Page 55 of Trapped

“I never asked for this. I just wanted to be safe.”

He shrugged. “I never asked for this either. But here we are.”

My heart fluttered and tears stung my eyes, but I fought them back. I didn’t trust men. I couldn’t afford to, but Santino wasn’t like Dimitri. He’d never hurt me. Not the way I’d been hurt before.

“Delilah, you can twist yourself into a pretzel about how you’ll pay me back. Or you can be honest with me.”

“What are you talking about?”

He didn’t flinch. “I want more.”

“What does that even mean? I don’t understand what you want?—”

“Tell me something real, not something to stroke my ego.”

I scoffed. “Like what?”

“What makes you feel safe? How can I give that to you?”

I blinked, stunned by the softness in his voice. “I want to be free! Don’t you get that? You think you’re different, but you’re not. You’re just like all the other men who want to own me, use me, and throw me away when they’re done!”

His jaw clenched. He just stood there, watching me unravel.

“You’re trying to trap me! You keep me close, give me things, and then hold it over my head when it suits you. But I’m not like the women you’re used to. I’m not someone you can control.”

Santino’s face darkened. “You think I don’t know that?”

I stared at him. “Why are you demanding this from me?”

“You’re the only thing in my life that I can’t buy with money. I’m trying to figure this out, just like you are.”

“I thought this was just business for you.”

“It started that way, but it stopped being that the second I realized I actually gave a damn about you.”

My heart pounded. “But you don’t—how could you even?—?”

“You’re the first person who’s ever made me feel like this. I don’t know what the hell this is between us, but it’s real. And you’re trying to run from it.”

“I’m not running!” I screamed, my throat raw. “You’re asking for things I can’t give. You want me to open up, to believe that you’re different from every other man who’s ever used me, and I can’t do it! Ican’ttrust you like that!”

“I don’t want to use you. I want you to feel like you belong with me.”

I shook my head. “You want to get me pregnant. Just admit it. You don’t have feelings for me. This is just another form of control.”

“No, baby. I understand my feelings. You’re the one who doesn’t understand what this could be.”

My heart pounded, torn between the deep fear that he was lying and the desperate hope that maybe he wasn’t.

His expression softened. “Delilah, I’m not perfect. I’ll probably screw up. But the difference between me and the others is that I’m not going anywhere.”

I give up.

The fight drained out of me as I sank onto a chair. I had no energy to push him away. Santino grabbed my hand, the sight of his raw knuckles twisting something inside me.

“I want us to go away somewhere.”

I glanced at him. “Like on a trip?”

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