Page 88 of Dark Notes, Volume Two

“We’re going to get you into the shower to clean up and then we’ll take a relaxing bath. I can get in with you or you can do it alone. It’s your choice Angel.”

I breathe a sigh of relief when she says, “I wa-wa-want you wi-wi-with me.” Her voice shakes from the panicked state she is in.

The thought of not holding her is painful. I want her in my arms, and to never not have her there. I could’ve lost her today, permanently. That realization has me needing to grab onto her and never let go.

After turning on the shower and getting the temperature right, I go over to her, reaching up to remove her shirt but stop myself.

“Can I help you undress?”

She nods as she breathes, “Please.”

I undo the buttons on her destroyed blouse before sliding it over her shoulders and tossing it to the floor. Reaching behind her, I unfasten her white lacy bra that’s also going to be thrown away because even it has blood on it.

I lift her and set her on her feet and remove her pants as well as her panties before taking her hand and walking her to the shower. Mia watches me like at any moment I might disappear.

“I’m getting undressed and then I’ll join you.”

Still as I take my clothes off she keeps her eyes on me. Maybe I’m an asshole because I like her needing me. Obviously, I don’t want her traumatized like this but I do like her wanting me close like this.

I step into the shower and she moves to make room.

“Let's wash your hair, baby.”

She gets under the shower head and I stop myself from asking questions. I will shortly but for right now I want to get her clean.

Grabbing the shampoo, I fill my palm with more than I’d usually use and begin washing her hair. She tilts her head back slightly staring into my face. Washing the blood off her face I begin to notice swelling and what appears to be redness marring her face that is already starting to have a purple hue to it. Fuck not only was she cut, she was beaten. I had been so focused on the cut needing medical attention I missed her other injuries. Fuck, I grab the body wash and begin to was her as gently as possible while I asses every inch of her while washing the dried bood from her skin.

“Am I a bad person, Jett?”

“No, Angel,” I say as I rinse the shampoo from her hair. I immediately put conditioner in it and leave it like she always does.

“Why would you ask that?”

She closes her eyes as I wash her hands. I have to scrub her skin harder than I would like to ensure I remove all the blood from her nails.

“I wanted her to die. She kept saying that you would be with her and I didn’t kill her to just save my life. I wanted her gone. What kind of person wants someone dead because they want what’s yours?”

‘Yours.’

That was the most important word I heard and my chest fucking swells at her calling me, hers.

“You’re not a bad person, Mia. She was. The things she did to try to get what she wanted was disgusting. I don’t know who the naked man was but I am sure that whatever they planned was not good.”

After rinsing her off, she’s quiet, I grab her a towel, hand it to her and get out and start the bathwater. I add in the rose oil she likes and step in reaching my hand out to her. She puts the towel on the floor beside the tub, takes my hand and climbs into the water. I get in behind her. Immediately she climbs onto my lap and puts her head on my chest and gently touches my tattoo that’s covered but the material is transparent so she can see it.

“Does it hurt?”

“No, you can touch it.”

It’s slightly uncomfortable but nothing compared to what she has been through today.

So quietly, I barely hear her, she says, “He was my step-father.”

I wrap my arms around her and hold her tight.

“Angel. Fuck. I’m sorry.”

Now I know this day was more terrifying for her than I even imagined. He wasn’t a random man, he was her biggest fear. The question of why the fuck he was naked is also answered and it causes my blood to boil. If he weren’t fucking dead, I’d kill him.