Page 64 of Saving Sophia

When I finished, I took a deep breath and dared to glance up at his face. “So, now you understand. I’m so, so sorry, Da—Ethan.”

This time with him had been amazing; nothing had ever been so right in my life. But now he knew the truth, so I forced myself to break that habit before it started.

He didn’t correct me.

I understood why, but I wasn’t prepared for how bad it hurt.

“Stand up.”

I did, my hands sliding away and down to my sides. My nose started to sting, and I squeezed my fists closed at my sides, determined not to cry. My eyes drifted over to my still-packed bags. “I’ll get my?—”

“Why are you sorry?”

The question took me by surprise. When he didn’t elaborate, I tilted my head. Had he not been listening after all?

“Well, I told you everything and …” I lifted my shoulders in a miserable shrug.

“Is it better, with no secrets between us?”

“It is.” Even though it would hurt to leave, I did feel better.

“Now, why are you sorry? In all of that, what did you do wrong?”

Oh.

My brain picked through it all, trying to find the answer he wanted.

“Well, I lied. I mean, I wasn’t completely truthful to Hayden.”

He nodded, one finger tapping on his knee.

“And I wasn’t truthful to you either,” I continued. That one hurt a lot to say. “Or Callie, so now she’s mixed up in it too.”

Why was he making me say it like this? It sounded so awful.

“And did keeping it secret make things better?”

“No,” I croaked, the avocado in all its glory clogging my throat. “It only made things worse.”

“What should we do about it?” He leaned back and folded his fingers loosely together, pulling them apart then back together in thought.

I blinked hard, dropping my eyes from the motion of his hands to the rounded white toe tips of my Converse. He wanted me to set things right before I left. I could do that.

“I’ll tell Hayden everything … and I can”—I tried to swallow down the lump, but it only got bigger— “call my … p-parents and go back home. If I agree to go back to school, they might let me?—”

“No, my sweet Sophie, you misunderstand.” He shifted slightly on the chair, his knees coming together, his muscular thighs flexing under the fabric of his black pants. He held out a hand to me. “Your place is here. With me.”

My head jerked up, and I stared at his outstretched hand. I took it like I was in a dream, my skin tingling as our fingers laced together.

“And we can deal with what you saw together.” He leaned forward, his eyes locked on mine. “We can talk to Hayden and make sure this bastard goes away forever so he can never hurt you again.” Then he patted his lap, slowly and deliberately, his brow furrowing. “I meant, what should we do about your misbehavior?”

This stern side of him heated my insides despite all my guilt. “My … misbehavior?”

A passage from A Ruthless Choice popped into my head. Ruthie, confessing her plans to steal Captain John Harlow’s logbook in an escape attempt. He told her he would deal with her misbehavior by turning her over his knee for a thrashing. A thrilled little snake of excitement and fear slithered through my tummy and then slipped lower.

But then Griff’s words rang in my head, and the feeling cooled. “Is this because Griff thought I was a brat, and I wasn’t taking this seriously?”

“Griff?” He leaned back again, looking confused for a moment, then his lips quirked up, his eyes crinkled in amusement. “Griff was talking about … someone else. And now we need to add eavesdropping to your list.”

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