by Vi Lily
Alex knew he was being rougher with her than he should, especially considering all the crap she’d gone through with her brother, but it pissed him off that she kept hurting herself.
The roughness worked and she stilled. He took her boots off, set them under the coffee table and looked up at her. Ari was staring straight ahead, with a completely blank look on her face.
Great. Freaked the poor girl out.
He stood and cleared his throat. “I’ll, uh, go find us something to eat. After that, I’ll show you your room and your bathroom.”
That snapped her out of her shock and she started to push herself off the sofa. “I can help—”
“No, you can help by sitting your little butt on that sofa and not hurting yourself any more,” he told her, gruff once again. If she was going to insist on being stupid and reinjuring herself, then he’d use the anger that seemed to make her obey him.
He turned toward the kitchen and snorted to himself. Obey me, like she’s some dog. Alex wondered then if he had some sort of deep-seated desire for domination, like that movie Steve had forced him to watch a few weeks back, where the guy was into bondage. He shook his head; that wasn’t it. He just wanted Ari to get better. He didn’t have any desire to tie her up and spank her or anything.
He had to mentally shake his head again at those thoughts, because they were surprisingly… appealing.
Hell, maybe I am some weird sicko.
Alex wasn’t much of a cook, but he could heat up burritos like no one else. After the microwave dinged, he topped them with shredded cheese, then grabbed the salsa and sour cream and headed to the living room.
Ari had finished her hot chocolate, so he set the food on the coffee table, then took the cup from her and went back into the kitchen to grab some bottles of soda. When he walked back into the room, his heart clenched at the look on her face as she stared at the food.
He fixed a burrito for her and then sat next to her as they ate in silence. As was usual for him, he ate four burritos in no time flat, while she had barely eaten a quarter of one burrito. She seemed to be having trouble getting it down but looked like she was forcing herself.
“Don’t make yourself sick,” he told her and took the plate from her, setting it on the table in front of her. “It’s obvious you don’t eat much at a time, so just let that settle and then you can eat more later, okay?”
Ari smiled slightly and nodded as she sipped her soda. Alex then turned on the television and flipped through the channels until he found some chick flick he thought she’d like. In no time at all, he felt his eyes grow heavy. He hadn’t slept well, then had all the tensions of the day, including the incredibly slow drive back home. He was wiped out.
“Alex,” the soft voice permeated the nightmare. His father was punching him yet again, beating him into a submission that would never come. Alex was small, too little to fight back, but his will was strong.
But his body was broken, bloody. That pain was nothing compared to what was going to come after the beating…
He woke up swinging.
When his fist connected with something soft, Alex came fully awake. Ari was sitting next to him, but was leaning away, her arms covering her head.
He cursed. “I’m sorry, Ari, I’m sorry,” he rushed out as he turned toward her. He hadn’t told her about the way he woke up, and to never, ever touch him when he was asleep, but he hadn’t expected to fall asleep around her either.
She was whimpering with her arms still covering her face. Alex gently gripped her wrists and pulled her arms down. If he hurt her, he was never going to forgive himself.
“Did I hit you? Are you okay?” He didn’t see any blood on her face, thankfully, but that didn’t mean he hadn’t hit her. And with his strength, he could have easily broken her.
Ari kept her eyes shut tight. It reminded him of what a small child would do, like screwing their eyes shut would keep a monster away.
He hated that he was the monster.
And more tears were falling. Alex reached up and touched her face, running his fingers gently down the side through the wetness, trying to assess any injury. He then ran his hand into her hair and winced when he felt a lump. She winced too.
He dropped his hand. “Oh man, I’m so sorry… I didn’t mean to—”
Her eyes flew open. “No, that wasn’t from you,” she said as she touched the lump on her head. She glanced at him.
“And you didn’t hit me, just the sofa.” She pointed to a spot too close to her head for comfort.
