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Packing a bag.

But now that I’ve seen more of what life can offer me outside of my cage… I’m no longer sure I know what I want.

Or maybe I do know, and I’m just too much of a coward to admit it. Even if only to myself.

My eyes float to the space where Alex was just a moment ago, his scent lingering in the air around me.

For so long, I believed freedom was a destination.

A place where I could live without fear.

Without punishments.

But what if freedom is not at all what I believed it to be?

What if freedom isn’t a place?

What if it’s a man who would burn the world down for me to keep me safe?

What if it’s a little girl with a contagious smile who brings warmth to my heart?

Or the family I never dared to dream I could have?

My fingers uncurl from around the key, and I stare at it resting in my palm.

Such a simple object, yet somehow it feels monumental in this moment. Because it’s not just a key, but a future I never allowed myself to imagine, fearing it was too far out of reach. My thumb traces over the design on the handle, a tear trailing down my cheek.

“It’s a choice,” I whisper, my voice catching.

For my entire life, every choice has been made for me. Forced upon me with no say. My education, my marriage, my life…

It’s all been someone else who made these decisions for me.

But with this key, Alex is giving me a choice.

Freedom to leave or freedom to stay.

I close my fingers around the key once more and press it against my heart, knowing I’m about to make the most important choice of my life.

Chapter twenty-six

Alex

The short drive to Vin’s house passes in silence.

Clara passed out thirty seconds after we left my house, her chubby hand pressed against her cheek, her lips twitching up as she dreams peacefully.

And Charlotte stares out the window, her hands anxiously wringing together, betraying the calm she’s trying so hard to maintain.

“Everything okay?” I ask as we pass through the wrought-iron gates before Vin’s house, his guards dipping their chins in greeting as we proceed.

She tucks a loose strand of hair behind her ear, exposing the graceful line of her neck. “Of course.”

Arching a brow, I park my SUV behind Mauro’s truck.

Charlotte lowers her gaze to her lap and releases a shaky breath. She smooths invisible wrinkles from her dress, her restless fingers refusing to stay still. “I guess I just have a lot on my mind.”

I nod, fighting with myself not to say anything I’ll regret. But fuck, it’s hard when all I want to do is beg her to stay. My fingers tighten around the leather steering wheel. “Is it about—”