Page 166 of Bound By Crimson
some battered part of her still craved him.
Still longed for the comfort of his arms.
Still wanted to hear his voice saying her name.
Lyric.
It felt filthy inside her now. Like her very blood had turned against her.
Her hands moved instinctively, pressing against her stomach.
For a moment—
a terrible, flickering moment—
she didn’t know how to feel about the life growing inside her.
Could she love him?
Could she even look at herself?
The thought struck so violently she curled forward, a keening sound escaping her lips.
No.
The baby was innocent.
He hadn’t betrayed her.
He hadn’t lied.
He was hers.
The only pure thing she had left.
Her chest heaved as she rocked herself on the floor, clutching her belly like a lifeline.
“I love you,”she whispered, voice shaking. “I will protect you. I will get us out.”
The way Eden had tried to protect her.
She would get her son out of here.
Even if it destroyed her.
Chapter Sixty
Silence, Paid in Full
The door creaked open.
Lyric jolted upright, the journal still clutched to her chest.
Panic snapped through her as she shoved it under the mattress, smoothing the covers hastily just as Tessa and Bernarda entered.
They didn’t seem to notice.
Or if they did, they pretended not to.
