“No,” she interrupted. “You’re not.” With a heavy sigh, she opened her eyes. “Don’t say it if you don’t mean it.”
I’d been hearing that a lot lately.
“And no. I’m not upset about the way you left. I’m upset because I’m still in this fucking cell. And I’m bored. And I’m hungry. And I’m cold. And I have nothing warmer to wear.”
“You do now.” I nodded toward the bag. “And I’ll make you something to eat.”
“That still won’t fix my biggest problem.”
“No,” I agreed. “It won’t. But it’s all I’m going to offer right now.”
Moving stiffly, she got to her feet and walked over to the bag on her bandaged feet. She opened it, then reached inside and started pulling out clothes. Leggings, T-shirts, a sweater, socks. And her cotton underwear and bras. “You got my clothes.”
“Yes.”
“You broke into my room at Gino’s?”
I wasn’t sure why she sounded so surprised. “You needed your things. I can go back for the rest tomorrow if you’d like.”
“But…” She straightened, a pair of leggings in one hand and underwear in the other. “Why would you do that?”
I frowned, trying to figure out where she was going with this line of questioning. “You needed clothes, Luna.”
“Yes, but why not just get me new clothes? Instead of risking going back to Gino’s?”
Oh. “I thought you’d be more comfortable if you had your own things. Would you prefer new? Do you need something else?”
She glanced down into the bag and then back up at me, an inscrutable expression on her perfect face. “No. No. This is great. It’s exactly what I would’ve packed had you given me the chance.”
For once, there was no anger in her tone. Not even a bite of sarcasm.
"What is it?"
"Nothing." She pulled a few more things out of the bag. Something was wrong. There was something I'd missed.
"You're lying to me, and I'd like to know why. Was there something else? I can go back."
She shook her head. "There's just a picture." She glanced up at me, trying to act nonchalant, but I could see in her eyes that she was upset. "It's me and my brother when we were kids. The only one I have of us. Our foster father destroyed the rest when I left."
I wracked my brain, but I didn't remember seeing a picture. It was obviously important to her, though, so when I could, I'd go back and get it for her.
Dropping the clothes back into the bag, she approached the bars until she stood directly in front of me. “Tristan, please. You don’t have to keep me in here.”
I stared down at her, and it was on the tip of my tongue to apologize again, but I caught myself. Because she was right. Itwouldn’t be sincere. I said the words because I knew people liked to hear them. It made them feel heard. “Yes, I do,” I said simply. She still didn’t understand. This was theonlysafe place for her right now. The cell kept her safe.
And it kept her contained and under control. No surprises.
She opened her mouth to say something else, but I held up my hand, turning my head slightly toward the open bedroom door. Vehicles were coming up the drive. “I’ll be right back.”
“Tristan, wait!” She grabbed for me through the bars, and I quickly stepped back out of her reach. Her fingers curled into a fist. “What is it? Where are you going?”
“Luca has visitors. I need to go see who it is.”
“Is it Gino?”
Her tone was difficult for me to discern. I stepped as close as I dared. “He can’t get you in here, Luna. Even if he finds you, he can’t hurt you.”
For one second, there was something in her eyes. Sympathy? That didn't make sense, but it was there and gone before I had the chance to know. Perhaps I was only imagining things.
