Page 117 of Unspoken Promises

I watch a nurse walk past and a patient nip into a bathroom.

I stall. “It was nice of the police to get him a private room.”

Enzo flattens his lips and says nothing.

“Oh…” I cock the corner ofmy mouth. “Thank you.”

He pulls me in for one of his strong, reassuring hugs I’ve come to crave anytime something is wrong.

I wrap my arms around his waist. “Why am I so nervous? It’s not like we’re strangers.”

“Because for the first time, you’ll truly see each other.”

Enzo is right. What Anton and I shared was a trauma bond so deep it created unbreakable closeness but at the same time, I don’t know anything about him.

I take a deep breath. “See you later in the cafeteria?”

He pats his laptop bag. He’s been working on my name change for me so I don’t have to think about it. He’s insisted on doing everything that might take stress off my shoulders.

I can’t wait to be Ava for good. In my mind, I haven’t been Lucy since I got on that bus in Southern California.

“I’ll just grab that chair over there.” He points to a stiff chair outside the room opposite. “No rush.”

It will take time for this all to fade from our systems. I don’t blame Enzo for not being able to let me out of sight for long.

He presses a kiss to my lips. “I love you. You’ll feel better after you two talk.”

Facing the room, I take another deep breath and head in.

Anton is asleep. He looks different from how I’ve always seen him. He’s enormous by normal human standards, and as such, no matter what we were doing, cooking or watching a Christmas rom-com, he always seemed powerful. Right now, he’s pale and frail. He’s connected to IV tubes.

There’s a chair next to the bed. I sit because I feel awfully close to passing out. I have to keep reminding myself to breathe.

I don’t want to wake him, he needs sleep to heal. Thedoctor explained the bullet tore into his intestines. He’ll take time to get his strength back but he survived.

He took that bullet for me.

I always knew he would. I always knew he cared and no matter how messed up the therapist tells me I am after my first session next week, at least I know I don’t have Stockholm syndrome.

Enzo already told me what he learned from Anton’s statement when he finally pulled through the operations. He got taken in to Sánchez’s organization as a prisoner just days before I arrived.

Anton had been a Navy SEAL for years in his twenties but was offered honorable discharge after an injury small enough to still be fit, big enough to be offered retirement. He took the chance to leave service because, at twenty-nine, he was ready to start a family with his then fiancée. He returned home to find she’d been cheating on him with his best friend the whole time.

Thinking he had nothing left to live for, he spiraled into a self-destruction and became a vigilante. For years, he worked for hire, taking down criminals, working as a PI.

One day, he took a job with a family searching for their missing son. That search led Anton into Sánchez’s lair.

Having fought off Sánchez’s men with incredible skill, Sánchez learned Anton was a SEAL, and of course, knew that was valuable. He held Anton as a prisoner, for use at a later time, like he did with so many of his victims.

Apparently, only days after being captured, he was assigned as my keeper.

Did he stay because of me?Forme? The Anton I know from all those years would have. He was chivalrous always. Like a knight.

I place my hand on Anton’s, and it’s a familiar feeling.We haven’t held hands since I turned sixteen, but we used to when I was younger, and when I curl my fingers under his, they’re the exact shape I recall.

He opens one eye, and his voice is sleepy and emotional. “Lucy…”

My heart breaks at the sound of his voice.

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