He winced again. “I’m sorry for scaring you—”
“No, it’s not that,” she interrupted him again as she wiped her face with shaking hands. “I jerked when you swung out and… I hurt my stupid ribs again. I think the wrap slipped when I jumped out of your truck.” Her breath was coming in gasping whispers, he noticed.
Alex looked down at the big t-shirt she still wore, like he had x-ray vision or something. It was going to be awkward, but he knew he’d have to help her with the wrap. There was no way she could do it herself. He’d just keep it clinical.
Besides, he wasn’t interested in her that way.
“Why didn’t you say something sooner?” he asked her and watched in fascination as her cheeks turned the color of tomatoes just before they’re completely ripe.
“I, um, I wasn’t, uh, sure…” her voice trailed off and she looked down at the blanket covering her lap. She plucked at imaginary lint.
Alex huffed out a breath, making a decision. “Come on,” he told her as he stood, then gently scooped her up, ignoring her protests that she could walk. He liked carrying her, for some strange reason. He figured he must be embracing his inner caveman or something.
“Where are we going?” she asked as he carried her up the stairs.
“Bathroom. You’re gonna soak in a nice hot bath, then I’m gonna wrap your ribs back up. Then I’m gonna take you to your room and you’re gonna sleep until I wake you for dinner.” He gave her those orders with a no-argument-allowed voice.
Of course, she argued anyway.
“You can’t wrap my ribs! I mean, you can’t… and I just had a shower a few hours ago! Plus, I’m not tired, and—”
He ignored her half-hearted protests as he shouldered into his bedroom, then into the bathroom, being careful not to knock her head on the doorframes. He used his elbow to turn on the lights, then walked over to the vanity and set Ari down carefully, before moving to the huge garden tub to start the water. Only the master bath had the huge tub and he started thinking about moving her to his room, and he’d take one of the guest rooms.
He didn’t even look at her as he dug through the cabinets, trying to find something to tie her hair up with. His mom had lived in the house briefly before taking off with Harry, her latest boy-toy, and she’d left some girly stuff behind.
Alex lucked out when he found some stretchy hair thing and bubble bath. He poured a good dose of the liquid under the running water, wrinkling his nose at the floral scent that hit him. It smelled too much like laundry soap, he thought.
“Oh, that smells sooo good,” Ari breathed behind him. He glanced over his shoulder at her and shrugged, pouring some more in. If she liked it, he’d buy her a case of the stuff.
Once the tub was full of thick bubbles — and he realized he poured way too much when the suds started spilling over the top and the tub wasn’t even halfway full — he moved back to the vanity and frowned.
Alex had no clue how to put her hair up but knew that she couldn’t lift her arms up to do it herself. He grabbed it and started pulling it up to the top of her head, then twisted it around until it looked like a ball. When she handed the stretch band thing to him, he realized she was shaking.
He frowned, worried that she’d be afraid of him from now on after that incident on the sofa. He pulled the band over the knot he’d made, then twisted it and wrapped it over it again for good measure. She had a crapload of hair to contain.
Ari was still shaki
ng and Alex tried to think of something to say to calm her fears, but that was out of his department. He had no idea how to calm her down, to make her realize that he would never intentionally hurt her. He’d never hit a girl in his life… even though he’d come darn close that one day.
But he hadn’t been thinking right then. That was the day his dad had called him and ordered hi to let Steve move into the house, regardless of the fact that his mom owned it and not dad. Anytime Alex talked to his dad, it brought back all the garbage from the past and made him a little crazy.
Maybe a lot crazy.
“Ari, I—” she interrupted him then when she snorted. With shock, he realized she was laughing.
She looked up at him with tears in her eyes yet again, but at least these were from laughter. She winced then, and put a hand to her side, although the grin remained.
“You’ve never done this before, have you?” she asked as she pointed to the mess he’d made on her head. Her hair looked a bit like a haystack. A messy, crumbling haystack.
