Page 17 of Broken By Silence
Lorenzo Valen knows I’m alive.
The thought spins over and over again in my head like a record stuck on the worst track.
He knows.
His name still tastes like rust and smoke in my mouth. A curse and a scar and a shadow that’s never left me since that night, even when I changed mine to escape it.
I press my forehead to the cool tile, eyes closed as the water slips down my spine.
It was never supposed to be like this.
The plan was supposed to be simple… disappear. Die. Be forgotten. Be Lottie instead of Scarlett. They were never supposed to find out I was still alive. They weren’t supposed to care. And Lorenzo was never supposed to find out.
I can still hear the way he whispered in my ear.Little Bird.Not my name. Never my name. It was always the one they called me, as if I were theirs to own.
Like I was an asset. A possession.
Not a person.
I wrap my arms around myself beneath the spray. He’ll come forme now. He always finishes what he starts. And I—God, I don’t know if I can survive him again.
Not alone… but I’m not alone anymore, am I?
I think of Archer, his steadiness, the way his fingers trembled when he touched my face. He’s already pulled me back from the brink once, and now? Now he’s watching me like it might be the last time he’ll see me.
Oscar, his silence, grief, and the way his hands shook when he finally learned the truth. How he held my hand like he was trying to memorize the shape of my heartbeat, just in case it stopped again.
I’m not alone, but it’s not just about surviving anymore.
I can’t go back to running. Can’t keep living like the past isn’t chasing me, wearing a mask with Lorenzo’s smile. This time, if he comes for me, I can’t freeze. Can’t lose my voice like a silent puppet.
This time, I have to fight.
The idea of that terrifies me more than the thought of dying because I know what it costs to stand against monsters like him. I’ve done it once before, and I let it destroy me, but not this time.
Roman almost died today. Because of me. Because of him.
Elijah’s hands are stained red from killing his father for me.
Crew’s guilt is swallowing him whole.
And I’m here, barely able to stand under the weight of everything.
But I am here because Archer pulled me from the waves. Because Oscar stayed and let me find myself on the pole after everything had been stolen from me by two men who wanted something that was never theirs to take.
And if I let them… they’ll fight for me.
But I don’t want them to fightforme.
I want to fightwiththem.
I draw in a shaky breath and push away from the wall, turning off the water. The silence is louder now, the thoughts in my head threatening to drown me.
But I’m not afraid of silence anymore.
I dry off quickly, wrap myself in a blue towel, and stand in front of the fogged mirror.
My reflection stares back at me—pale, yes. Shaken… but not broken. Not anymore.
