Page 63 of Broken By Silence
Archer and Oscar, the two anchors I cling to without question. My boyfriends, my loves, my constants in all the chaos.
Elijah, my husband, my shadow now, hovering in silence, waiting for me to speak before he dares open his mouth.
Crew, who hasn’t pushed even though I know every part of him wants to. He’s waiting. Waiting so patiently that I can feel myself falling for him even as every part of me screams not too.
And now Roman.
Roman, who I thought was my enemy.
Roman, who I let become the face of my nightmares, because it was easier than facing the truth of who made him that way.
Roman, who just carved Medusa into his own skin so I’d never have to see his father in him again.
I pressmy palms against the steering wheel, digging my nails into the leather. My chest hurts with it. I love Archer. I love Oscar. I’m beginning to love Crew, and I somehow belong to Elijah. I know where my heart is.
But my heart doesn’t know how to stop breaking itself open for the others, too.
“I hated you,” I whisper, before I even realize I’ve spoken.
Roman doesn’t move. Doesn’t look away from the ocean.
“I hated you more than anyone. Because you let me believe I was worthless. Because you didn’t care.” My throat burns. “And now I don’t even know what I’m supposed to do with this. With you.”
He turns his head then, slow, like it costs him something. His eyes catch mine in the mirror, and for once, there’s no cruelty there. No mockery. Just exhaustion, and something worse.
Regret.
“I know,” he says. “And I don’t expect forgiveness. I just—” His voice cracks, and he bites down on the rest. Then, softer: “I just want you to know I’ll regret it for the rest of my life. You were never worthless, Lottie. Scarlett—the girl you were before—she was strong even when you didn’t feel like you were. You never lost who you were, no matter who was trying to break you...”
I look away, tears burning my lashes, hating them for falling at all.
I can’t do this. I can’t unravel all the years of rage and pain and betrayal in one car ride, but I also can’t deny what’s clawing inside me—that for the first time since I lost them, I see my boys again.
My three best friends.
Not perfect, not safe, but human.
And it terrifies me.
Because humans, I can love. Humans, I can forgive. Humans, I can fall for without meaning to.
And my heart already feels too full, too torn, too stitched together with all their names.
Chapter 23
Lottie
Idon’t sleep.
Not after the tattoo. Not after Roman’s words or the way his eyes looked like a graveyard when he finally said them out loud.
The image of Medusa still burns in my brain—snakes coiling down his jaw, etched into his skin like penance. And I don’t know if I want to scream at him or thank him.
By morning, my chest feels like someone’s stuffed it with broken glass. My head’s pounding, my phone keeps buzzing with notifications from Archer and Oscar asking if I’m okay since they had to leave to help Will with something at the college, and Elijah’s hovering so close that I swear if I roll over in bed, I’ll roll straight into his lap.
I can’t breathe like this. I can’t breathe at all.
So I do what I always do when the world feels like it’s caving in. I call Angel.
