“Thank God,” she whispered.
“Two of them stormed into Blackwood, and they told the housemaster that if this treatment did not stop, they would make him pay dearly. Not only that, but they would also speak to each of our families and detail everything that was happening. They would not stop until the school’s reputation was destroyed.”
“Tell me that put an end to this hell you lived?” Liberty whispered from beside him.
He opened his hand and held her fingers between his.
“It did. We were ignored from that day on.”
“I’m so sorry, Toby.”
He turned to look at her finally, their faces close. “I said those hateful things to you because I was broken inside, and I knew I would hurt you if I stayed your friend. Something in me changed at Blackwood Hall, and for a long time, I believed I would be no one else. The rage and fear were so fierce they consumed me.”
“Toby.” She whispered his name, anguished on his behalf.
“I couldn’t get close to anyone but Anthony and Jamie, or I would hurt them… hurt you.”
“I’m so sorry, Tobias. If only I’d known, I would have—”
“No. I didn’t want anyone to know,” he said gripping her fingers.
“And now?”
“Now I have a reason to be different. Now I have a reason to live,” he said slowly.
“Florence,” she whispered.
“And you.” He pressed his lips to hers and she didn’t pull away. “I have realized since you came back into my life—”
“Toby—”
“Yes, you are back in my life,” he insisted. “I want that.”I want you.
“You hurt me.” The words brushed his lips, her eyes so close now he could see the flecks of gold. “And for so long, I vowed never to forgive you. My hurt changed to rage. So many times I thought about what I’d say to you one day.”
“What would you say to me?” He touched her cheek.
She shook her head. “It no longer matters.”
“It matters very much to me, Liberty.” He wanted her with a desperation that rocked him, but this time Toby did not fight that need. He didn’t push down the emotion.
“I gave you something I’ve never given another person,” she said.
“What did you give me?”
“Everything. Trust, friendship, and yes, love.” He saw the truth in her eyes and realized just how much he’d hurt her.
“When you went away, I knew you’d come home, even if it was years later. Perhaps that was naive of me,” she said. “But I always believed that deep inside you would be a part of my life.”
“I’m sorry, Liberty.”
“No. I’m sorry, because I didn’t see what had happened to you, only my pain. I should have tried harder to understand, but thought only of myself.”
He ran his eyes over her face, mapping every inch. His old friend had grown into a beautiful woman.His woman.The rightness of those words settled deep inside him.
“I hate those men for what they did to you, Toby. Were they made to pay for their acts?”
Toby cupped her cheek, running a thumb over the warm soft skin. He could get used to touching Liberty Talbot.
