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She crosses her arms over her chest, glaring at me. “You didn’t have to use me to get to my father.”
Maybe I should tell her everything. Maybe then she’d stop looking at me like I’m the devil incarnate. But it’s not my story to tell. I take in a deep breath. “It’s more complicated than that.”
“Then explain it to me!”
“I can’t. Not yet. I’m sorry. But believe me, your father deserves everything that’s coming to him.”
Her eyes narrow angrily. “My father is a good man!”
I scoff. She can’t truly believe that, can she? “If he’s such a good man, then why did he basically lock you up?”
“That’s rich coming from the man who kidnapped me,” she says, rolling her eyes.
I ignore her. “He didn’t allow you to have friends. Didn’t even allow you to go to school.”
“He loves me,” she says, but it almost sounds like a question. “He just wants to protect me. Keep me safe. From people like you.”
“Who are you trying to convince here, Oriana? Me or you?”
She glares at me, her full lips pressed into a thin line.
“Your father doesn’t have your best interests at heart. If he loved you, wouldn’t he want you to be happy? You can deny it all you want, but I’ve been watching you. And I know unhappiness when I see it.”
She goes completely still. The angry defiance vanishes and silent tears stream down her face, and the only thing I can do, the only thing I want to do, is pull her into my arms. I sit down next to her and place an arm around her shoulders. She stiffens, and I’m convinced she’ll shove me away. But then her body goes slack, and she buries her face in my chest and weeps. I lie down, not letting go of her. For a long while, sobs wrack her body, and her hands are fisted in my T-shirt as if I’m a lifeline. And I hold her, rubbing soothing circles over her back, wishing I could take her pain away. I’m still holding her long after her tears have subsided and she’s fallen asleep.
Her head is still on my chest, her body curved into mine. She fits against me so perfectly, it’s like she was made for me. I’ve never believed in a higher power, but lying here with her, the sound of her breathing in my ear, I wonder if I was wrong. If maybe there is something bigger than myself out there, something that led me right to the perfect creature asleep in my arms. It doesn’t matter, not really. Because I’ll make Oriana mine either way. She just doesn’t know it yet.
