now this fucker Rocco, who’s looking for revenge for his daughter,” Luis groaned as he rubbed a hand down his face. “This isn’t gonna end well.”
“We just have to be smart,” Bonham said. “If we play this right, we might actually make it out of this alive. Becoming allies with Rocco is our best bet.”
The five of us grew quiet, no doubt thinking about everything that could happen. There were a million what-ifs. No one spoke again until Rogue’s driver finally showed up hours later. I’d dozed off against Rogue’s chest, barely feeling it when he lifted me in his arms and walked me to the car. He sat in the backseat with me, never letting go.
When we got to his house, we all trudged inside the empty estate. The other guys broke off to their respective guest rooms, while Rogue led me up to his room. He’d been quiet ever since Rocco’s men had left us. I didn’t know what was going through his mind, and that worried me. Would he push me away again? Start up his cruelty for the sake of saving me? Everything that had just happened was a major mind fuck, and I wouldn’t blame him for feeling cagey, but I would fight through his instinct to distance himself.
Once we were inside his room with the door closed, he took hold of the hem of my shirt, but before he took it off, he stopped to look at me first, waiting for permission. “This okay?” he asked with a tentative look.
It surprised the hell out of me, so it took a few seconds for me to react. I lifted my arms for him, wordlessly giving him the go-ahead. He lifted the dirty shirt over my head and let it fall to the floor. When he knelt down in front of me to unbutton my jeans, I placed my hands over his. “I can do it,” I said quietly.
His turned his head up to look at me, and when I saw his anguished expression, my heart stopped. “Just…let me do this. Let me take care of you. I need to,” he admitted hoarsely.
I swallowed the lump in my throat and nodded, watching as he peeled off my jeans and underwear. It wasn’t sexual. Not even when he unclasped my bra or led me into the bathroom. He was radiating male protectiveness and providing me with a tenderness that made my whole body feel tight with love. He turned on the spout to the jacuzzi tub, carefully adjusting the water temperature and then filled it with minty-smelling bubbles. With a hand on my arm, he helped me inside.
“Just relax. I’ll be right back.”
I nodded as he turned and left, taking a moment to breathe out a shaky breath. This was new territory, and I wasn’t sure how to navigate. I’d known Rogue as a friend, then as an enemy, and then as an aggressive sex partner, but this was different. This showed me how much he really did love me. I knew he’d been scared for me when we were kidnapped, and when control was taken out of his hands, it cost him dearly. He needed this—he needed to take care of me to reassure himself that I was okay.
I dunked my head under the warm water and then sat back up, pushing my brown hair behind my ears. Being still was dangerous, because it let my mind wander to everything that had happened, and everything that we were about to face. I thought of Rocco, of Johnny Jack, of the man Rogue killed. Plunging my head under the water, I stayed like that until my lungs felt like they were going to burst—then I stayed longer. I waited until my head started pounding as my body begged for oxygen. Just before I knew I’d pass out, I lifted up, gasping for air, but it forced the chaotic thoughts to leave, which was exactly what I wanted. I washed my body and then soaked for a little while longer before finally pulling myself out and draining the water.
After wrapping myself in a towel, I padded into the bedroom, finding Rogue just coming back in with a tray of food.
“Hey,” I said, watching as he set the tray on the bedside table.
Seeing me in the towel, he walked to his closet, coming back out with a pair of his boxers and one of his t-shirts. Taking the corner of the towel, he unwrapped it from my body, and