It’s not in my nature to apologize, and I’m not about to start now, but still, the words burn on the tip of my tongue.

I watch as she moves to the sink and opens the faucet. When she begins to wash the dishes, I say, “There’s a dishwasher.”

“Don’t talk to me,” she snaps.

That’s my queue to leave.

I go to the security room and enter the code for the door. Taking a seat behind the monitors, I can see every room in the house from the cameras we installed.

I glance at the screen showing the underground chatter, but after a couple of seconds, I turn up the sound for the camera in the kitchen.

‘…can go to hell,’ I hear Ariana mumble angrily. She shakes her head, letting out an offended chuckle but then it turns to a sob. I watch as she takes deep breaths, and then the dishes suffer as she grabs one after the other. ‘Freaking, asshole.’

When she dries her hands, red swelling around her wrists catches my eye.

Fuck.

Getting up, I leave the security room and go get the first aid kit. When I come down the stairs, I hear Ariana grumble, “How the hell does this TV work?”

When I sit down next to her, she freezes, but then the scowl returns to her face. “Leave me alone.”

I take the remote from her hand and switch on the TV. “What do you want to watch?”

“Netflix.”

I go into Netflix then hand her the remote. Taking hold of her free arm, my eyes sweep over the broken skin.

Ariana yanks away from me. “Don’t touch me.”

“Watch TV and let me do my job,” I mutter as I grab hold of her arm again. I set her hand down on my thigh, and opening the first aid kit, I remove antiseptic wipes and clean her wrist before putting balm on.

I can’t help but notice how delicate her bone structure is, and my hand is easily twice the size of hers.

I need to be gentler with her.

When Ariana sits frozen, my eyes lift to her face, and I’m met with a wide-eyed bewildered expression.

“I thought you didn’t care if I’m comfortable or not,” she throws my words from earlier back at me. “Feeling guilty must be a new experience for someone like you.”

I shove her hand off my thigh and mutter, “Other wrist.”

She places her left hand on my thigh, then says, “I hope the guilt eats away at your conscience.” She takes a breath then adds, “Which I doubt you have.”

As I dab the balm onto her wrist, I mutter, “You did this to yourself. I warned you what would happen if you attack me.”

She yanks her arm out of my hold and then shoves at my shoulder as she darts to her feet. “You’re such a jackass! None of this is my fault. You kidnapped me. You tied me to the bed. You just left me there. It’s all on you, jerk.”