Page 213 of The Obedient Lie

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Still nothing.

We hadn’t gone too far.

We’d asked her color. Watched her.Loved her.

But maybe that wasn’t enough.

Maybe our kind of love wastoo much.

Her lips parted slightly.

A sound—broken, breathless—escaped.

Then her stomach rose.

Just a little.

Enough for Luca to choke out a sound that wasn’t quite relief and wasn’t quite fear.

“She’s breathing.”

But she didn’t move.

Didn’t open her eyes.

Didn’t speak.

I didn’t pull my hand away from her chest.

I needed tofeel it.

Every beat.

Every flicker of proof that she was stillhere.

Luca didn’t speak again. He just wrapped one arm tighter around her ribs, pulling her firmly into his chest.

I kept my other hand braced under her thigh, still inside her.

But she was too quiet.

Too limp.

She needed rest now.

We had taken everything—and she’dgivenit all.

“Slow,” I said low. “We move slow.”

Luca nodded.

Together, we eased out of her.

Carefully. She didn’t stir.

We pulled her gently between us.

Luca tucked her against his chest, his hand never leaving her stomach.

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