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Forgive him? Is he insane?
“Why did you do that?” A tear falls from my eye. “Why? Wouldn’t it be better to beg in the streets for money than do this?”
He doesn’t reply, but he continues to hold me, taking care not to touch any of the wounds on my back.
I don’t cry any more than the one tear. The warmth of his body comforts me even though I don’t want it to.
Eventually, I pull back, look into his eyes. “Please,” I say again. “Let me see your face.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
He gently moves me from his lap so I’m sitting on the bed. Still next to me, he slowly removes the thin black mask.
And I gape at him.
He’s beautiful—like a Greek god. His hair is dark, nearly the color of coal, in stark contrast to those sparkling blue eyes.
Once again they seem to look at me with kindness.
Kindness…and something else.
“Susanna,” he whispers with what sounds almost like reverence. “My name is Heath.”
“Heath…” I say softly.
“Will you forgive me now? Now that I’ve shown you my face?”
His eyes show me such torment. I want to forgive him. I want to do a lot of things. But first— “I can forgive you if you get me out of here.”
He leans toward me then, brushes his lips across my cheek. “I will get you out of here. I promise.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Over the next few days, he sneaks me things. Ibuprofen for my pain. Dry shampoo, a piece of clothing here and there. Shoes. The clothing is all black.
At one point, I ask him if I should fake cry out in pain whenever he came in so that the other people working in this prison would think he was “breaking” me. But he reminds me that this is a soundproofed room with no cameras, so there’s no need.
Each time he comes, I smile. I smile wider than I have in a long time. Maybe ever.
He still wears his mask, but he takes it off once he’s in the room with me.
The last thing he sneaks me is a mask like the one he wears. He takes my hand and together we sit down on the bed.
“Tonight,” he says. “Tonight we get out of here, Susanna.” He cups my cheek, thumbs my lower lip.
My nerves skitter under my flesh. “How?”
“I’ll come for you as soon as I can. I’ve done what I can, but you should know, Susanna…”
“What?”
He sighs, looking away from me. “If we don’t make it… It won’t be pretty.”
My heartbeat accelerates as the fear I’ve lived with since I woke up here seems to triple. “What will happen?”
“They’ll kill me, but I’m afraid your fate will be worse.”
I gulp down my fear, find my strength. Heath says I’m not broken. I will prove he’s not wrong.
