Sadness drifted across her eyes. “It has a picture of my mum in it.”
“What does it look like?”
She laughed as color rushed to her cheek. “It’s nothing special. I bought it for eight pounds at a pawn shop?—”
“What does it look like, Daisy?”
“Gold. Oval.”
He pulled out his phone and shot a text to Cole, instructing him to send whoever he could spare to find it. “Do you know when you lost it?”
“I’m not sure. I think when Hadrian grabbed me the first time.”
He pocketed his phone. “I’ll make sure it’s found.”
“Jack, it’s not?—”
“If it’s important to you, it’s priceless. We’ll find it.”
Tears welled in her eyes as she looked up at him. “Thank you,” her voice was small, but laden with gratitude. Then she sighed. “I don’t…” She looked away.
“What?”
“I want to hug you, but I don’t want to upset you.”
A hug.
When was the last time he had a legitimate hug?
“Listen to me, Jackie. Be a good boy and do exactly as you’re told, understand?”
“I’m always a good boy, Mum,” he said cheekily, throwing his arms around her neck and squeezing tightly.
Jack’s throat tightened to a pinhole. “I…” His heart raced. The last hug he received turned out to be the greatest lie he was ever told.
He wanted Daisy’s hug more than his next breath, but he couldn’t find the words. And the thought of letting anyone that close to him…
“It’s okay. We don’t?—”
“No.” It wasn’t okay. Hugs were how it started. Playful little lies of safety. But Daisy wasn’t trying to trick or trap him. In his heart and gut, he knew that. But his nervous system didn’t.
A cool sweat covered his shoulders under the weight of his clothes. Rising off the bathroom floor, he held out a hand and carefully pulled her up.
She looked up at him with glassy eyes, her expression unsure. “Where are we going?”
His voice abandoned him, so he faced her, wanting to get this right. Slowly, he stepped to her front, wrapping his arms around her waist until his hands met at the small of her back.
“Oh,” she said as he rested his head on her bare shoulder, her arms tentatively lifting to hold him tight.
Jack shut his eyes, letting the moment of peace wash over him.
Time stopped existing. He wasn’t sure how long they stood like that, only that it was the closest he’d ever come to experiencing bliss.
They eventually pulled apart in awkward increments, and Jack didn’t know what to say, so he simply asked, “Are you hungry?”
“Do you have anything to drink other than the brown stuff?”
He laughed. “Champagne?” When she smiled, he said, “You like champagne?”
