Leo left her alone on the bed and went to the bathroom for the first aid kit, then he searched through the drawers and closets for her makeup bag. He ran a washcloth under cool water, then brought everything back and sat next to her. She tensed. So she was back to being afraid of him—not just his brother.

“Turn your face toward the light so I can see where he hit you.”

Angelo had left a mark. It might not bruise, but it was clear she’d been hit. He wished he didn’t know so much about covering the marks of abuse, but he’d helped his sister cover marks more times than he could count.

In his family’s line of work where so much violence was commonplace, it was hard for some to separate the brutality they delivered to others from their own family—those they were supposed to love, protect, and care for.

Leo had left far worse marks than this on women, but never their face, and never out of anger. He was controlled. Was controlled violence any better? It was something he didn’t like to think about. If it was consensual, wasn’t it less evil? The Church didn’t make such distinctions, and Faith certainly hadn’t asked for Angelo’s hand to come sailing across her cheek.

He wondered if the violence he’d been raised in was the root of his sadism. The adults had tried to keep him protected when he was young, but he’d seen evidence of things, things that something in his psyche must have taken apart and put back together like a sordid Rubik’s cube, reshaping and refashioning it until all the pieces were in order again.

Leo wiped her tears, but they kept coming in a steady stream. “I need you to stop crying.”

“I-I’m sorry. I’m trying.”

He brushed the hair out of her face with his fingers. “I know you are. But I need you to try harder.” He kept his voice soft so he wouldn’t spook her. “I won’t leave you alone with any of them again. Especially not after what happened in the kitchen.”

While she tried to gain control of herself, Leo tended to her hand. The piece of glass that had cut her had been large enough not to leave any pieces embedded. It was a clean cut and not too deep. He cleaned her hand with an antiseptic and then dried it with sterile gauze. The bleeding had slowed to a trickle, so he pressed the gauze against her hand for a few more minutes.

“I’m going to use a liquid bandage instead of this. It won’t be as noticeable and won’t draw attention.”

Faith nodded and watched as he brushed the liquid bandage over the cut. The moment he’d finished, she jerked her hand away and hissed.

Leo, grabbed her wrist and pulled her hand closer, blowing on the cut. “Shhh. It stings at first. It’ll be fine in a second. You can handle it.”

After a minute or so, she settled down. He went to the intercom box beside her bed and pressed the button. Demetri answered.