Page 121 of Thin Lives

She’d failed to protect him.

Affonso took him.

But he beat her like a dog first.

“I’m so—”

“Stop,” Emma said hoarsely, ignoring Calisto’s wince. “Please, just stop.”

“I waited too long. I thought I was doing this right—fucking with him. But it became more about me than him. It turned into a game for me, and I shouldn’t have let that happen when I knew what was on the line. I put you in danger, and I’m so sor—”

“Cal,” Emma interjected softly. “You didn’t do this.”

Calisto sighed. “I might as well have.”

“But you didn’t. It was his fists. His kicks. His words.”

Jesus.

She wished it didn’t hurt to breathe.

His thumb swept over her cheekbone again, and Emma smiled, despite the pain it caused. Another trickle of blood seeped onto her tongue, but she swallowed the tangy metallic taste back without saying a word about it. Clearly, Calisto was having enough trouble about all of this as it was. She wouldn’t feed into his guilt.

But her own guilt?

That was a killer.

“I tried,” she told him.

Calisto’s brow furrowed, and he dropped lower on his knees so that he was below her and she had to look down at him. His hands never once left her face. “Tried what, dolcezza?”

“I tried to keep him from taking Cross, but it wasn’t enough. I wasn’t strong enough or—”

“Emmy, stop.”

She wished she could. While her words quieted, her feelings just exploded until tears were streaming down her cheeks and sobs caught hard in her throat.

From the moment she knew she was pregnant with Calisto’s child, she had done all she could to keep that baby boy safe. She’d done everything that was asked of her, and lived alongside a monster in hopes that Calisto would remember, and she wouldn’t have to pretend anymore. After, when Cross was born, she continued doing what she had to for his sake—his life—and nothing more.

Where had it gotten her?

She was without her son.

She was battered.

Weak.

Stupid.

“Emma!”

Emma’s gaze flew wide, and she found herself staring straight into one of her favorite sights. Calisto’s soul-black eyes.

“Not weak, not stupid,” he murmured.

Had she said that out loud?

Wonderful.