Page 181 of Inferno

“Don’t hurt my baby, please. Please.”

Her voice is wrecked, and it shreds through the room. She thrashes in her sheets, soaked in sweat, her body twisted in panic, as if she’s trying to fight something invisible.

“Take me. Not her. Don’t do this to her.”

Her words slice through me.

I said I’d be her nightmare. But right now, I’m not sure that’s something I can live with.

Her agony is too real. Too raw.

I reach toward her, hovering over her flushed skin. My fingers tremble as they graze her cheek.

“Shhh, heartbreaker. It’s me.”

She recoils sharply, knocking my hand away, her nails digging so hard into her wrists that blood starts to well, a crimson stain against her pale skin.

“Fuck.”

I lunge for her hands, wrapping mine gently around them, trying to stop her from doing more damage.

“Charlotte. It’s Declan. You’re safe. No one’s going to hurt you.”

Her eyes snap open, almost black in the dark.

“Isabella,” she breathes. “Save her.”

The name hits me like a fist to the gut.

I scoop her up and hold her close, cradling her like she might shatter in my arms. Her tears streak across my chest, her sobs tearing into the quiet.

“It’s okay,” I whisper, my hand finding her hair, smoothing it back. “It’s okay. I’ve got you.”

“Save who, baby?”

She doesn’t answer at first, she just clings to me tighter, sobbing like her soul is collapsing.

“Talk to me, heartbreaker. You said you wanted me to hear you out. This is your moment.”

Her voice is barely audible. “I—I can’t. You can’t.”

She shifts, straddling my lap, arms wrapped around my neck like I’m the only thing tethering her to earth. My heart hammers against my ribs.

“Who is Isabella?” I press. “Who’s hurting her?”

Please, let this be the moment. Please tell me.

She swallows, trembling.

“My daughter,” she says. “And my husband.”

I still.

Everything in me stills.

Daughter.

Husband.

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