Page 31 of Montana Silence

So I forced a smile on my face and said, “Of course. Thank you.”

“Good. I’ll announce it this evening. Go back to your chores.”

Leaving his office and closing the door behind me, I changed my mind. I never wanted to go into that room ever again.

“Mara?” Daniel’s voice brought me back from the memory, but I still wasn’t really here. I needed to get out. I needed to not be here. I needed to hide so I could be quiet and he wouldn’t notice. If I was quiet enough, he wouldn’t find me and he wouldn’t make me marry him. I didn’t want to marry him.

My breath came in gasps, and it felt like there wasn’t enough air in the world to fill my lungs. Why couldn’t Ibreathe?

“Mara.” My name was gentle, but it sounded like him. Too slick and smooth and charming. I didn’t want it. I didn’t want him.

“Don’t touch her.” I heard a voice. “And don’t get too close.”

“Who do we call?”

“I think we both have a guess.”

Why were they talking? Talking would give us away. They needed to be quiet. “Shh.” I tried to be quiet. “He’ll hear you.”

There was no more talking after that. Only blissful silence. All I had to do was wait. Wait and everything would be fine. Wait until I knew he wasn’t close, and I didn’t have to see him or risk his attention.

“Mara?”

It was a different voice, and suddenly, my mind cleared. I was still in the security office in the chair I’d been sitting in before. Only, Daniel and Jude were no longer here, and Liam was crouching in front of me.

Oh no.

I looked around, chills running over my skin. “What did I do?”

“You didn’t do anything,” he said. “You just got caught up in your mind. You’re okay.”

I shook my head. It wasn’t true. I wasn’t okay. I wasn’t fucking okay. I didn’t want to go testify. I didn’t want to see him.

“Are you okay if I touch you?”

One nod.

Coming up higher on his knees, he wrapped his arms around me, and I melted into his embrace. My breathing eased and my heart settled. In Liam’s arms, the world was safe andgood. I’d jumped off a mountain with this man, and he kept me alive.

I shuddered, embarrassment rushing up in the wake of reality. I’d just made a fool of myself in front of my bosses. It was them who’d been talking, and Ishushedthem.

“Let me take you home,” Liam said quietly. “Will that make it better? Could you talk to me there?”

Every instinct I had told me not to talk. Silence was the only way to keep myself safe. But it wasn’t the truth—it was years of habit. Talking was the true way to keep myself safe. But Liam was right. Home was better.

“Okay.”

He helped me up, leading me out of the security office. Daniel was standing by the sink, and I froze, looking at the ground. It would only be so much worse later. “I’m sorry, Daniel.”

When he turned around, he looked surprised. “There’s nothing to apologize for. Absolutely nothing. If you need anything, please tell us. Whatever you need, we want to help.”

I looked away, still embarrassed, even though I knew I shouldn’t be. I filtered through the scents and sounds around me, pulling myself fully into my body.Don’t push it, Mara.I heard Rayne’s voice in my head.

She was right. I didn’t need to push myself when I wasn’t in a good space.

And there was no one who would say I was in a good space right now.

Liam helped me up into the truck I used and drove us back to my house. He hadn’t been inside since that first time, having picked me up and dropped me off at the door for our date.

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