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I knew exactly what she was thinking. Once those cuffs opened, nothing could stop me from overpowering her or disappearing into the passage, leaving her behind to suffer her father’s wrath.

“Mouse.”

She looked back at me.

“If you change your mind after I free you, I can’t stop you.”

“I won’t change my mind.”

She searched my face one last time, then drew in a slow breath and stepped around the chair. Her skirt brushed my knee before she disappeared behind me.

For a moment, nothing happened.

Then her fingertips touched the back of my hand.

Careful. Almost tentative.

She lifted my wrist enough to find the lock by feel, her other hand steadying the cuff against the chair. The key scraped against the metal.

Then she stopped.

Her breath touched the back of my arm.

On the second try, the key slid into the slot.

There was a tiny turn, then a click.

The cuff released around my left wrist.

Neither of us moved.

One hand was free.

I could’ve caught her before she made it two steps toward the wall. Instead, I left my hand exactly where she’d placed it.

After another quiet breath, her fingers found my other wrist.

This time she was steadier. Her hand brushed mine as she angled the key into the second lock.

Click.

The pressure around my right wrist vanished.

“Done,” she whispered.

I brought my arms forward slowly. Pain ripped through both shoulders hard enough to pull a grunt from me, but the pain barely registered. For the first time since Jersey, my hands were mine again.

Isabella came around the chair immediately, watching me warily.

I lowered both palms to my thighs and kept them there, where she could see them.

I didn’t reach for her. She’d placed herself and the key within my reach because I’d given her my word. I wasn’t going to make her regret trusting me.

I caught the edge of the towel covering my lap. “Turn around for me, Mouse.”

“Oh. Right. Your pants.”

“And the cock you looked at twice.”