Thomas cradles Melina in his arms and speaks soothing words to her. Hours pass, and he only moves when Melina's sweat starts to dry on his body.
"Where are we going?" Melina inquires as Thomas lifts her out of bed.
"You need to shower." He leads her into the bathroom.
"Oh."
He puts her on the ground and places his hand on the edge of her shirt. He begins to pull it off her body, but Melina stops him before he reaches the middle of her stomach.
"I'll wait outside." Thomas pulls his hand from her body and turns to walk out.
"Wait." Melina stops him and grabs his hand.
"Yes, principessa."
"You can go ahead." Melina bites her lip, surprising both of them. This is the only way to know if Franky was right or wrong.
"Are you sure, principessa?"
"Yes."
Thomas returns to taking off Melina's shirt. She holds her breath as he pulls it above her head. Melina feels the strong urge to use her hands to cover her body, but she doesn't. She looks him in the eyes the moment she's half naked in front of him. Melina stares into his eyes, looking for any signs of disgust as he looks at her, but she finds none. Melina's heart swells as she sees admiration in them.
"Sei Bellissima, principessa." ("You're beautiful, princess.") Thomas stares at her as his eyes darken with lust.
He reaches for her waist with his inked hands and pulls her night shorts down. He keeps his gaze fixed on her and doesn't notice what Melina does. Her eyes widen as she notices a red stain on her shorts. My period is here.
"Thomas, I can take it from here," she tells him, but he ignores her and walks them to the shower.
"Turn on the water," he says as he pulls his pants down. He only has on his pajama pants. That strikes Melina as odd, and her mind immediately drifts to how he knew she was having a nightmare all the way from the mafia house? Did Thomas sleep next door?
"Thomas, I can do it myself." They may have dated in the past, but something like this has never happened. Melina doesn't know how he will react when he realizes she's on her period as he's about to bathe her.
"Principessa, I know you are on your period, and I don't mind," he says, shocking her.
"But. . ." She's a little uncomfortable having him bathe her during her period.
"I'm not complaining, so why should you care?" He reaches behind her and turns on the shower. He picks up the body wash and puts some on her body. Melina can't believe he doesn't mind bathing her, regardless. And realizes since he doesn't mind, she shouldn't care either. She tries to stop overthinking it and looks for something else to distract herself.
She sees water droplets landing on his chest, and her hands itch to trace his abs as he moves his hands around her body. With each movement he makes, his biceps flex, and her core throbs. Thomas is ripped.
While washing Melina, Thomas gently massages her body with his hands. As Thomas' hand lightly brushes against Melina's breast, she unintentionally moans. He groans, moving his gaze to her breast as her nipples harden. Thomas lowers his gaze, and Melina follows his eyes. Wetness pools between her legs as she notices how hard he is. I miss him inside of me. It's been a long time.
He moves his hands between her legs, and Melina opens her mouth to tell Thomas she can do it herself but doesn't get the chance. Thomas cleans the blood between her legs before she could even speak. Melina wonders why he isn't disgusted by it and is deeply moved by how comfortable he is bathing her while on her period. But she can't help but wonder if he's at ease because of his familiarity with blood.
"You don't find it repulsive because you're used to seeing blood, right?"
"No," he says, looking her dead in the eyes. Melina sees no hint of deception in them.
"Really?"
"Even if I didn't kill for a living, I wouldn't be disgusted, principessa." He draws her in closer, their skin touching. Hers lights as the heat from his body fills her.
"Hmm."
"Nothing about you can disgust me. And that includes these scars you believe I'll find repulsive." He gently washes her back, which is covered in scars that are slowly healing.
"How did you know?"
"I put two and two together." He picks up the shampoo and applies it to her hair.
"Do you know why I thought you were?" she asks, closing her eyes as his hand massages her head.
"No."
"Because of what happened that day in your room." She blinks open her eyes and looks at him.
"Which day?" He rinses the shampoo from her hair.
"The day you ripped open my uniform but didn't have your way with me."
"I wasn't going to violate you on that particular day. I was just checking on your wounds to see if they were healing properly. I told the doctor to ensure you didn't get any new scars."
"Really?" Melina couldn't believe it.
"Yes, I couldn't openly ask you to show me without looking like I cared at the time. That's why I checked that way," he says as he bathes himself.
"Really, Thomas?"
"Yes, I was fighting with myself not to care about you. I'm sorry about that."
"It's fine. It's all in the past now." She's happy he was never affected by her scars.
Thomas walks out to get them a towel once he's done bathing himself. Melina uses the opportunity to put on a tampon. Walking back into the bathroom, Thomas wraps the towel around her body.
"Are you feeling better?" he asks, using a second towel to dry her hair.
"Yes."
"That's good to hear, principessa." Thomas grabs her hands and walks them out of the bathroom.
