"I'm sure he was grateful to have you. Anyone would be."
"Maybe." He sips his old-fashioned and points to me. "What about you? What's your relationship with your parents like?"
My cheeks flush immediately and I avoid his beautiful blue eyes. "Um..."
"I guess we have that in common then."
"Yeah..." A flicker of a memory comes into my mind and it's like the floodgates have opened and I can't control what comes in. Unwanted tears fill my eyes and one spills over, speckling the white cloth on the table.
"Hey." Miller reaches across the table and places his hand on top of mine. "You don't have to say anything you don't want to."
I shake my head and try to focus on his skin on mine.I'm safe here, I tell myself. My past can't hurt me anymore. I wipe my cheek and force a smile as I reach for my martini and take a long drink. "I'm fine."
"You know you don't always have to be fine, right?" He circles his thumb on my hand.
"I disagree."
"Cora..." He sighs. "You don't have to do that with me."
"Do what?"
"Pretend."
I stare at him as he stares at me and it's like he's looking straight into my fucking soul.
He continues, "I see how hard you try to make sure everyone sees you as this perfect person. You're aware of everything. You take care of everyone. You put yourself last and prioritize their needs. You're allowed to be selfish every once in a while. You're allowed to ask for help. You're allowed to break down. And you're absolutely allowed to talk about what's bothering you." He exhales again. "Is this about your boss?"
I swallow and recall that day not too long ago when he forced himself on me, and I had no choice but to defend myself...his blood coating my face and clothes after I finished with him.
“Can I be honest about something?” I bend at the waist, leaning forward a bit.
“Your secrets are safe with me.”
“I thought I’d feel worse about what I did...and I don’t.”
Miller smiles ever so softly. “There’s nothing wrong with that.”
“I think the legal system might disagree with that. Isn’t remorse usually what lessens people’s prison sentences?”
“You are not going to prison, Cora. I would never let that happen.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Do you trust me?”
“Yes,” I say without hesitation.
“Then trust me when I say I won’t let anything bad happen to you, not ever again.”
Little does he know, there’s nothing he can do to prevent that from happening—my fate is sealed, and it belongs to Ricardo Gardella.
"Why?" I ask him.
"What do you mean?"
"I'm nobody to you. Why does it matter if something bad happens to me or not?"
"Because I care about you." He gives my hand a pulsing squeeze. One, two, three. Like a morse code signaling that he's here for me, that he isn't going anywhere.
