The world stopped.
I stared at Lily, my eyes burned, and I turned to look up at Hector to find his face transformed. His expression had broken open completely, revealing something raw and vulnerable underneath, and his eyes shone with tears he couldn’t blink away fast enough. His mouth opened, closed, opened again, but nothing came out.
He nodded, just barely, like he didn’t trust his voice not to break.
Lily slid out of my arms and started bouncing, actually bouncing with excitement. “Sleepover with Sarah! Sleepover with Sarah!”
She skipped down the hall, her voice echoing off the walls, leaving Hector and me standing in the doorway staring at each other.
He stepped closer, close enough that I could see his chest rising and falling with breaths that came too fast. When he spoke, his voice was rough and low, barely above a whisper.
“Her first full sentence in nine months,” he whispered, “and she used it to ask for you.”
CHAPTER 11
Hector
The penthouse had been feeling toolarge before Sarah arrived. I’d sent Mrs. Pearson and Gianna home hours ago despite their protests. They’d wanted to stay, to help with Lily, to ensure everything ran smoothly despite the power outage. But I needed the space to think, needed silence, and I wanted them to rest.
I would’ve opted to check into a hotel, or use my connections to drive us somewhere, but blackouts were a part of life, and I wanted Lily to experience it, as uncomfortable as it was.
Lily, who just spoke an entire sentence,
For a moment I couldn’t breathe around the pressure building in my chest. I’d heard Lily say single words before, occasional mumbles when she absolutely had to communicate something. But this was different. This was a complete thought, a request, a sentence that proved my daughter could still speak.
“Thanks,” Sarah said, pulling me back to reality.
I stepped back and gestured for her to come inside, suddenly aware that we were still standing in the doorway and she was still soaking wet. She moved past me carefully, like she wasn’tentirely sure she was allowed to be here, and I closed the door behind her.
That’s when I really saw her. The exhaustion written into every line of her body.
Did they come back?” The question came out sharper than I intended, and I forced myself to breathe. “Those men. Did they find you again?”
I couldn’t stop seeing her face when that man hit her, and couldn't stop hearing the sound of his palm connecting with her cheek. Couldn’t stop remembering how small she’d looked on the ground, and how every instinct in my body had screamed to hurt the people who’d hurt her.
The police had called twenty minutes ago with an update. They’d arrested both men, identified them as loan sharks wanted in connection with several assault cases. The officer had sounded pleased with himself, like he’d solved some great mystery, and I’d thanked him before hanging up.
Loan sharks. Sarah owed money to loan sharks, the kind of people who didn’t care about payment plans or reasonable negotiations. The kind who collected through fear and violence.
“No.” She shook her head. “No, they didn’t.”
Relief loosened something in my chest. That’s right. I’d made sure the police understood exactly how seriously I took assault charges, had made it clear that I would use every resource available to ensure those men never walked free again.
They’d hurt my… what? My employee? My daughter’s therapist? The woman I couldn’t stop thinking about even when she drove me insane?
I didn’t know how to categorize what Sarah was to me, and that uncertainty sat in my chest.
“I don’t have anywhere to go.” The words came out quiet, like she was admitting defeat. “My apartment is… I can’t stay there.”
Questions crowded my tongue, but I swallowed them back. Whatever had happened to her apartment, whatever had driven her here in the middle of the night, could wait. Right now she needed somewhere safe, and I could provide that at least.
“You can stay.” The words came easier than they should have.
Lily appeared in the doorway to the living room, and her eyes went from me to Sarah and back again.
She moved closer to Sarah and her voice came out small and uncertain, like she was testing whether speaking would break something.
“Ms. Sarah is hurt.”
