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And even though his touch was firm and unyielding, the way he looked at me—as if he was expecting me to break away and flee at any moment—was unsettling.
It felt nothing like before.
He toweled me off with a fluffy, white towel.
He moved with the ease of someone who was accustomed to death—even from his own hands. But in his eyes, there was understanding, even compassion.
Hadn’t he done the same with the dead intruders in his room? Hadn’t he shielded me from the sight of them on the floor and sent me into the bathroom?
When we were done, he helped me into one of his shorts and a tee.
Too big on me—overwhelming reminders of how small I was compared to him, and the world around me.
How ill-equipped and oblivious to the harsh reality of his life I was.
I’d grown up sheltered.
And if anything, it took me twenty years to finally wake up.
The kidnapping, the whipping, the degradation. Falling in love with a killer.
Maybe all of this happened for a reason.
Maybe this was the lesson I needed to learn.
To wake up and see the world as it is, instead of hemming and hawing about the circumstances of my life—of my golden cage.
The moment his brothers returned, he kissed my forehead. “Stay put, and do not open the door for anyone! We’ll be back before you know it. Everything is going to be alright.”
I nodded.
He stared at me for a moment—concern written all over his face.
But then he left without another word.
And coldness swept back to consume me.
I watched all three of them rush out of the door to rescue my sisters.
I watched the taillights of the two SUVs disappear down the driveway.
And then I stood by the window, staring out at the twinkling lights of Verona in the distance.
Staring.
Waiting.
As much as I wanted to forget what had happened tonight, as soon as I blinked, images flashed back to me like still frames of a horror movie—Enzo’s expression contorting from leering to shock when Gabe lunged forward and plunged his knife into his throat; the ever-expanding pool of blood in the strobe of light, and finally, Enzo’s unseeing eyes before he crumpled to the floor.
My stomach tightened.
Gabe had killed a man.
For me.
* * *
The headlights of the first SUV cut through the darkness of the night like a beacon of hope.
