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She blinked in surprise when she realized that there was a change of clothes lying on the counter that hadn’t been there before And a thick robe hanging on the back of the door There was also a pair of slippers The aze tracked to the clothes again and she frowned Like he kept wo around his apartment?

She picked up the pair of jeans and the T-shirt and quickly saw that both were too big Not by o they would have fit She hadn’t been as thin then Not as lean More fleshed out She’d had more of an actual shape

Now she was reduced to boobs and not ular features due to weight loss Life on the streets was hard It aged a person before their ti the time to dry herself completely, she pulled on the pair of panties stuck between the jeans and the T-shirt, e some other woman’s underwear There wasn’t a bra, and she supposed it didn’t reallyapart The one she’d taken off--or rather Jace had taken off--was dirty and torn It wasn’t salvageable

It wasn’t as if he hadn’t already gotten up close and personal with her boobs Seeing her without a bra wouldn’t be a shock

She tugged the T-shirt over her head and it hung loosely over her hips It didn’t even stretch tight over her breasts, which ed to wason the jeans, she took the towel off her head and dragged her fingers through her hair in an atteled wet-cat look She was only h Jace’s drawers to borrow a brush

She blew out a deep breath, squared her shoulders and then turned to the door She hesitated, her hand gripping the knob Total chicken The idea of facing Jace terrified her Not because she thought he’d hurt her but because she knew she didn’t stand a chance against him

Worse, she wasn’t certain she wanted to stand up to hi taken care of was such a foreign concept that it teled before her like the proverbial carrot before the donkey

She juainst her hand

"Bethany? Are you finished?"

Sing, she opened the door to see Jace standing a few feet away He glanced down her body and frowned

"I need you to take those jeans back off I was supposed to bandage you up before you got dressed"

"I forgot," she said in a low voice "I assu there that you intended fordeal Co room We’ll do it there"

He reached out his hand to cup her elbow and then he guided her out of the bathroo room

He had a truly spectacular view of the city with panoramic s

"Slip out of your jeans," he said "Then get comfortable on the couch Dinner is just about ready By the ti it was useless to argue, she unfastened the pants and let the," Jace said as she kicked them away He reached for her hand and pulled her down to sit next to hiet what you need The very first thing you’re getting is a da all over this da That shit stops now"

There was steel in his tone and yet soe of concern in his voice He spoke like a

She erous territory She’d learned the hard way that she could rely on absolutely no one but herself to take care of her And even she had let herself down Just like all the others

He leaned toward the coffee table, where a s moment of silence while he applied ointauze and tape on the large ones and put large Band-Aids on the smaller cuts

Before she realized his intent, he pushed her back on the couch and lifted her T-shirt

"I don’t have any cuts there!" she cried when his hand skimmed over her belly

His expression was aze to hers "No, but you have bruises What the fuck happened out there, Bethany? Who did this to you?"

He sounded so pissed that she flinched froer in his voice It was instinctive to withdraw Self-preservation

A low hiss escaped his tight lips "Godda to hurt you I will never hurt you But I want to knohat son of a bitch did"

"Y-you s-sound so a-angry"

"Hell yes I’m furious! But not at you, baby" His voice softened as he called her baby, and so inside her went soft as well "I’oing to tell me exactly how this happened"

She went pale and her eyes widened

Then, when she hadn’t thought he could do anything else to surprise her, he leaned over her and lowered his head to her ribs He pressed a kiss to each and every bruise, his mouth so tender she barely felt the pressure

Dear God, hoas she ever going to resist thisfor pain?" he asked

"I’ry"

He i oncehas it been since you ate? And don’t lie to me"

She sed hard, but she didn’t lie "Three days"

"Son of a bitch!"

His jaw bulged and he turned away as if collecting hiaze, there was fire in his eyes and he still looked as if he’d explode at any second

"You have to give me a minute," he h his nose before finally rising fro for her to take it and get up too When she let hiuided her hand to his arh the pants legs

After he fastened the fly, he took her hand and guided her into the kitchen The entire apart into the next The dining roo area, was in front of the kitchen and off the living room to the side There was an island-bar co to see into the dining roo rooh-backed bar stool and then walked around to the stove top, where three different skillets were si She watched with interest while he drained pasta and then tossed it into the skillet with the sauce He gave it an expert twist, and added seasoning before serving two plates Lastly, he speared a chicken breast, which had been sautéing in the last pan and sliced it into thin pieces before arranging it over the pasta