Page 110 of Saving Her

“I was waiting for her to be ready,” I mutter.

“You don’t have to worry about me.” Penny’s expression fills with regret. “The last thing I want to do is be more of a burden.”

“You’re not a burden,” Sarah cuts in. “You’re part of the family. And we look after our own. Fiercely…well, maybe not as fiercely as Luca, but he’s special, in a mentally unhinged kind of way.”

Penny’s lips lift. Her pleasure at my ridicule is slight, but beautiful.

So fucking beautiful.

“Tell me more about this unhingement,” she says. “Us mentally challenged people need to stick together.”

I know she’s only trying to be a part of the conversation, and yeah, I chuckle to encourage more of her involvement. But Jesus, I hate her being down on herself. It makes me want to shake her even more.

“Well, that’s my cue to leave.” I grab the armrests, waiting for a protest from Penny to keep me in place. “If you’re going to talk about me I’d prefer you do it behind my back.”

Her eyes flash. Her lips part.

“Good. Go.” Sarah shoos me with a wave of her hand. “It’s time for some girl talk.”

I remain poised to move, waiting, wordlessly demanding Penny to ask for help.

Just tell me to stay.

Ask me to protect you.

“Go on,” Sarah demands. “Get going.”

I pause for one more second. Two. But when Pen doesn’t speak, I give up.

“You sure know how to make a guy feel special.” I push from my seat and shoot a warning look at Sarah. “Be nice.”

She snaps her teeth at me before stealing my chair. “Run along, soldier.”

3

Penny

Luca walks away,and the whole time I wish he wasn't leaving me alone with her. I don’t know this woman. I don’t think I want to. There’s a hardness in her eyes that unsettles me. A bitterness. And I’m unsure if it's aimed at me personally.

“Do you like it here?” she asks as soon as the French door closes behind him.

I continue to cradle the coffee mug in my hands and shift my focus to the backyard. It’s simplistic. Fresh-cut lawn. A few shrubs. Two billowing trees. It’s completely different to the perfectly manicured gardens of the hell I previously lived in, and for that I'm thankful.

“Yes.” I appreciate being welcomed into Luca’s home. But I hate beinghere.In my own skin. Cloaked in irrational emotion. Haunted by thoughts.

“You’re not uncomfortable? You wouldn't prefer to be somewhere else?”

“No.” The truth is, there is nowhere else. I have nowhere to go. Nowhere to belong.

“And what about Luca? Is he treating you well?”

I nod and begin to resent the manners instilled in me as a child that make it impossible to ignore her. I’m too tired for this conversation.

“Are you sure? He said yesterday that you've been cooking and cleaning. Is that out of obligation? Is he making you do those things?”

My narrowed gaze snaps to her. “No, of course not. He’s been nothing but kind to me.”

“So he hasn’t implied you need to carry your weight? Or maybe return his hospitality with a sexual favor or two?”

---