And when she kneeled before me last night, trembling but trusting, it wasn’t only her surrender on the floor of my bedroom.
It was mine, too.
ChapterTwenty-Nine
Ariana
The scent of coffee and bacon drifted through the kitchen as I sat perched on a barstool by the island, drowning in one of Henry’s shirts while morning sunlight streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows.The city buzzed beneath us — cars moving, people living, the world turning.But up here, everything felt still.
And right.
For all the time I’d spent wanting to escape Henry, terrified of what choosing him would mean, now there was nowhere I’d rather be.
It made me rethink everything I thought I knew about freedom.
Maybe freedom wasn’t distance.
Maybe it wasn’t running.
Maybe freedom was the first breath you took when the past loosened its grip long enough for you to feel something good again.
After last night, I finally felt free.
Free from my past.
Free from the blame.
From the version of me Victor had broken and twisted.
I took a long sip of coffee, welcoming the nutty flavor, as Henry moved around the kitchen.I’d watched him cook countless times by this point.
But watching him this morning felt different.
Because now there was nothing between us.
No more lies.
No more secrets.
Everything was finally out in the open.
He knew my scars and appreciated each and every one.
And I knew all his imperfections and wouldn’t trade them for anything.
“What are you thinking about over there?”Henry’s voice cut through my thoughts as he flipped bacon in the pan.
“What do you mean?”
He glanced over his shoulder at me.“I can feel you thinking.”
“Oh, really?”
He nodded once, setting the tongs down before walking toward me with that slow, predatory pace that made my pulse stutter.
“I’d like to think I’ve become a bit of an expert at reading your body by now, Ariana,” he murmured as he caged me in, his proximity overwhelming me.
“Is that right?”
