"What's that?"
"That I wouldn't tell anyone what really happened. That I'd keep the secret." Her voice drops to a whisper. "Can you promise that too? Please?"
I should say no.
Should tell her that secrets like this have a way of festering, of eating people alive from the inside.
But looking at her—eighteen years old and shattered, wrapped in an oversized shirt, shaking in the aftermath of the worst night of her life—I can't.
"I promise," I hear myself say. "Your secret's safe with me, Grace. Always."
The relief that crosses her face is almost painful to witness.
"Thank you," she whispers.
I stand, but before I can step back, she reaches out and grabs my hand again.
"Will you..." She hesitates. "Will you stay? Just for a minute? I don't want to be alone."
Every instinct I have is screaming that this is a bad idea.
That I shouldn't be in her bedroom.
That I'm twice her age and her father's Enforcer and there are lines you don't cross.
But I can't leave her like this.
"Yeah," I say, settling into the chair by her desk. "I'll stay."
She pulls her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them. "I was supposed to marry him," she says quietly. "In three months. Big wedding. Combining the families. Everyone was so excited."
"I know."
"I didn't want to. I told Dad I wasn't ready, that I wanted to finish school first. But he said..." She trails off, fresh tears spilling. "He said sometimes we have to make sacrifices for the family. For the ranch. That Bronco was a good man and I'd learn to love him."
The bitter irony isn't lost on me.
Phantom thought he was securing his daughter's future.
Instead, he handed her to a monster.
"Your dad didn't know," I say, even though the words feel hollow. "He wouldn't have made the deal if he knew what kind of man Bronco really was."
"Doesn't matter." Her voice is flat. "He still sold me."
I don't have a response to that. Because she's right.
We sit in silence for a while, the rain still drumming against the window.
Grace's breathing eventually evens out, though the tears keep coming, silent now.
"Shadow?" she says after a long time.
"Yeah, darlin'?"
"Will things ever feel normal again?"
The question cuts deep because I don't know the answer.
