TORTURE ME_ The Bandits MC(62)

“No, no,” Fiona said, leaning over to press her lips against the top of Tori’s forehead. “Thank you.”



“Can I sleep now?” Tori asked in a soft, low voice, almost like she was afraid to make the request. But Fiona just smiled and nodded, getting up from the chair next to the bed.



“Of course. You get some rest,” Fiona said, finally dropping Tori’s hands after the girl shut her eyes, her forehead scrunched up with worry even as her breathing slowly began deeper and more even.



Gage and Fiona quietly left the room, walking down the hallway before even looking at each other. Gage knew Fiona didn’t want to give her opinion on the case close enough where Tori might hear it, in case any further discussion of the murderer was a potential trigger for the traumatized girl. When they were at a safe distance, Gage turned to face Fiona, staring at her expectantly, waiting for her to present her analysis of the case.



Instead, Fiona stared up at him with more pain in her eyes than Gage had ever seen her exhibit. “Take me home,” Fiona said, rubbing her own arms up and down like she was freezing.



“Okay,” Gage said, his hands itching to reach forward and pull Fiona into a hug. He held himself back, aware that sometimes Fiona didn’t like to be touched when she was upset. And she was clearly upset right now, even though she was trying to hide it. That’s my girl, he thought to himself as he followed Fiona back down the hospital hallway. Always trying to be strong.





Chapter Seventeen




Fiona’s eyes burned all the way back to Gage’s apartment. She fought as hard as she could to keep tears from filling her eyes. She wouldn’t do that. She couldn’t, at least not until she got into a private place. At the same time, she could feel anxiety coming off of Gage, clearly worried about what to do. But Fiona didn’t have the energy to reassure him right now. She felt like her insides were coming apart, all of her cells running away from each other in an effort to avoid being touched by anything. She wanted to run away from herself. She wanted to come out of her body, to rip all her flesh off and pretend that she had never been violated. But it wasn’t that easy, she knew. She’d have to stay in her body and force all of her organs to calm down, to stay put, to go on like normal. But not tonight, she knew. For at least one night, she’d give herself permission to let herself fall apart, whatever that meant.



When they got back to Gage’s apartment building, Fiona broke into a brisk walk, wanting to get inside as quickly as possible. She expected Gage to tell her to slow down, but instead, he just ran after her, getting ahead of her with his keys in his hand. He must have known how she felt, despite their lack of verbal communication on the ride back. Any other time, she would have felt annoyed at Gage’s ability to understand her better than anyone else. It would have made her angry, even. But for now, she just felt relieved as he quickly unlocked the door and held it open for her, allowing her to step inside before him.



She walked into the living room, clutching her own arms in an attempt to shrink into herself and take up as little space as possible. Gage closed and locked the door before walking around her to the kitchen. “I’ll make us something to eat,” he said softly, going to the refrigerator.



There was something about him just then. Maybe it was the fact that he was trying to take care of her. Maybe it was that he was trying to distract her. Maybe it was just the way he looked under the dim lighting of the kitchen, the way the light caught his eyes and seemed to make something inside of him shine like moonlight. All Fiona knew was that her legs carried her forward of their own volition until she was standing right before Gage, her hand reaching out to close the refrigerator before he could take anything out. “Fiona?” he asked, his forehead wrinkling up in confusion as he looked at her, wordlessly inquiring about her intentions.



“Gage,” Fiona said, stepping forward until there was no space between their bodies, their chests brushing up against each other. “Gage, I need…I need….” She sighed and melted into him, pressing her head in the crook of his neck. She felt him stiffen next to her, obviously still confused and maybe even a little conflicted, but Fiona didn’t care. She needed him right now, even if it made her a bad person, even if she was corrupt and rotten and broken inside. She already knew all those things about herself, but Gage was the only thing that made her consider the possibility, however small, that maybe she didn’t have to change anything about herself.



“What is it, baby?” Gage whispered, his hand coming up to brush up against the back of Fiona’s head, pressing her deeper into his body.