As he stared, the band released its hold and shot off — landing right into the toilet, of course — and her hair cascaded down over her face and shoulders, completely covering her.
That started even more giggles and Alex felt a smile tug at his lips, but he quickly shut that thing down. He never smiled. Ever. Another lesson beaten into him at a young age.
Happiness isn’t in the cards you were dealt, boy.
Ari reached up and parted her hair off her face. “I’m Cousin It!” she declared with another snort. But her smile slid off her face when she realized he wasn’t laughing with her. Or smiling.
For the first time in his life, Alex actually felt guilty for that.
“I need to, uh, get your wrap off,” he told her then and started to lift her shirt. All happiness fled then, as Ari jumped. He figured she was going to argue, but she seemed to realize it wasn’t an argument she was going to win.
Without a word, she crossed her arms over her breasts, holding the shirt in place as he lifted it. He started to tell her to move them but realized he could pull the t-shirt over her arms, encasing her like a straitjacket. He smirked at her when she narrowed her eyes at him when she realized what he’d done.
Doc had done a good job wrapping her ribs, but it had slipped at the top. Alex kept his eyes on his hands as he unwrapped the bandage. He wanted to make sure he was as impersonal as possible. He didn’t want to spook her, but he also didn’t want her getting any ideas, thinking he was interested in her or anything.
As her skin started appearing as the wrap came off, Alex had to really fight not to show any emotion. Ari was staring at him, probably waiting to see how he’d react to her bruises and scars. And there were so many; even more than he had himself. How such a tiny thing had survived so many beatings was beyond him.
Once he unwound the final section, his hands were shaking.
He helped her off the vanity and then turned to leave, making a point to lock the door as he did. She needed to know she was safe in the bathroom, that no one would be able to walk in on her.
“Call me when you’re done and I’ll get you wrapped up again,” he said over his shoulder as he pulled the door shut.
And then he went into his room and punched the wall, wishing more than anything it was her brother’s face.
Chapter 3
A RI WAS STILL in the bath when Steve walked in the front door. Alex was surprised to see him; the storm had worsened, and he’d figured his brother would have stayed in whatever hole he’d crawled into.
Steve glanced at him as he passed, then around the room, probably checking to see if he’d made a mess, but Alex had picked up after their lunch, making sure he covered Ari’s leftover burrito because he somehow knew it would comfort her to see that it was still waiting for her. He needed her to know that there was plenty of food to eat.
If he had anything to say about it, she’d never go hungry again.
His hands were still shaking. The sight of her skeletal little body bearing signs from all the vicious beatings she’d obviously been given — probably worse than even Vato had gotten in the freaking ring — was nauseating. Alex knew he’d never get over it.
And he’d never wanted to kill anyone like he did her brother. Not even his dad had angered him as much.
Steve looked stoned, as usual. Alex sighed; he was hoping his brother would somehow be sober so that he could get through to him how important it was for him to leave Ari the hell alone. If Steve even so much as breathed near her, Alex couldn’t guarantee he wouldn’t pound him into the ceramic tile.
“Hold up,” he told him when he started up the stairs. “We need to talk.”
Steve frowned at him, one foot already on the stairs. “I cleaned the living room, slave-driving jackass,” he growled. Normally, a comment like that would end in a shouting contest, or else a fight, but Alex just cracked his neck from side to side and shrugged his shoulders before crossing his arms over his chest.
“I know. Thanks,” he forced out. There was no reason in hell he should be thanking Steve for cleaning up his own mess, but he needed the douche to listen to him and being nice was one way to do it. The other usually involved doctors and stitches.
It worked. Steve’s eyebrow rose and he released his hold on the banister and turned toward him, crossing his arms over his chest as Alex had done. Alex realized then how aggressive that posture looked, so he dropped his arms to the side.
“I have a friend staying here,” he told Steve, who just shrugged.
“So?”
