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A rare grin flashes onto his face before he wrenches my mouth to his and kisses me fiercely.
“Thank you,” he says afterward, and within another moment, he’s out for hours.
delphine
“Tell me,”Salvatore says late into the night, his voice hoarse, “what they did.”
It’s the first real words he’s spoken since waking up. After some time spent lying beside him, basking in the weight of him by my side and in the slow, steady cadence of his breath, I fell asleep too.
Waking up, I rub my eyes and grapple for my phone… only to realize he’s been awake. Drowsiness is too slow wearing off to question him in time. He reaches for me first, his arm curling over my hip to draw me back across the mattress.
I’m pulled close ’til my body aligns with his. My pelvis presses into his and our limbs tangle. One of my thighs is trapped between his while my hand lands on his chest, right over his beating heart.
He’s just a dark silhouette, yet I can feel his stare.
“Salvatore,” I murmur.
“Tell me what they did.”
As short and vague as the request is, I understand what he’s asking—in the wake of his captivity, he’s concerned about mine. Probably making mental notes for seeking revenge.
I let a moment pass, considering how best to answer. It’s unimportant to our reunion as far as I’m concerned, but Salvatore won’t let it go until he knows.
A quiet sigh puffs out of me. “I’ll show you.”
I disentangle myself from him and swing my legs off the bed, sitting up. The light on the bedside table blinks on when I twist the tiny knob on the side.
We’re no longer creatures in the dark. The bedside lamp sheds enough light that my bare back is exposed for his viewing—I feel his eyes rove over the length of my spine… and the immediate anger that tenses the air once he does.
“Lucius requested for it to be done,” I say, ignoring the icy shiver that courses through me at the memory. I close my eyes and shut it out. “He said… he said all ‘products’ have them. The Handler gladly listened.”
“The Handler…”
“Cesar. The man from the interrogation room. The one they almost made me…” I trail off there in reference to that depraved afternoon.
“Did he?” he asks. “The night in the alley. It was him?”
I nod, suddenly craving my robe, suddenly understanding Salvatore’s urge to hide away. Feeling overexposed sets me at unease, even as I should feel safe and relieved to be alone with him.
And I do.
But it’s the mark. It’ll always be with me. An ugly scar of my own from the time I was almost sold into a system that would’ve taken my bodily autonomy away forever.
I’d rather we not talk about it. There’s more important things, like the weeks Salvatore suffered, and what we’re going to do to make them pay. Take down Lucius and his operation once and for all.
“Where is he?”
“I’m not sure. He escaped the attack at the Mill. I tried to find him… but he got away. I was purchased,” I say matter-of-factly with great effort to keep emotion out of my tone. “There was an auction. One of Garrett’s coworkers at his bank paid to have me. But I killed the man before he could… do anything. Stitches and the others rescued me. The Mill’s been taken out. All the sex slaves were released.”
“Phi, look at me.”
At his request I realize I’m still sitting up, legs hanging off the bed. I’m speaking as if there’s an invisible person standing in front of me. Not once have I turned around or made an effort to settle back in bed.
I do as asked, crawling into position so I’m lying beside him. Salvatore does for me what I did for him earlier—lets his good hand wander, gliding it up the curvy outline of my body. He doesn’t stop ’til he reaches my face. I find myself nestling closer, in need of his body heat.
“We’re going to get him,” he says with utmost certainty. The intensity I’ve known since I was fourteen suddenly blazes in his blue-green gaze. “Just like we’re going to get Lucius. It’s still not over.Iwill make them pay.”
“You need rest.”
