Falling With Grace

“I couldn’t make it to the bathroom.” She lifted her foot and pulled it out of the pant leg.

“Seeing as how you passed out in my arms, I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt.” I tapped her other leg. “Next.”

“You don’t have to do this.” She shifted, then raised the other as I pulled, her hand never leaving her soft belly.

“Do you want my men to do it?” My upper lip curled.

Her brows lifted, her eyes widening like saucers as she shook her head. “No. I mean, isn’t there a female staff or even someone—”

“Nadia? You want her to come in and help you?” I pulled away from her and reached for the door.

“No.” She hung her head, her hair falling into her face.

A fresh trail of blood ran down her legs, mingling with the water droplets dotting her skin.

“Then I’m your only option.” I flicked the showerhead on.

Water soaked the strands on her face, clinging to her cheeks as her vibrant green eyes scrutinized me, her delicate throat bobbing with a swallow.

A sharp pang in my chest surged to life, stealing my focus. The world around me blurred. The rhythmic drumming of water against the ceramic tub transformed into a distant, muted hum.

How hadn’t I seen it before?

Stunning.

Grace doubled over, tearing her gaze from mine.

Grabbing her, I stepped into the tub, stopping her from crashing to the tub floor. The water saturated my pants, causing them to adhere to my legs, and my shoes filled with water. “Let’s get you cleaned up.”

Holding her steady, I held her against me as she squirted body wash into her palm, then ran her hands down her legs and between. “This is so embarrassing.”

Grace droppedher gaze to the floor as she sniffled. Tears streaked her cheeks in shining trails that curled under her chin, her shoulders shuddering in my hold.

“There’s nothing to be embarrassed about.”

“Easy for you to say.”

She groaned as she worked to clean her body, my hands keeping her steady and offering what little comfort I could.

“I think I’m done now.”

She stood straight up, and I moved the hair from her face, wiping the tears from her cheeks.

She was too beautiful to cry.

So innocent, yet tainted by this cruel world.

How would her life have been if Andrés hadn’t gotten his hands on her?

She’d be in her second year of college, maybe choosing the family route instead of a career. Either way, he ripped her future from her as though it were a piece of paper with an ugly drawing and left her with this… a broken shell of a woman who cared for those more than her survival.

A gentle knock interrupted my thoughts. “Jefe.”

“Can you stand on your own?”

She swallowed and nodded, her blanched knuckles holding onto the soap cutout. “I think so, yes.”

I stepped out of the tub, kicked off my soaked shoes as I wrapped a towel around my waist, and then cracked the door.