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“I haven’t said that out loud in nearly twenty-two years.”

“How does it feel?”

Athena scrunched her nose, pushing a few tears over the edge of her eyes to fall down her cheeks and vanish. “Good and bad at the same time.”

Monti nodded slowly. “I get that. It’s an uncomfortable emotion, but it’s a relief to not be so alone in the discomfort.”

Swallowing hard, Athena nodded. “Spot on.”

“Thank you for sharing with me.”

“I wanted to.” Athena furrowed her brow, not quite sure why she’d finally opened up about it. It certainly wasn’t everything her life had become, but it was the tip of the iceberg. Relief flooded her, as if an afterthought to it all. She sank deeper into the mattress and smiled up at Monti. “I really did.”

“I’m proud of you.”

Monti’s words swelled in Athena’s chest, as if every woman in the world who had experienced something similar was holding her up in this one moment. Was this what true support felt like? Athena waited while Monti shifted around her body to the other side and started the same massage on her right side. This silence was comfortable. It was filled with understanding instead of pain.

Finally, it hit her why Monti hadn’t been surprised. Athena snagged Monti’s hand, holding her loosely to get her attention. “You knew, didn’t you?”

“I took an educated guess.” Monti raised an eyebrow and dropped her hands to her knees. “No one told me anything.”

“The only person who knows is Kevin, and he wouldn’t say anything.”

Monti nodded. “I worked with some trafficking victims when I was going through school. While the traumas are different, some of the responses can be tracked as patterns. That’s all I picked up on.”

Athena understood. As much as she didn’t like that Monti had figured it out, it made sense that she had. Athena pushed to a sitting position on the bed so they were almost face to face. With Monti still on her knees, they weren’t quite on even ground, but it didn’t feel as though Monti had the upper hand.

In fact, it had never felt like that.

Monti had always given her the grace to find her own way. That’s exactly what this had been all along, hadn’t it?

“Everything okay?” Monti asked, touching Athena’s upper arm lightly.

Athena stared down at the connection before closing her eyes and focusing on the touch. She was so comfortable with this, so connected to another person in ways she’d never been before. Athena looked directly into Monti’s eyes, into the dark browns that seemed darker in the dim light. The slight wrinkles around her eyes and lips, her lips that were so different from Fallon’s. Athena lost herself in her study of Monti’s features, the slight things that made her exactly who she was.

“Athena?” Monti tried again.

“Everything is good,” Athena finally replied, understanding that Monti needed that reassurance more than anything. It wasn’t about what she felt, but about communicating that with the person who was there to provide the safe space. “I’m good.”

“Okay,” Monti whispered, a hint of confusion in her voice still.

“I think I want to be done for today.”

“I understand.” Monti gave her a small smile. “I want you to take care of yourself when I go. Don’t go back to work, please.”

Work hadn’t even been a thought in Athena’s mind in all honesty. A long vacation was, perhaps to her beach home for a week. She could manage it. Dropping her gaze to Monti’s lips again, Athena breathed out as another thought of touch crossed her mind.

A kiss.

They’d been so close to that the other day, and Monti had retreated. Which again, Athena understood, and she stood by those rules and boundaries Monti was putting into place. Yet as much as Athena didn’t want to think about it, she couldn’t stop herself. Not after the arousal that she’d fully allowed to course through her body, to have free rein in her for the last hour.

Just what would it be like to be that close to someone again?

“Athena,” Monti chastised lightly. “Promise me you won’t work.”

“I promise I won’t work, not today.” Athena touched Monti’s hand, curling their fingers together again.

Why did this feel so right?