Page 56 of Faith
Zeke sucked in a breath. He looked at Samuel, then again at Nina. He was right. She did come back. But she wasn’t the same. Neither was he. But they had a chance.
“You might want to find a way to tell Mont you’re in love with her. All of this has really messed him up.”
“What do you mean?” Zeke asked.
Samuel regarded him closely. “He’s not himself right now, Zeke. I’m not sure what’s going on, but he’s not okay.”
“Shit.” Zeke hadn’t noticed. He’d been so wrapped up in Nina he didn’t think to check in with his best friend.
“You have your hands full. I have a feeling I’ll be free soon. I’ll check in on him.”
“Thanks, Samuel. I… I’ve fucked everything up with both of them, and I need to make it right.”
“One Rose at a time.” Samuel clapped Zeke on the back. “Go take care of the red one.”
Zeke breathed a laugh. “I’m going to try.”
“Good luck.”
“Thanks, man.”
Samuel went back to the house, and Zeke climbed in the SUV. He turned to Nina.
“Are you okay?”
Nina shook her head without looking up. “She’s right. About everything. I didn’t do anything to make things better. I didn’t stop Gwendolyn. I didn’t help any of them.”
“You couldn’t. You would have gotten even worse treatment.”
Nina rubbed her neck. The bruises had faded over the last week, but they were still visible. Nina wore tops that covered her neck, but the purple and blue colors told the truth.
“There was nothing rational about her. Or the situation you were in. You did the best you could.”
“I should have done more.”
Zeke shifted in his seat to face her and tilted her chin until she lifted her gaze to his. Tears streaked her cheeks and red rimmed her eyes. “How many times have you told me letting you walk out that night was not my fault? That everything you went through wasn’t my fault? That I couldn’t have stopped you and that you chose your path?”
“It’s different.”
“How is it different? Why is it different? If you can forgive me for deleting twelve years of your life, why are you blaming yourself for what they went through? You weren’t calling the shots. You weren’t sending men to them. You were trying to survive so you could come back to me.”
Nina inhaled a shaky breath. “Star doesn’t have someone like you waiting for her. Neither does Monica.”
Zeke shook his head. “That’s not on you either. I hate that they went through the same things you did, but you are not to blame. You didn’t do anything wrong.”
Nina swallowed roughly and nodded slightly. “Everything else she said… About the men?—”
“You do not owe me any explanation.”
Nina sniffed. “I… She wasn’t wrong. I created fantasies in my mind about those men. About them saving me or helping me. I told myself they cared. Some of them, especially the last few years, I accepted my fate and enjoyed it.”
“You had no idea if you would ever be free, angel. No clue what the future would hold. You had to find a way to survive.”
“But it was wrong!”
“Why? Yes, what happened to you was wrong. What was happening to all of you was wrong. If you chose that life, if you were safe and everything was your choice, there would be nothing wrong with it. You didn’t, though. That’s the part that’s not okay. You making the most of it, I’m not going to judge you for that. I wasn’t there. I don’t know what you went through. Andeven if I was, only you know what you had to do to survive. To cope. To hold on until you could get away or be rescued.”
“Do you really believe that?” she whispered.
