My vision was hazy, tears still falling despite my efforts to stop them.
“I didn’t hit Violet,” I whispered.
My voice cracked—raw, fragile and desperate.
“I didn’t even touch her.”
Something quieter flickered across his face.
He said nothing in response.
Instead, he moved.
Metal scraped softly.
The cuffs around my wrists unlocked with a sharp click, and suddenly my arms were free—falling uselessly at my sides as circulation rushed back in a painful, tingling surge.
I winced, sucking in a sharp breath, fingers trembling as I tried to move them.
Then his attention shifted downward.
Another click.
The padlock at my ankles released.
The chain slackened, slipping free and clattering softly against the stone as he removed it completely.
For a second, I thought I was free.
I tried to stand.
My legs buckled immediately.
There was no strength left in them.
No support.
Just raw, screaming pain.
My knees gave out beneath me before I could even find balance, and I started to fall forward.
But I didn’t hit the ground.
Vincenzo caught me.
His arms came around me with a strength that was almost effortless, lifting me off the stone before I could fully collapse.
He gathered me against his chest and held me there—steady, secure—as if I weighed nothing at all.
A sharp breath left my lips, half from the sudden movement, half from the shock of being lifted.
Rain began to fall in earnest.
Heavy, freezing drops crashed against my skin, soaking through my clothes in seconds.
The storm came fast, relentless, drumming against the ridge and blurring the world into streaks of grey and black.
Vincenzo adjusted his hold on me.
