Page 102 of When We Fall: Part Two

“My girl is gone, so I’m going to piss you off instead and boss you around. Get your ass into the bathroom and handle yourself. You’re too fucking pretty to sit here wallowing in your own filth. I’ll speak with Enzo and Cole when they get back tonight about how unacceptable this shit is.” He pushed his black hair back, a no-nonsense look on his face.

He held his hand out to me.

Knowing better than to say no, I slid my palm along his and let him help me up. I winced and stumbled, but he caught me easily.

“It’s OK,” he said softly. “I have you. I won’t let you fall.”

I let him escort me to the bathroom, where he turned on the shower.

“Do you need help?” he asked.

I shook my head.

“OK. I’m going to be in your room. Call for me if you need me.”

I nodded, watching him turn to leave, the door clicking shut behind him.

I exhaled and stared at myself in the mirror, the tears trailing down my cheeks. I really did look like hell. My hair was a tangled mess. It would take forever to brush through it. Jamie keptoffering, but I continued to turn her down. The bruising from being kicked in my face had all but disappeared, leaving behind a faint yellow tinge to parts of my skin.

Sighing, I undressed slowly and got into the shower, the warm water rushing over my skin.

I wasn’t sure how long I stayed in there, but I was too weak to stand. I’d barely been eating. I slid to my bottom after washing my hair and body and sobbed softly.

The water began to run cold, making me shiver, but I still didn’t have it in me to get out.

My heart hurt.

The ache was a pain I never thought I’d feel.

I missed Fox and Ethan. I missed Cole and Enzo. Everything was a mess. Knowing this wasn’t something we could fix easily, or ever, made the pain that much worse. Whatever was happening or had happened to Fox and Ethan wasn’t good. I was dumb enough to think they were on a sandy beach drinking pina coladas somewhere. Wherever they were, they were hurting. It plagued me. It ate at me. I was barely sleeping, and when I did, it was nightmares on repeat of them screaming for mercy.

My promise to Fox that I’d leave kept creeping back into my mind. The only place I could go was back home, but I didn’t want to go there. I’d be reminded of Fox, since his house was next door.

I’d brushed off Anson. I couldn’t just ask him, especially since he was going to marry Bianca.

Fox isn’t dead. He’s out there. He’s alive. And I’ll wait for him…Ethan is with him. They’re coming home to us. Foxy promised…

I cried on the floor of my shower, my body shivering.

The water turned off, and a warm towel was draped over me.

“You’re a fucking mess,” Dominic muttered, lifting me off the floor and carrying me to my sink, where he placed me on the counter, covered in my large towel.

“Here,” he continued, offering me my robe.

He turned his head and didn’t look at me as he held it so I could slip into it. I cinched the belt around my waist, and he wordlessly lifted me again and took me to my bedroom.

He continued to remain silent as he returned to the bathroom and came back with my brush.

I let him brush the tangles from my hair, stunned that I was even in this situation with him.

“How did you survive being without Bianca?” I whispered as he finished a section of my hair.

“I didn’t. I tried to kill myself. Told myself I was going to join her.” He sectioned off another tangled part of my hair and set to work.

I swallowed hard. “I’ll die if Fox and Ethan don’t come back to me.”

Dominic stopped brushing my hair and moved to sit next to me. I stared into his vivid green eyes.