“So, it’s a girl, just a friend. But,” he emphasized the word, “you need to stay away from her. Leave her alone. She’s… she’s been through a lot. In fact, she’s pretty beat up.”
Both of Steve’s eyebrows had risen and Alex hoped to hell he was mistaking the look that hinted at interest. His brother could be a real jerk when it came to preying on those weaker than him.
“She doesn’t have anything to offer you, bro, so just leave her alone. We clear?” Even though Steve was older than him by two years, Alex had always been the authoritative one. Normally, Steve could hold his own in a fight and had on many occasions when he took exception to Alex’s bossing him, but since he’d gotten hooked on coke, he had lost some of his edge.
“What’s she to you?”
Alex’s teeth clenched at that. Figured that Steve would choose to dig deeper now that Alex didn’t have any easy answers.
“A friend,” he repeated. “A friend who needs a quiet, safe place. I’m giving that to her. Just like I did for you,” he said by way of reminder that this wasn’t his brother’s house. It wasn’t Alex’s either, but he at least had permission to be there. Steve definitely did not.
In fact, the last time he’d talked to their mother several months back, she’d said that she’d cut Steve loose completely and he’d have to find his own life, because she was done. “Tough love time,” she’d said. “He’s never going to get straight if we keep bailing him out.”
Two weeks later that Steve had shown up at his door.
It occurred to him that Steve might recognize Ari as the girl at the auction the night before, but he doubted it. She looked a lot different now that she was cleaned up. But she was beautiful and her “off-limits status” would present a challenge to his moron brother.
“If you bother her at all, you’re outta here, bro. I mean that,” he growled. He didn’t even care that Steve flinched. His brother was a royal pain.
“Yeah, yeah,” he muttered as he turned to go back up the stairs.
Alex frowned as he watched him go. While he had all kinds of reasons to beat the crap out of his brother, he was afraid of what he might do if he messed with Ari.
Speaking of…
She’d been in the bath an awfully long time, so he headed up the stairs to his room.
“Ari?” he knocked on the door and listened. There was no answer. He tried twice more, louder each time and then his heart started pounding.
What if she fell asleep in the tub and drowned?
Alex ran to his dresser where he kept spare keys. He had one to the bathroom and he dug through the drawer, frantically trying to find it.
Finally! Just when he’d decided he’d just bust the door in, he found the right key and rushed back to the door with shaking hands.
She hadn’t drowned, but she looked like she was sound asleep. Alex stepped up to the tub and gently put his fingers on her neck, checking for a pulse. She’d tossed her hair over the end of the tub to keep it out of the water since he hadn’t been able to get it to stay up and her arms were draped over the sides. Totally relaxed. And exposed.
His eyes flickered over her breasts, now visible since the massive amount of bubbles had dissipated somewhat. He realized what he was doing and straightened quickly, feeling like a perv for checking her out when she was so vulnerable.
The water had to be getting cold and Alex debated adding some more hot to it but decided against it. If she saw him in the bathroom with her, she’d probably freak. And never trust him again.
Alex turned and left the room quickly, thankfully remembering to lock the door behind him. He then pounded on the door and yelled her name, feeling a bit like an idiot for the ruse. It was necessary though. Ari needed to feel safe there. The last thing he wanted was for her to freak.
He heard some splashing and a groggy reply, so he called out, “Just wanted to make sure you didn’t fall asleep in there. Don’t want you drowning or anything.”
“I’ll be out in a minute,” she called and he nodded, then felt like an idiot when he realized she couldn’t see it.
He pulled some clean sweats and a sweatshirt out for her, but then he realized that there was no way she’d be able to wear his clothes. She’d been swimming in Doc’s clothes and he was a good foot shorter than him.
Digging around in his drawers some more, he came up with a pair of shorts that had a drawstring and a long-sleeved t-shirt that was too tight on him. He also got some clean socks out.
Knocking on the bathroom door again, he said, “Open up,” then handed her the clothes through the crack she’d opened.