Page 11 of Possessive

He chuckled. "I like to be different. Although, you're the first person who's ever called me nice. Usually it's something like ‘that psychotic prick who works for Reuben.’ Obviously they don't know me very well. I'm not psychotic, I'm creative."

I snorted softly. "I see how those two things could get confused." I had some experience in that myself. In another lifetime.

"Go to the right at the top of the stairs," he said.

I did what he said, and stepped into a large bathroom. The floor was covered in black and white penny tiles, and the walls with white subways. In the back corner, was a large shower. Beside that was a freestanding, clawfoot tub. Opposite the bath was a vanity with light timber doors and double sinks, with a marble countertop. Everything had a colonial look, but new, like it was recently remodelled.

"Looks expensive," I remarked.

"Nothing but the best for Reuben," Gianni said. He opened a cabinet that matched the vanity and pulled out a couple of towels. He set them down beside the bath and turned on the water. "Let me guess, you're a lavender kind of girl?"

"I'm a girl who probably smells like a week-old corpse, I don't really care," I said.

"I didn't want to be rude." Gianni winked at me. He pulled out some purple bath salts and sprinkled them into the rising water. “If you climb in, I'll work on your hair."

"You'll—" I stared at him.

"My mother was a hairdresser. If anyone can do anything with it, it's me. Unless you want me to get Damon. He'll just bring a knife and cut it all off." He made a hacking gesture with his hand.

I put a hand to my head. I hadn't given much thought to my hair. Not for a long time. Every so often, Kurt would hack it shorter, but all I could do was run my fingers through it once in a while.

I stepped over towards the bath and caught sight of myself in the mirror. If I didn't know it was me, I never would have recognised myself. My cheeks were sunken in, my hair was tangled. My eyes looked huge in my face, greenish blue and haunted, surrounded by long lashes. I touched my cheek to make sure it really was me.

"I don't just smell like a week old corpse, I look like one," I said.

"Nothing a bath and trim won't fix," Gianni said. "Hop in." He turned his back and waved towards the bath.

He'd already seen me naked, but I appreciated the gesture. Especially given it was brighter in here than it was in the basement. In this light, I'd never hide all the scars.

I slipped off the jacket and stepped into the water. I closed my eyes and groaned at how incredible the warmth felt. I sank in, under the bubbles, and moaned again.

"It sounds like you're enjoying that," Gianni said. He turned around and hurried over to the vanity to pull out shampoo, conditioner and a pair of scissors. He knelt behind me and carefully started to wash my hair.

I flinched when his hands first touched my head.

He was still for a few moments, waiting for me to tell him to back off or keep going. Eventually, he started to slowly massage my scalp.

I grabbed up a bar of soap from the side of the bath and started to wash off years of dirt and grime from my skin. My ankle stung where the strap had been, as well as several other scratches and scrapes, but none of that detracted from how incredible it felt to be surrounded by hot water. Water that wouldn't stay clean for long.

"I'm going to rinse your hair," Gianni said. "Can you scoot down a bit?"

I slid down far enough to submerge the back of my head while he rubbed off the shampoo. I sat back up so he could apply the conditioner.

Using a wide tooth comb, he started to tease out some of the tangles. Every so often, he stopped to pick up the scissors and cut out a knot.

"He could have at least given you access to a hairbrush," he grumbled.

"If you have to cut it all off—" I started.

"Not all of it," Gianni said. He breathed out a frustrated sigh through his nose. "More than I'd like. Don't worry, you'll look adorable when I'm done with you."

"I'll settle for clean," I said.

"That, I can guarantee," he said. "There we go. Let's rinse off your hair again."

My head felt several times lighter when I lowered it into the water again. The rinsing took a lot less time.

"There we go. You'll feel like a whole new woman now." He stood and put everything away before picking up a towel and holding it out to me.