My Italian Heart

Chapter Thirty Seven

I was sure Em must have known. David might have been the one who wanted to keep it secret, but he was also the one making it beyond obvious in front of Emily. I couldn't believe he had hit Adam, it seemed so out of character. Not that I could judge him after I smacked the i***t myself. I couldn't believe after what he did, he dared to lay a finger on me, let alone kiss me like that. David waited for Emily to leave at least before he started quizzing me about it. I had barely managed to tell him anything before Em walked into the office.

"Continue."

"It's not a big deal, you need to stop stressing about it." I was buying for time and hoping Adam was long gone before David found out and went after him. If he had smacked him just for turning up here, then he would kill him when he found out what he had done.

"If that's the case, then tell me." I rubbed absently at the wrist Adam had held when I had tried to pull away. I was used to roughness, but that was something else entirely. Even though everyone was downstairs, he had scared me. The only reason he left when he did was because I threatened to scream. I couldn't believe how blind I had been about what a creep he was. It was like he wasn't used to not getting what he wanted and thought taking it by force was the answer.

"I really don't want to talk about it."

"I'm going to kill him."

"No, you are not. I don't want you doing anything. He's gone now anyway." He crossed the room to me, holding my hand up. Realising he must have seen me rubbing at it. I had a red circle around my wrist that was angry enough to be obvious even on my dark skin.

"Come on."

"What? Where?"

"Home, now." I grabbed my bag quickly as he pulled me up. He was forceful, but the difference between his force and Adam's was stark. I thought he meant my home, but as he bundled me into his car, I realized he meant the cabin. He was still angry, seething even. I could almost see the steam radiating from him.

I laid a hand on his thigh as he drove. "I'm alright. You need to calm down."

"I should have been there."

"It's fine, I'm fine."

"The second that creep put his hands on you, it wasn't fine. I tried to get up, but Em stopped me. She said you could handle it."

"I did handle it." He gave me a questioning look. "Do you think Emily knows about us?"

"I don't know, but I can't think about that now." I leant over to him as we were approaching the cabin and left the slightest kiss on his cheek. For the first time since Adam had arrived he smiled back at me and seemed to relax slightly. He opened the door for me and attempted to scoop me off my feet as I stood.

"There's nothing wrong with my legs. I can walk perfectly well." He was being ridiculously over protective, even for him. Still, it made me smile. Well, it did more than that. I felt like I was floating as he treated me like some sort of precious stone. The way he was cherishing me was somewhat addictive. I followed him into the cabin. It was the first time I had been there with David, but the cabin was just as familiar to me as all the other. The open plan living room, kitchen and dining room with its chunky rustic wooden furniture. The simple colors on the walls, Rylie had wanted to keep them all fairly neutral. The kitchen was the only modern looking addition to the room, with its stainless steel appliances and slate worktop. The cupboards were a simple rustic oak design, but suited the rest of the kitchen perfectly. I couldn't take credit because Rylie had designed most of it. I had just followed orders for the most part.

David steered me towards the dining table, which could only be described as a huge chunk of a tree. It had been sanded to perfection and varnished before the simple black legs were added. I sat down on the simple leather and metal chair and waited. I really didn't need so much fuss. David headed into the kitchen and came back with some sort of frozen vegetables wrapped in a tea towel. Pressing them lightly on the mark on my wrist. The band of fire seemed to start cooling instantly, but I was certain it was more about David's care than the frozen veg.

"Are you going to tell me what he did?"

"Nope, but this is my only mark. Well, except this." I lifted my right hand to show him the abrasions on my knuckles that I was rather proud of. It had only broken the skin in one spot which was where I had caught his tooth when I decked him. A small price to pay to see the look on his face. It was clear from Adam's reaction that he had fully expected me just to stand there and give in to his advances. I felt like I had done more to damage his mentality than he could possibly manage to do to me. David started to head off back to the kitchen, no doubt to get some more contents from the freezer, but I grabbed at his arm before he could get very far. "I'm fine. Just sit down, will you?"

He did as he was told, but I could tell he wasn't happy about it. He just sat there running his thumb over my knuckles as if it would make the marks magically disappear. "What I really want is a shower and a glass of wine." I could still smell the lingering scent of Adam on my skin and I wanted to scrub it off as soon as possible. I felt like I was being slightly overly dramatic, it wasn't like he had actually done anything to me. Not when you consider what he could have done. Other than the forceful kiss and his hands snatching at me, I was unscathed. It was the moment his hands had made their way up my top that I had found the strength to push him off.

David released my hand and gave me a slight nod and it was all I needed to push back from the table and head back to the bathroom. I was grateful for Rylie's insistence on the rainfall showerhead as soon as I stood under the tepid stream. Within seconds, I felt more me, clean again almost. It was an odd sensation and I would be happy to never feel it again. It was almost like the shower had the power to wash away the sins of others. I just stood there for the longest time, letting the water roll over me.

When I finally reached for the body wash, I grabbed David's although there was a more girly fruity bottle in there too. I recognized it as Em's preferred brand. The idea of smelling like him for the rest of the day felt almost like I would be walking around with a comfort blanket around my shoulders.

Not bothering to wash my hair and slipping out of the large glass shower unit and straight into one of the fluffy white towels. There was no arguing that the shower had been just what I needed. I felt so refreshed and completely myself again.

As I padded my way back out to the living area, I spotted David already sitting on the sofa. He had set two glasses of wine on the coffee table and the rest of the bottle was waiting nearby. As I got closer, I noticed the big red porcelain bowl of popcorn. "I thought we could watch a movie, decompress a little."

"Sounds like heaven." I bounced down onto the sofa beside him. Grabbing my glass of sparkling white and curled into him, still clad in my towel. Tucking my feet beneath me, my head poking out from under his arm and finding a comfortable spot on his chest. Waiting while he flicked through pages and pages of movies. I got the feeling that it was the incident with Adam that was making it difficult for him to choose. Heading straight past the action movies, then the romance movies, before pausing on the comedy ones. That didn't last long before he decided against those too.

He was trying too hard. It wasn't necessary. As he clicked on an old classic black and white movie, I moved myself. Stradling his knee and letting my towel fall. I wasn't trying to seduce him, it just happened that way. Instead, I moved my hands to his shoulders, slowly kneading them with careful but forceful pressure. His muscles were rock hard with tension and it was like trying to undo the most sophisticated of sailors knots in each of his shoulders.

I kept teasing the tension free as he began nibbling at my neck. It was the most delicious sensation, but I was determined not to give up until he was more relaxed and stopped beating himself up so much.