God of Pain novel · Chapter 15 of 24

Chapter 15: Tape

It was past midnight when we got back to the third-floor kitchen.

The house was dark below us.

Gran's television had gone quiet, and Maeve's door was shut, with a strip of nightlight under it.

Cormac sat on a kitchen chair with the gym bag between his feet.

He held his hands out in front of him.

The skin over his wrists was rubbed red from Tino's tape.

"Give me those," I said.

I took the roll of white athletic tape from his bag and knelt in front of him on the linoleum.

"What are you doing?"

"What you do before a fight. I've watched my brother do it a hundred times."

"I'm not fighting anyone."

"No," I said. "But the next time somebody comes for you, your hands are going to be yours."

I took his left hand in both of mine.

The knuckles were swollen and scarred, and each one was a small hard knot under my thumb.

I wound the tape across his palm, around the wrist, back through the thumb and over the knuckles, pulling it snug.

He watched my fingers the whole time.

"If I swing, the note is due," he said quietly.

"Then it's due, and I'll pay it. I'll sell my mother's pearls and every dress in that house."

"Livia."

"I mean it."

"I know you do."

I tore the tape with my teeth, the way he had in the boathouse, and started on the right hand.

When I was done, I pressed both his taped fists to my mouth.

← Chapter 14 · All chapters · Chapter 16 →

Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend