Page 29 of Devoted

She loses herself to her tears, and I rest my head on top of hers while she lets it all out.

I’ve wanted to take Marco out of power for years. But now, I won’t stop until I kill that asshole. His one job in life is to protect his daughters, and he failed.

“All this time, you’ve been worrying about him coming back for you. Is that why you drink? Is that what the nightmares are about?” It’s a struggle to keep my voice even with the fury burning so hot inside of me.

“He will come back, Luca. The look in his eyes–he’s a psychopath. I drink to blur it all out. After it happened, I raided my dad’s liquor cabinet, and the rest is history. Then when the alcohol didn’t quite cut it, I took it further.”

“The coke.”

“Yes. It let me drink even more. So I’d completely black out and not be able to remember a thing.” She buries her face against my chest. “It’s embarrassing.”

“You’re a survivor, Rosa. You did what you needed to fight. You have nothing to be embarrassed about. Not with me, not with anyone. No one can tell you how to deal with your own trauma.”

I deal with my demons with fighting and killing. She uses other means. Everyone uses something.

“I was so alone. I messed up my college, my future. He took everything from me. No matter how hard I try to regain some type of control over my life, he always wins.”

She lifts her head, her hands pressing on my chest to sit herself upright.

“I want to be better. Maybe go back to college and do a photography course. Make some new friends. I don’t know, maybe even get a boyfriend. I just want to be normal, without him holding me back, without living in fear.”

I stiffen at her words. Or one word: boyfriend.

“You can do whatever you want to do, little one. I’ll help you in any way I can, I swear.”

I place my hand on my heart, and she covers it with her own.

“Thank you for listening. I never knew how much relief I would feel just saying it all out loud to someone willing to listen.” The light from the hall creates a halo around her as she looks down at me.

“You are so strong, Rosa. I don’t think you realize your own strength yet. I will always listen. I might not know exactly what you’re dealing with. But I do know what it’s like to be left alone. To fight with yourself every damn day. To feel like you’re suffocating in your own thoughts, that you will never quite be good enough. Watching everyone else around you move on and have these perfect fucking lives and you’re just stuck.”

I let out a breath, and her hand strokes my cheek, making me smile.

“Well, who needs a therapist when we have each other, hey?” she hiccups.

It’s the cutest noise I’ve ever heard.

“I can get you the best in the country if you would like?”I’ve already made arrangements for when she is ready.

“You would?”The surprise in her voice is clear, and it breaks my heart. All this time, she really has had no one on her team.

Well today, that changes. What she doesn’t know is, Dr. Jenkins, a top psychologist in her field, is lined up to visit when I call.

I rest my forehead against hers.

And, for some reason, it feels like home.

Something I’ve never truly had.

CHAPTERSIXTEEN

luca

My cock twitching wakes me up. I groan and rub my… pants?

What the hell?

Relief washes over me as her sweet coconut scent fills my nose. Last night comes flooding back to me. She fell asleep in my arms. I didn’t want to wake her. I must have passed out at some point, too. I was anticipating another nightmare after everything she unpacked last night.

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