Page 42 of His to Save

“Don’t worry about me, Atlas.” She pushes herself up from the couch. “We both know we weren’t working out. Plus, she needs you, and if I’m being real, I think you’re the kind of guy who needs to be needed. Take care of her, okay?”

“I will,” I say, standing to walk her to the door. “I appreciate you, Scar. And I mean that.”

She rolls her eyes as she slips her boots back on. “I know you do.”

“Just leave without saying bye then,” Ellis calls from the living room. “Rude ass.”

Without looking back, she pulls open the door with one hand while raising her middle finger in the air with the other. “Peace out, Officer Jackass.”

DIARY ENTRY, PRESENT DAY

Dear Diary,

Is it weird to say I’ve missed you? Because I really have. These last few days without you have beenunbearable. I have so much to tell you, but I don’t even know where to start.

Wait, that’s a lie. Yes, I do.

I did it—I escaped! It feels surreal to even say it, but I’m free, and that monster will never hurt me or the baby growing inside of me ever again.

It’s crazy how it all worked out. Honestly, I keep thinking I’ll wake up any minute back in the basement.

I took a chance and left you for Ellis, hoping he would be able to help me, but Atlas found you instead.

I was so scared when he showed up at the motel. I thought he was going to drag me kicking and screaming back to Rand, but he didn’t. He says all he wants is to keep me safe, and even though it’s hard, I believe him.

Atlas seems like a good man. Fingers crossed he doesn’t prove me wrong.

Hopeful, Nora

CHAPTER 14

NORA

You know that feeling you get when you wake up somewhere unfamiliar? That momentary burst of panic as you try to remember where you are and how you got there?

That feeling is completely absent as I blink myself awake in Atlas’s bed. I take stock of my surroundings as I stretch my arms over my head and point my toes. I’m cozy and well-rested, which is odd in and of itself.

But it begs the question—what woke me up?

Dappled sunlight filters in through the blinds, but it’s not overly bright. There are no birds chirping or anything. I’m not too hot or cold. And after the feast Atlas and Ellis served up last night, I’m certainly not hungry. I still can’t get overthemcooking forme.

If anything, the only discomfort I’m experiencing at the moment is over how absolutely content I am in this cloud of a bed.

I’m not sure if it’s the mattress topper, the thick duvet, or Atlas’s scent clinging to all of it that settles me the most, but whatever it is—I love it. I feel safe and secure, neither of which I’ve felt in years.

“Nora?” a masculine voice calls from the other side of the closed door. The deep timbre of it sends shivers down my spine—the good kind.

“Yeah?” I say around a yawn.

“Can I come in?” Atlas asks.

I nod then immediately feel like an idiot since he can’t see me. “Of course,” I call back, “it’s your room.”

The door swings open and Atlas steps into the room. “We’ve been over this, Pip. While you’re here, it’s yours.”

“It doesn’t feel right.” I push against the mattress so I’m sitting all the way up. “It feels like I’m pushing you out of your own space and?—”

“Nora.” Atlas is across the room and at the side of the bed in the blink of an eye. “I know it’s hard, but I need you to let me take care of you.”

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