her eyes bloodshot from recent tears. “What did she want?”
“To help.”
“With what?” She continues to the fridge, turning her back to me as she grabs a bottle of juice.
“With you. She convinced me of something I didn’t want to acknowledge.”
Her movements slow while she pours a mouthful of OJ into a clean glass, drinks the contents, then returns the bottle to the fridge without a word.
I wait for her to ask for clarification. But she doesn’t, instead placing her glass in the sink before walking toward the hall. She’s already predicted what’s coming. I swear she already knows.
“Penny,” I warn. “Your time’s up.”
Her posture stiffens, her chin raising an inch in defiance. “Excuse me?” She doesn’t turn to face me. Doesn’t even glance over her shoulder.
“I said, ‘your time is up.’ You’re not wallowing anymore.”
There’s no response. Nothing at all, before she continues walking.
“Goddamnit. Don’t ignore me.” I slam my palm down on the counter, the crack of noise making her jump. “I’m serious. We need to get back to your list.”
“My list?” She turns, gradually, her brows pinched as she meets my gaze. “You think watching reruns of the Fast and the Furious is going to wipe away my suffering?”
I breathe in her pain, sucking it deep. “We’ll create a new list. One that will teach you self-defense and weaponry. More rigorous exercise, too. You’re going to start training.”
“Exercise is your thing, not mine. I just want to be left alone.”
“I’ve listened to you cry for days. I’m not doing it anymore. If you don’t want to exercise, then we’ll start on self-defense.”
“No.” She scowls. “You can’t make me.”
“I won’t leave you defenseless, shorty. This world with the Torians isn’t the same as the one you grew up in.” I approach her, matching her scowl with my own. “You need to learn to protect yourself.”
“I already know how. My time with Luther taught me that.”
“Then show me.”
Those deep eyes search mine, cautious, annoyed. “I don’t need to prove myself to you.”
“Then consider it a favor. I worry about you. This will help me sleep at night.”
She scoffs. “You don’t think, after all my time spent captive, that I didn’t learn a thorough understanding of what I’m capable of when pitted against a man?”
I encroach, stopping when we’re toe to toe, almost hip to hip. “Then. Show. Me.”
Her expression loosens, her agitation changing to bone-weary sorrow. “Tomorrow.”
“No. Now. Torian is already in Portland. Your brother will soon follow. If you want to stay here with me, you need to show you’re improving, not going fucking backward.”
Her lips part, her shock subtle before she shakes her head. “My sister just died. And you are the one who pushed me to grieve for her. To grieve for everything. Now you expect me to stop?”
“You can grieve all you like. But you need to be learning how to live in this world at the same time.”
“Tomorrow,” she repeats, swiveling on her heels to make for the hall.
I grab her. I fucking shouldn’t, but my fingers latch on to her arm, the throb of connection sliding through me before I realize there’s no going back. “Now, Pen.”
Her breathing hitches, in fear or shock, I’m not sure. She focuses on where I hold her, where my palm grips the baggy sweater just above her arm, before her eyes finally meet mine. “Get your hand off me.” The demand is barely audible, so fragile and weak it only increases my need for action.
I drop my hold and choose to walk into her instead. One foot after the other, intimidating her backward.
“Luca,” she warns as she retreats, matching me step for step until she’s flush against the wall, her head held high, her breaths increasing.
I know those quickened inhales aren’t from lust. I fucking know it. Doesn’t stop me feeling the heat in my veins, though.
The rise and fall of her chest. The soft, parted lips. The way those eyes hold mine.
She undoes me. Without words. Without actions. She fucking tears me apart. And there’s nothing I can do about it.
“Try to fight me off.” I loom over her, deliberately intimidating.
“I don’t want to fight you.”
“You need to learn. If you have a few tricks up your sleeve—”
“I’ll what?” she interrupts. “I’ll be able to fight off the next person who tries to abduct me? Is that what you think? Because self-defense won’t help when I wasn’t attacked, Luc. I was led. Luther talked me into leaving the States. The only thing you can do to help