Page 159 of A Forgotten Promise

Unable to recall events leading to the incident. In my case, the last memory I have is waiting for Vito at the coffee shop in Milan. I was going to tell him I’m done with modeling.

Corm’s hurt face keeps flickering through my mind.

What a nightmare.

Someone knocks softly, and while I don’t answer, the door opens anyway.

“Hey.” I smile at Lily.

“Sorry I couldn’t come sooner; I was working.” She tiptoes into the room like she was doing something wrong.

“It’s okay. I’m glad you’re here.”

I sent everyone away because they were too concerned, too worried, too overbearing, but Lily’s company has never been over-anything.

She pulls a chair closer and sits, adjusting her glasses. “So you remember me?”

I chuckle. “You’re unforgettable.”

A smile tugs at the corners of her mouth. “Because of my horrible haircut?”

“Promise me I can give you a makeover when I’m out of here.”

She rolls her eyes. “When are you out of here?”

It’s a simple question, but it brings the temporarily lighter mood down immediately. “They want to discharge me tomorrow.”

“That’s great.” She toes off her sneakers and lifts her leg on to the chair, resting her chin on it.

“I don’t know where to go, Lils.” My words hit me with a new intensity, like I haven’t been spinning them in my head for hours.

“You don’t want to go to Corm?”

“I don’t remember his house, or that it was my home. I remember hating the man, which doesn’t make me feel particularly keen on going there.”

“Your things are there, so maybe go and pack, and you will see how it feels. Maybe returning there will trigger your memories.”

“Celeste said the same. She offered I stay with them, but she thinks I should give Corm a chance.”

“He loves you, Saar.”

“The Cormac Quinn I know only loves himself,” I quip, but Lily’s words ram through me like a wrecking ball.

His hurt face flickers through my mind. Again.

“He was so devastated the whole time. If I’ve ever seen a man who wanted to take a bullet for his wife, Corm was it.”

I bite my lip, my heart beating wildly, my stomach a knot. “Everything feels so surreal. So many things happened in such a brief span of time, and I don’t remember any of them.”

“Many significant things happened during that time. You lost yourself, and you kind of found yourself, started to reinvent yourself. In the last two weeks, you were happier than I’ve ever seen you before.”

“Maybe it was the job. That podcast is good.”

Lily snorts. “She said humbly.”

I close my eyes for a moment. Every time I do that, I hope for a flashback, for anything that confirms I belong by Corm’s side.

But it’s all just darkness.

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