Page 65 of A Twisted Gift

My chest still tightens when I step out of the bedroom, but I force myself to do it. Being farther away from my father’s mansion helps, I think.

So does the fact that he can never hurt me again.

Downstairs, Erik is humming a Christmas song while doing dishes. The kitchen opens up into the dining room, which is lined with tall windows that overlook a winter wonderland of a backyard.

I gasp, running to get a better view. “Erik! It snowed!”

“The snow was here before we were, little rose.” His body envelops me from behind, and he kisses the top of my head. “We’re much farther north than where we grew up. The winters are colder here.”

“So there’s always snow on Christmas?” I ask, unable to hide the excitement in my voice.

“Usually,” he replies, crossing the room to me. His hands rest on my hips. “You like that?”

“It makes it feel more magical, doesn’t it?”

I glimpse his reflection in the window as he smiles, staring down at me instead of the snow. “Yeah. It does.”

Turning, I place both hands on Erik’s chest. He’s wearing a burgundy sweater that brings out the warmth in his cinnamon brown eyes. When he smiles down at me, my heart skips a beat. He always looks at me with such dedication. I never doubted him, but the truth behind his words settles over me as he lowers his forehead to mine. Erik really, truly means to live for me and only me.

“Would you like to open your presents?” he asks me.

I gasp. “But I don’t have anything to give you!”

“You’ve already given me everything I’ve ever wanted.” Moving my hair behind my shoulder, he cups the back of my head. His lips brush over mine in a kiss that sends chills sliding over my skin. “You’re my gift.”

I smile against his mouth and loop my arms around his neck. When he picks me up and twirls me around, I can’t help my laugh. What we had to do to ensure we could stay together was twisted—horrifying, probably—but in the end, all that matters is that we have each other. Everyone who died yesterday sealed their own fate when they took part in hurting me.

Setting me down, Erik slides his hand into mine. “C’mon.” He leads me into the living room.

A tall Christmas tree stands in one corner, and all the presents he showed me the other day are around its base. I can’t stop staring at it, even as Erik pushes me into an armchair near the fireplace.

“It’s beautiful,” I breathe.

“Picked it out myself.” Erik hands me a small, rectangular box. “Let’s start with this one.”

As I unwrap it, he kneels on the floor next to me. One of his hands wraps around my calf, and his thumb rubs back and forth absentmindedly.

Once I have the box unwrapped, I stare at the picture on the front. “A phone?”

Marissa let me play with hers a few times, but I was never sure what to do with it other than play the bubble popping game she loaded onto it for me. She tried to show me memes, but there were too many I didn’t understand. The videos of sweet, cute animals always made me happy, though.

“I thought you’d like something to call your sister with—although we’ll need to wait until the police investigation dies down. You can call me, too, and you can ask it just about anything, and it’ll give you an answer.”

“Really?”

Erik nods. “I’ll show you how to use it later today.”

Leaning down, I kiss him. “Thank you. I was so jealous of Marissa and the boys when they got phones.”

“Of course.” He squeezes my calf before grabbing another present. “How about this one next?”

The moment I have the gift in my hand, I know exactly what it is. The size, the weight, the hardness of the front and back. I tear off the paper, revealing a familiar book I read a few years ago.

With a gasp, I hug the book to my chest. “I love this one! It’s about two girls on opposite sides of the world, and they become pen pals and fall in love with each other through their letters.”

Erik peers at the cover with renewed interest. “Sounds good. Maybe I’ll give it a read. It was in a section with a bunch of others that you had under your bed, so I thought it’d be a good one to grab.”

I nod. “The maid who snuck me in books had to sneak them out, too, otherwise my collection would’ve gotten too big and Charles would’ve noticed.”

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