shirt’s collar. The bruise has deepened. Red and purple now, edging toward black. Faint fingermarks, shaped like ownership.

The cream I put on them is supposed to bring out the bruising, to aid the healing process. But I don’t like this.

“Let me see,” I say quietly.

His eyes widen. “What?”

“Your neck.” I nod. “I need to check.”

He hesitates. Then shrugs, tugging my shirt off one side. The fabric slides down, revealing more bruising. Ugly blotches of violence. Fingerprints pressed too deep.

My jaw clenches. “He did this.”

“Obviously,” Molly says, attempting breezy, but his voice is too tight.

I reach out. He tenses. I pause. “Can I?”

He nods.

I brush my fingers over his skin, careful not to press. He shivers. Not from pain.

“He didn’t punch you?”

“No.”

“Just held and squeezed?”

“Yes.”

That’s supposed to make it better. It doesn’t.

“He could have done some serious damage.”

Molly shrugs. “He didn’t.”

I step back before I do something stupid, like hold him. Or promise I’ll kill Riccardo.

I grab more toast and a fresh mug of coffee and shove them both into his hands. “Eat. Drink. Then go to the sofa.”

Molly blinks. “Bossy today.”

“You’re hurt. You need to rest and you are too dumb to do it without orders.”

He smiles faintly. “I’ve been worse.”

“I don’t care about worse,” I snap, sharper than I mean to. “You shouldn’t be like this at all.”

A beat of silence. I’ve said too much, but I can’t take it back now.

Molly picks at the toast, not looking at me. “Yeah. Well. Should’s a dangerous word.”

I grip the edge of the counter. Hard. My knuckles go white. I wish I could fix it. All of it. I wish I could wrap him up and hide him somewhere Riccardo would never find him again. I wish I could do it now, today, and not have to wait.