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He looks at me, and his gaze softens. He reaches for me, but I step out of his reach.
“You can be angry at me if you wish.” His voice is full of a gentle fervour. “You can hate me for as long as you like. I’ll wait for your forgiveness as long as you need me to, and if you never forgive me, I’ll live a servant to your hatred. You can punish me every day of my life, Theodora, if you wish to. But you don’t get to hate me from afar. You don’t get to”—he gestures at the room, the cottage—“hide from me. You don’t believe me, and you’re hurt—and you’re allowed to feel those things. But you don’t get to push me away because I know I’ve done nothing wrong. My love is as valid as your hatred. You get to land a thousand blows on me, and I get to return each blow with a caress. So don’t hate me from afar, Theo. Hate me from up close.”
I let out an incredulous laugh. “You and your arrogance. You’re not the centre of the world, Zachary. I’m not here because I’m hiding from you—I’m here because I’m hiding from my father.”
“Your father won’t be coming back to this country. I can guarantee it. So you don’t need to hide from him.”
My breath catches. When I finally got hold of Zahara, she told me what happened at her house. Hearing it from Zach’s mouth makes it more real, but the fear inside me won’t let me fully believe that my father is really gone.
I suspect the fear won’t ever fully go away.
Zach steps closer to me. His presence, full of authority and that intense strength of his, seems to fill the small space of the bedroom.
“If you were hiding from your father, why did you tell Zaro not to tell me you were here?”
I lick my lips and pull on the sleeves of my cardigan. “I didn’t ask her to keep it a secret from you.”
“Liar.”
“I’m not lying. She asked me if she should tell anyone. I told her I needed more time. That’s all.” I laugh, shaking my head. “Do you really think she would have let you follow her here if she was trying to keep me a secret? She practicallyledyou here.”
He frowns at me. “She didn’t lead me here. It was Iakov who realised she was sneaking off campus.”
“And Zahara definitely doesn’t know that Iakov keeps an eye on her—at your behest?”
“She asked me to tell him to stop, and I did.” Zachary crosses his arms. “Even I didn’t know Iakov was still keeping an eye on her.”
“And you really think Zahara didn’t know?”
“If she wanted to lead me here,” Zachary demands, “why would she not just tell me you were here straight away?”
“Because she’s only known for a few days. I’m guessing she expected to be caught earlier.” I smirk. “Iakov must be slacking in his duties.”
We stare at each other across the room. Zachary steps forward again, but this time, the backs of my legs hit the edge of the window seat. There’s nowhere left for me to retreat.
A grim determination settles in the rich brown depths of Zachary’s eyes. He begins his cross-examination.
“When did you get here?”
“A few days ago.”
“Where have you been?”
“Travelling from Surrey.”
“On foot?”
“And trains and buses.”
“Why haven’t you been answering your phone?”
“My father took it away when he brought me home.”
Zachary swallows visibly. Now that there is barely any space between us, caught in the heat haze of his complete attention and focus, my skin begins to tingle all over.
“What happened between you and your father?”
“I finally spoke to him.” I give Zachary a small smile. “I remembered what you said about the prisoner and his cell. I suppose I realised I didn’t have to be a prisoner after all. And I remembered the way you spoke to your father—something I never thought I could do. Well, I did.”
