Page 42 of Saving Her

“No.” She slinks away from my touch, backtracking again and again. “No.”

Fuck.

She’s crumpling and that kid is about to go down with her if she doesn’t pull up from the nose-dive.

“Penny, you’re safe.” I follow her, getting close to make sure she can hear, see, and feel my sincerity. “Robert, Chris, and Luther are gone. All the shit you’ve been through is over. And I swear on my own brother’s life I’m going to get you home.”

She shakes her head faster and faster, her breathing fractured as she stares right through me.

“I’ve got you.” I reach out again, attempting to calm her with a touch. “It’s going to be—”

“No.” She scoots away. “I don’t want to see him. I don’t want to see any of them. I just want to leave.”

I let her place space between us, taking it as a win that she’s finally acknowledged her brother, no matter how minimal the admission.

“Penny…” Tobias tangles his fingers in her blouse, pulling the material down until he’s close to popping a button. “I’m scared.”

Her hyperventilating lessens.

Everything dilutes—the shaking of her head, the blink of fear-filled eyes. She reins in her crazy for the boy’s sake.

“I’m sorry.” She pivots to him, engulfing his shoulders in her arms to pull him tight against her. “There’s no need to be scared. I’m just a little…”

“Overwhelmed?” I offer.

She winces and follows it up with a nod. “He’s right. I’m overwhelmed.”

“Is he still a bad man?” the kid mumbles, looking at me from his shielded position against her side. “Dad said he was telling Cole bad things.”

Great. Fucking great.

I turn my attention to Penny and raise a brow. I’m not touching the kid’s question with a ten-foot pole. One, because he sure as shit won’t believe me. And two, because I have no idea what the fuck his scumbag father told him.

“We’re going to be okay.” She runs a hand through his hair, the placation timid at best. “Luca is trying to help us.”

Trying?

My fucking ass I’m trying.

I conquered that bullshit when I risked my life to run through a spray of bullets and tackle her to safety.

We both know I mastered that motherfucker like a pro, but I don’t have the focus or patience to point out the obvious.

“I’m going to leave you two alone.” I hold tight for a few seconds, waiting for her to protest. Waiting for anything.

When she doesn’t speak, I give up and back away. “I’ll be in the living room. Call out if you need me.”

Still, she doesn’t react. All she does is continue to taunt my need to win her over.

I don’t understand my obsession with earning her trust. But it’s there, clawing its way under my skin.

It isn’t until I reach the door that she breaks the silence.

“Luca.” My name is gentle on her lips. “They don’t have a lot of time.”

“They?” I pause, not turning to face her.

There’s a squeak of my mattress. She’s on my fucking bed. “The women—my sisters. They aren’t safe. Luther had plans to ensure we’re never freed.”

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