I let Enzo’s warmth comfort me, and slowly my tears dry up and my breathing evens out.
“Who is Doc?” I ask after some silence.
Enzo tenses under me. “My doctor… he examined you.”
My breath catches. “All of me?”
“I’m sorry, Iz. I needed to know how badly you were hurt.”
I’m not sure how to feel about this information. I know that he was doing it for me, and that he wouldn’t have let the doctor do anything if he didn’t trust him. But at the same time… I feel even more violated.
“What else did he do?” I ask, feeling nervous.
“You had some tearing… he had to stitch that.”
I push away from Enzo. “You had no right,” I hiss, my voice rising.
“Iz,” he looks at me pleadingly, “you needed it. There wasn’t a choice.”
A tear falls down my cheek once again. “It should have been my choice.”
Enzo jumps up from the bed and starts pacing. “You were asleep! You could have died, Izzy! You would have preferred me to leave you in that state? You came to me because you knew I’d look after you. That’s what I did.” He crosses his arms in front of his chest and glowers at me.
I shrink back. “I’m sorry,” I whisper.
I feel so lost. I know that, rationally, what he’s saying is true. And I know that deep down I’m grateful. But that doesn’t stop the shiver running down my spine knowing that another man has touched me without my consent.
“Tell me what happened,Cuore mio. Then I’ll make them pay.”
I let out a long breath. Then… I begin.
7
I Promise You’re Safe
I saw a girl with blonde hair today and, for a second, I thought it was you. I wish it was. —Enzo
Enzo
Izzy’svoicetremblesasshe speaks. “He drugged me. I couldn’t speak properly, or move my limbs to fight, but I felt all of it. It was like I was paralyzed, trapped in my own mind.
“Three other men joined us. They tied me down. They…” Izzy takes a deep breath then steels her expression. “They raped me. Beat me. Until I was almost dead. Then they dumped me, leaving me to die outside in the cold.”
A storm of emotions takes flight inside me, but the most prominent one is rage. My fists clench hard; my jaw tightens to the point it feels like I might break it.
“Did you recognize them? The other men?”
“Only one,” she whispers, looking down at her lap.
I lift her chin up with my fingers so she’s looking at me. “Cuore mio,” my voice cracks, “how can I make it better?”
She tries to pull away, but I keep her eyes locked on mine. “I just want to forget,” she murmurs, her voice so small and full of pain.
I swallow hard, nodding my head. “Okay. Okay.”
Inside, I’m thinking about how I can make that fucker and his friends pay.
Lucas Dalaney has no idea what’s coming for him.