"Put something on while I change the sheets." Melina looks at the sheets and notices a small blood stain.
"Don't worry, I can do them myself." She moves toward the bed, but Thomas stops her.
"I will do it, go and put on something before you catch a cold."
"But..."
"Melina," he interrupts. "You should know by now that I always do what I say."
"Like choosing to kill yourself even though I am opposed to it," Melina says unexpectedly.
"Can we not discuss it right now?"
"Sure," she huffs and walks to the closet to get dressed.
She walks out to find new sheets and Thomas gone. He probably left so he wouldn't have to argue with her. Melina climbs into bed and tries not to think about Thomas dying, which is difficult because that is all she thinks about these days. She's really hoping it doesn't come to that.
***
Melina wakes up late the next morning to find the house empty and a bodyguard at her door. Everyone appears to have gone out. She goes to the mafia house in search of Thomas. She's hoping he hasn't already left for work. She wants to know what he has planned for the day of the exchange. Melina believes there is no way Thomas will go in blind, so she might as well know everything he plans to do that day if she can't persuade him to change his mind. Perhaps I can help in some way.
Getting there, she finds his office and bedroom empty, so she checks the next possible place he could be, which is the basement. Melina asked Linda if he had gone to the office, and she said he was still at home.
Melina saunters into the basement because the lights are dim. As she walks down the stairs, she hears Thomas' voice. Thank goodness I've found him. Following the sound of his voice, she finds him talking to someone she's only ever met again in her dreams. She moves closer to the man, wondering if her eyes are playing tricks on her. Her mouth is agape as she stares at him standing across from Thomas.
"You're alive," Melina says to the man she remembers Thomas beating to death the last time because of her. She never thought she would say those words in reality. The guilt of being the one responsible for his death never faded from her heart. She can't believe he's standing in front of her right now, healed. But she is puzzled as to how he survived. "How?"
"I'll tell you in my office, wait for me there. I need to talk to him about something important first. When I'm finished here, I'll explain everything to you."
"Okay." Melina returns to the stairs and starts walking out. She turns around one last time before leaving, staring at the man she believes she was instrumental to his death. She feels an enormous weight lifted off her chest now that she knows he's alive. Thomas didn't kill him. Thank God. I can now sleep a little better at night. I'm so happy he's still alive.
Melina goes to Thomas' office and waits for him. Her feet vigorously tap against the floor as she sits on one of the couches. She can't wait for Thomas to arrive and explain how the man survived. Unable to sit still, Melina stands up and walks around his office. She tries to divert her attention by scanning the books on his shelves. Melina reminisces about cleaning Thomas' office. Her hand moves involuntarily to her throat, recalling how Thomas face-fucked her. She can't believe it happened so long ago. Melina never imagined she'd be in his office for any reason other than to clean it.
Melina truly believed Thomas would never believe she didn't want to betray him. She wipes a tear that unknowingly escapes her eyes. I went through a lot of horrible things within those months. Melina wonders if she will ever be able to forget what happened and truly move on from it. Her train of thought is disrupted when the door squeaks open. She quickly wipes her eyes and hopes Thomas doesn't notice she almost cried.
"Did you sleep well, principessa?" Thomas walks over to her by the bookshelves.
"I did. How about you?"
"I didn't. Someone was missing from my bed." Melina knows he is talking about her.
"That's your fault, but I'm not here to argue." Melina walks to the couch, followed by Thomas.
"What brings you over?" he inquires as they take their seats.
"Before I tell you what, care to explain how I just saw the man you beat to death in California?"
"I changed my mind about killing him."
"What made you change your mind?"
"You."
"Me?"
"Yes, you. I knew how guilty you felt about his death, so I asked Leo to get him treated the day after you inquired about him. I was going to tell you about it, but it always skipped my mind with everything going on."
"Wow, I can't believe it. I truly gave up hope on him being alive."
"He's fortunate. I'm not usually forgiving when it comes to what he did, but I knew how much his death would hurt and hunt you, so I gave him another chance. Let's hope he doesn't blow it this time."
"Do you mind telling me what he did?"
"He tried stealing some ammo. I later found out he was stealing it because he needed money for his wife's surgery. I wish he fucking came to me with his problem, but that's that."
"Oh, do you know why he didn't?" Melina understands why Thomas would forgive him now. He even had a valid reason for stealing.
"He has a gambling problem, so he thought I won't believe he needed the money for his wife."
"Oh, that makes sense, but I have to ask, would you have spared his life if he didn't have a valid reason for stealing?"
"Yes."
"Really?"
"Yes, I would have kept him alive in a cell forever because of you."
"You would do that for me?"
"I would do anything for you, principessa."
"Thank you," Melina smiles. She can't believe, even then, he had done such things for her.