memory in the hope there would come a day when he'd pay for it.
Sucking in a deep breath, I attempted to calm down and be rational. I had to put some ice on the forming bruise and make sure the visible damage would be as small as possible. Lowering my head, I tramped into the dark hallway and hurried toward the kitchen. The house was quiet and I wasn't too concerned about coming across anybody. Sadly, this wasn’t the first time I snuck out of my room to fetch a pack of ice to minimize the damage of Alessandro's blows. Granted, it had been a long while since he had hit me, but the practice of tending for my own injuries hadn’t been a rare incident in the past, but rather a fully formed habit.
Suddenly, I noticed a large figure that advanced toward me in half-darkness. When I stepped closer, I discerned the face of my bodyguard Broderick. It had been a year since I'd met him in Alessandro's fancy office. Though he appeared to be a good man, I had never allowed myself to warm up to him. Careful to keep my distance, I didn't engage in any personal conversations or allowed him to come closer than necessary. His every attempt for us to form a tighter bond had been rebuffed on my part. Eventually, he hadn’t had any other option but to stop trying. He had to accept I wanted him to act exclusively professional in my presence. Still, that didn't mean I was comfortable enough to let him see what Alessandro had done. Self-conscious of the bruise that formed on my cheek, I pulled my hair as much as I could over my face, and kept my head bowed so it would stay covered.
“Good evening, Mrs. Damiani,” Broderick greeted in his usual polite tone. “I didn't think you’d return so early from the convention. I was about to retire for the night, that is, if you don't need me at this very moment.”
“That's fine, Broderick. You can go to sleep.” I mumbled a short greeting and dashed away without sparing him a glance.
“What the....” Broderick exclaimed and reached for my wrist, halting my movement. In my struggle to get away from him, the hair I arranged over the bruise flew over my shoulder and my face became fully exposed to my bodyguard's stunned view. For a short while, he appeared to be speechless, then spoke in a quiet voice. “What the hell happened to you, ma'am?”
“I'm fine,” I snapped and tried to get away, but it was too late. He had already seen the damage.
He stared with obvious disbelief. “Mrs. Damiani?”
“It's nothing. I'm fine,” I assured him, attempting to move along, but he wouldn't ease his grip on my wrist. The longer he stared at my face, the more nervous I got.
“He did this to you, didn't he?” he concluded and frowned, gritting his teeth. “That bastard hit you?”
Goose-bumps of dread pricked my skin and the instant need for self-preservation urged me to fabricate a thousand different lies about what had happened, but I was unable to tell tales because I sensed this man wouldn’t believe them anyway, so I remained silent.
“Olivia...” he uttered my name, willing me to speak.
Usually, Broderick always conducted himself in a highly professional manner, called me Mrs. Damiani and respected my desire for privacy, but his control slipped. “Don't.” I fought to get away from him, omitting to reprimand him for the way he spoke to me. “I can handle it myself.”
“I don't think so,” he said in a decisive voice, and pulled me even closer.
“I said I could handle it,” I insisted, trying to get away from his grip.
“Like hell you can!” He lifted my face and made me look at him. He gazed at me for a few long moments. “Look at you. You have a busted lip, there are tears in your eyes and you’re fucking shaking. How long are you going to let that bastard get away with this?”
I tried to say something, but had no words left in me. I closed my eyes and focused on my breathing. Tears were about to edge their way out. When Broderick pulled me closer, in a manner that felt protective and all too comforting, I didn't fight him. Instead, I let out a gasp of surrender and grew limp in his strong arms.
“Come,” he said quietly, and pulled me toward the kitchen door.