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“It’s perfect. Just as I pictured it.” Turning away from the house, she faced him. “Why, Liam? Why did you do this?”
She knew…at least she thought she knew, but she wanted, needed, to hear the words. She had created a film company in Lion’s honor and, inspired by him, had dedicated her life to making films that made a difference. And Liam had dedicated his life to finding her, and he had built this beautiful home with her in mind. Yes, she knew the answer, but she needed to hear the words from him.
His dark eyes swam with emotion. Emotions she recognized in her own heart.
Realizing she couldn’t wait to give him the words herself, she said, “I’ve been waiting a long time for this moment,” she whispered. “To tell you I—”
Before she could say them, he pressed a finger to her lips. “We need to talk first, though. Okay?”
“Okay.”
“Come on. Let me show you around. Then we’ll sit on the deck and talk.”
She followed him into the house, commenting on various aspects that pleased her the most. From the wraparound porch, to the heavy oak double-door entrance, to the wide-open living space, to the exposed beams of the ceiling, everything was exactly as she’d dreamed. The décor was comfortable and easy. The colors were muted earth tones with the occasional splash of color in a throw pillow or painting.
“I haven’t done a lot of decorating. I thought about getting a decorator to come in, but…” He shrugged. “I figured you’d have an idea or two about that, so I waited.”
If he didn’t stop, she was going to break down into a mess of emotional tears. This man had done so much for her already.
“Come on. Let me show you the view.”
She stepped out onto the deck and caught her breath at the beauty.
“Those are the Bitterroot mountains. We climb them occasionally.”
He pulled out a chair for her and then sat beside her. For long moments, they drank in the view. The sheer majesty of the snow-capped mountains brought peace and lessened her nerves. He wanted to talk to her. And she needed to share some things with him. They both needed to face that last day in prison before they could move on.
She settled herself and began, “The day they took me away.” She drew in a breath. “Let me start from the beginning. Okay?”
She had only ever told her therapist everything that had happened while she was in prison. Her mother and Becca knew some aspects of it, but she hadn’t been able to share all of them. But with Liam, she could. He was the one man, the one person who would understand.
“Any way you want to do it.”
“My cousin Becca and I were supposed to travel to Paris together. She caught a bad cold a couple of days before we were supposed to leave. She has asthma and her doctor recommended that she not go. She was disappointed, but I was devastated. Nothing and no one could talk me out of going by myself.”
She paused for a few minutes, contemplating how that one decision had cost her so very much. Naïve and clueless, full of youthful arrogance, she’d believed she had the whole world in her hands and nothing could touch her. Certainly nothing was going to stop her from doing what she wanted to do.
Yet, if she hadn’t gone, she never would have met Liam.
“I was in an open-air market when they took me. I don’t remember a lot. They injected me with some kind of sedative. When I woke up, I was in a room. My hands were tied, and I had a hood over my head. I couldn’t see anything. I could hear them, though. There were three of them.”
She paused again, gearing up for the next part. Apparently knowing what was coming, Liam took her hand from the arm of her chair and entwined his fingers with hers. He squeezed gently.
Taking strength from the tender gesture, she continued, “While two of the men held me down, one of them raped me. I fought, screamed, cried. They hit me to shut me up. I remember their vile words and their laughter the most.”
She paused again. Liam didn’t say anything, giving her the time she needed to regroup.
“When he finished, one of the men carried me to a large cell and chained me to the wall. When he walked away, I was able to pull the hood from my head. That’s when I saw the other women.
“There were eight of them in there with me. They didn’t speak and I was in too much pain to say anything. I don’t know how long I was there. Maybe a day or two, I’m not sure. I think a couple of the women tried to talk to me but I was in shock. Then I got sick. When I started coughing continuously, they moved me to a cell by myself.
“I don’t know how long I was there before you came. Maybe a couple more days. No one would talk to me, tell me why I was there. One of the men would just shove food into my cell once a day and then leave. I thought I would die there.
“I was in the midst of crying and praying for a miracle when I heard the most beautiful voice I’d ever heard say, ‘Hello.’”
Tears filling her eyes, she turned to him. “You were the answer to my prayers, Liam. I never told you that and so regretted not telling you before they took me away that day. You saved my life. Without you talking to me, encouraging me, giving me hope, I wouldn’t have survived.”
“And yet I almost got you killed.”