"What do you mean?"
"How do you two really know each other?"
My face grows hot and I dislike how easily Miller sees through the lies. "How do you guys know each other?" I attempt to change the focus of the conversation.
"Her dad is a prominent member of myindustry."
"Oh," is all I can say. I already knew Ricardo was, but I wasn't sure if Miller would tell me the truth.
"And he's a fucking pig," he adds.
That much I'm aware of, too.
My breath hitches and my chest tightens. I press my hand to it, not realizing that I'm even doing so.
"Hey," Miller says softly. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..." He cups my cheeks in his hands and tilts my face up toward him. "Breathe, Cora. Look at me, just breathe."
I stare into his eyes, mine welling with unwanted tears.
"In through your nose, one two three four, out your mouth, one two three four five." He wipes a tear as it falls and continues to talk me down from the panic rising through me.
Finally, after an embarrassingly long minute, I blurt out, "I'm sorry."
"You have nothing to apologize for." He rubs his thumbs on my cheeks and in a perfect world, I'd stay here forever with his hands on me, his touch making me feel like there isn't a single thing wrong. "Does this happen often?"
I shrug and sigh. "Not really."
"How often?"
"Once a week, maybe," I admit. "But lately...more."
"Cora..." Miller drags me into his chest and forces me to reconsider my previous thought.
Thisis where I want to stay, in his arms.
"You're safe here, okay?" He smooths circles on my back. "I won't let anything happen to you."
I want to tell him not to make promises that he can't keep but it would ruin the moment, and I've already done enough of that.
"I'm okay," I lie and break away. "I'm fine, really."
Miller reluctantly lets me go and studies my face with great concern. His sights linger and my pulse picks up. "Is that a bruise?" He touches the spot in question, and I clench my jaw the same way I've done every single time he's touched it tonight in an attempt to stifle the pain. I had done everything in my power to cover it up and pretend like it didn't hurt when he touched me, but I'm only adding to the lies.
"Cora, what happened?"
"I hit my head," I tell him but don't include the part about it being against the back of Ricardo's hand.
"Did someone do this to you?" Miller's hand balls into a fist at his side. "Tell me. Who. Hurt. You?" he says through gritted teeth.
"No one, I..."
"Did Silver do this?"
"What? No. No, I haven't seen him since..."
"I'll kill him if he hurts you." Miller's eyes are wilder than I've ever seen, an intensity to them that equally excites and terrifies me. "Was it Alec?"
"No." I pause and place my hand on his cheek, this time I use my touch to calm him. "Miller, Silver and Alec would never hurt me, okay? You have nothing to worry about there."
