Page 55 of Queen’s Gambit

Steeling myself for the truth, I sucked in a deep breath.

“This is Lawrence.”

Eddie’s face twisted in confusion.

“A few weeks ago, he attacked me outside of the library.”

“He what?”

Eddie’s fingers tightened, and his eyes turned murderous.

“He wants me for himself. He’s deranged and believes he is a better match for me. I fought him off and thought about telling the dean, but then I thought if my father found out, he would demand that I go home. I hid it from you because you would kill him, and I’d lose you. I couldn’t let that happen, and so I kept quiet.”

“The scratches on his face….”

Eddie’s mind was working to fill in the clues he had missed.

“I didn’t report it, Eddie, and I made a mess of everything. I should’ve listened to Paul. He told me to go to the dean.”

“Paul knew and didn’t tell me?”

“I made him promise not to tell anyone. Don’t be mad at him, please. He begged me to report it, but I told him that if he forced me, I would deny it.”

“Ana….”

He stepped back and stared around the room, looking as lost and hurt as I felt for doing this to us.

“Please don’t hate me. I swear the only reason I kept quiet was so that this very thing didn’t happen, but Lawrence found another way to hurt us. Now my father doesn’t trust you. Oh my god, what have I done?”

Eddie grabbed my hands.

“Stop. This is not your fault. Do I wish that you’d told me what that asshole, who has been masquerading as my friend, did to you? Yes, but this is not your fault.”

“If I leave with my father, he’ll never let me come back.”

“Dean Martin can only keep him locked out for a week. We need a plan.”

He was right. We couldn’t go off half-cocked.

“Okay…what should we do?”

“I can go out there and claim you as mine. To hell with him, his rules, and anything else. We don’t let him leave until he signs a marriage contract.”

I nodded even as fat tears rolled down my cheeks.

Eddie wiped them away and touched his lips to mine. “No matter what happens, know that I love you, and I will never stop fighting for us.”

“I’m so scared,” I whispered.

“Don’t be. You’re so much stronger than you think you are. No amount of distance between us can ever destroy what we have.” Grabbing my hand, he laid it over his heart. “Tu sei la mia anima. You will always be my soul, Ana…always.”

Cupping his face, I kissed him hard.

There was a light knock, but I ignored it.

“We can’t do that. As much as I want you to, as much as I love that you would…my father will kill us both for embarrassing him and forcing his hand. I must apologize. We need to make him see that you never did anything wrong.”

“Are you sure about this, Ana? What if we run? We can go somewhere no one would ever look for us.”