Page 31 of The Taste of Deceit

The sob tears out of me before I can stop it. I throw my arms around his neck and bury my face against him. He wraps both arms around me so tightly I can barely breathe, but I don’t want him to let go. I bury my face against his neck and cry harder than I have in years.

His hand moves slowly through my hair as another sob tears through me.

“I’m here, Baby Girl.”

Eventually, my breathing begins to even out. My face is still buried against his neck when I whisper, “You really don’t see me differently?”

“I do.”

My stomach drops.

“I love you even more than I did an hour ago.”

I stare at him. A tear slips down my cheek.

“Luca...”

“I look at you and see a seventeen-year-old girl who should’ve been worried about school and boys and what college she wanted to go to.”

His jaw tightens.

“Instead...” He shakes his head once. “You were trying to survive something no kid should ever have to survive.”

His thumb brushes another tear from beneath my eye.

“You know what I see when I look at you?”

I swallow.

“The strongest woman I’ve ever met.”

I let out a shaky breath.

“I don’t feel strong.”

“I know.”

He says it so quietly it almost breaks me again.

“I know you don’t.”

He rests his forehead against mine. Silence settles between us.

“I’ve killed people,” he says after a moment. “I’ve done things I’ll have to answer for one day. Every single one of those choices was mine.”

He cups my face with both hands.

“What happened in that barn wasn’t a choice.”

I close my eyes.

“You didn’t wake up that morning planning to kill somebody. You woke up planning to feed horses.”

A broken laugh escapes me through fresh tears.

“You were seventeen.”

His voice cracks for the first time.