Chapter 32
“ C onnor, what did you do?” I ask as soon as we’re alone.
“Nothing you need to worry about. Tell me where it hurts the most. Do you think anything’s broken?”
I don’t like the way he’s looking at me right now. I don’t like how it feels.
“I want a shower,” I tell him, choosing not to push him on the subject of his father. Honestly, I don’t have the energy for it, and I really don’t care. It makes no difference what he did or what consequences come with it. I’m still going to be here, by his side, fighting for us.
“The doctor is coming up to see you,” Connor says.
“I don’t want a doctor. I want a shower. I need to wash them off me. I need to get clean. Please. I need a shower,” I repeat, a hint of desperation in my voice. I don’t like that either.
Connor sits me on the edge of the bed. His eyes roam up and down my body.
I take hold of his hands, ignoring the fact they’re covered in dried-up blood, and squeeze. “Don’t do that,” I whisper.
“Do what?”
“Look at me like I’m broken. I didn’t break. I’m fine,” I assure him. “I just want a shower.”
“I know you’re not breakable, princess. I’m sorry this happened. I should have gotten to you sooner. I shouldn’t have let them fucking take you.”
“We can sit here, play the blame game, and let them take more of our time and energy, Connor, or you can help me into the shower and we can figure out where we go from there.”
“I love you.” Connor smiles down at me.
“I love you.”
He helps me to my feet. He then decides I’m not capable of walking and picks me up, carrying me across the room into a bathroom. He doesn’t put me down again until we make it to the vanity. I look into the mirror and see my reflection for the first time since entering that basement.
“Holy shit,” I curse under my breath. My entire face is covered in bruises, my nose and cheeks swelled up with tiny cuts scattered all over. “I look hideous.”
I get I shouldn’t be vain at a time like this. I should be thankful to be alive. Also, I don’t care. If all I want to focus on is the way I look on the outside, then that’s what I’m going to do.
“You should leave. I can shower by myself,” I tell Connor.
“Yeah, that’s not happening, and you are far from hideous, princess,” he says.
“I don’t want you to see me like this.” I look like I’ve gone through a hundred rounds in the ring with a champion fighter and came out the loser.
“Too fucking bad. I’m not leaving.” Connor reaches for the bottom of my shirt and starts lifting the hem. I wince as he raises the fabric over my head.
I glance down at my torso. I’m not surprised to see the same bruising. There are imprints from the belts and whips they used as well.
“I’m going to fucking kill every last one of them,” Connor hisses through clenched teeth.
“I don’t even know who they were.” Otherwise, I’d be right there with him. Giving them a taste of their own cruelty.
“I know exactly who they are and I promise you they will pay for what they’ve done to you.”
“Okay,” I tell him. I don’t know what else to say.
I could pretend to be the type of person who doesn’t want their heads on spikes, but that’s just not me.
I wasn’t raised to be complacent. I was raised to always come out on top.
To fight. My heart hurts just thinking about my family. “I need to call my parents.”
A look passes over Connor’s face. “Soon,” he says before dropping his glare. He’s hiding something. What isn’t he telling me?
“Connor O’Malley, we do not lie to each other.”
That has his eyes flicking up in my direction again. “I’ve never lied to you.”
“Omitting facts is the same as lying. What aren’t you telling me?” I press him.
“Let’s get in the shower. The sooner the doctor can treat you, the sooner we can get out of this city,” he says.
“Why don’t you want me to talk to my parents?” I ask him.
“It’s not your parents I’m worried about, Aurora. Someone told my father we were on that island, and the only people who knew we were on that island are related to you,” he says.
“My family would never give me up.” It’s ridiculous that he even thinks they would.
“Maybe not, but someone did.” Connor pulls my shorts down my legs, cursing at the discoloration he finds all over my thighs. “Aurora, did they… did…?”
“No,” I answer the unspoken question hanging between us. “No…”
Connor sighs in relief. “I’m sorry,” he tells me again.
“I’m going to be fine.”
“I know.” He reaches into the shower and turns it on, making sure the temperature is warm before he helps me inside the stall.
The water stings the open gashes on my skin, but I welcome the burn. I need this. I need to feel clean. The thought has me glancing down at the puddle on the shower floor. It’s covered in a mixture of blood and dirt.
After Connor helps me wash my hair and every inch of my body, he wraps me in a big towel and takes me back into the bedroom. Then he opens the door and yells out, “Aisling, come here!”
I stay seated on the bed, holding the towel tighter in my hands. When a gorgeous redhead comes into the room, I glance over at Connor.
“Aurora, my cousin, Aisling.” He waves a hand between us.
“Levi’s Aisling? No wonder he’s strung up. Hi, I’m Aurora.” I smile, trying not to feel self-conscious about the way I look.
“Hi, Aisling and definitely not Levi’s anything. Your cousin is a—there aren’t even words for what that ejit is,” she says.
“I know.” I laugh.
“She needs clothes,” Connor chimes in.
“Right. Hold on a sec.” Aisling walks back out the door.
“You should say please,” I tell Connor.
“What?” He glances at me with bewilderment.
“You just ordered your cousin to get me clothes. You should have said please,” I explain.
He opens his mouth to say something, but Aisling walks back into the room holding an oversized hoodie and a pair of sweats.
“Thank you, I really appreciate this,” I tell her since my husband seems to have lost his manners somewhere along the way.
“Thanks. Can you send the doc up? As soon as he’s seen Aurora, we’ll leave,” Connor finally adds.
“Sure thing, boss. You do know they’re combing the streets looking for you, right?”
“I have no doubt.” Connor smirks.
I don’t ask him any of the million questions that are on my mind. I’ll wait until we’re alone for that interrogation. I’ll also wait until I have more energy.
I grit my teeth and bear it as the doctor applies some kind of balm to my cuts. He then gives Connor a rundown of my injuries, which are all minor, while I lie here and wait for him to leave. I want to be alone—well, alone with Connor.
“Thanks, Doc.” Connor shakes the old man’s hand as they both walk towards the door. Once it clicks closed, he turns back to me. “We need to go.”
“Okay. But can I call my dad?” I ask him. “Or my mom?”
“Aurora, if your family sees you like this, it’s going to bring World War III to the streets of Dublin.”
“Would that be such a bad thing?” I shrug.
“Right now? Yes,” he says.
“Why?”
“Because this city is ours,” he tells me.
I blink. Once, then twice. “What do you mean ours ?”
“I mean, this city, the organization… it’s mine and yours. I killed my father, Aurora. You know how this world works. When the king dies, who takes over the throne?”
“His heir,” I whisper. “Holy shit, Connor.” This is huge. It’s also something he’s never wanted. “What are you going to do?”
“First, we need to get somewhere safe. And then, I’m going hunting. I’m going after them all, everyone with a taste for power, and I will deliver you every single one of their hearts.” He looks me in the eye as he says this.
“ Or we could wait until I heal a little and I could help you.” I smile.
“Deal.” Connor sits next to me on the bed. “If you call your parents, you can’t tell them what I’ve done, Aurora. They’re going to ask a lot of questions.”
“The criminal underworld is worse than Gossip Girl , Connor. It’s only a matter of time before they find out.”
“I know. We just… need to get in front of this,” he says.
“Okay. I have to let them know I’m alive, though. I don’t like that they’re worrying about me.”
“You can do that.” Connor pulls a phone from his pocket and places it on my waiting palm.
I dial my mom’s number. After assuring her that I’m safe and that I’ll be in touch soon, I return the phone to Connor and watch as he destroys it.
“You ready?” he asks me.
“To run away with you? Always.” I grin, even though it hurts to do it.