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“I thought so, but I’m not sure. She didn’t recognize the language. They had beaten and raped her,” I spit out at the end.

“I had no doubt about that,” he sighs, rubbing a hand over his face. “Do you have anything else?” he asks hopefully.

I shake my head. “No, but she promised to ask her more. She can’t press too much because the girl is traumatized.”

“Of course,” he says, and before he turns to walk away, I stop him. He looks at me curiously.

“What do you know about the witness protection program?”

He frowns. “Not much, but I know not to mess with them. Why?”

“I may have messed with them.” I study him and his eyes widen in surprise.

“Well, un-mess it.”

“I can’t.”

“Why?”

“I’m marrying someone in the program in three months.”

“Fuck! Are you serious right now?”

“Do I look like I’m joking? I know I messed up, but now I need to protect her. I can’t just kick her out and hope they won’t find her.” I feel the shame spreading across my face.

He looks at me like I’m walking into a burning building. “I can see that. How can I help?”

“Can you look into her case and see if there’s been any movement on his side? He’s still in prison, life sentence without parole, but I don’t know how much power he still has to get to someone outside and do the job.”

He nods. “Who?”

“The Hangman of New Jersey.”

The color drains from his face. “Are you shitting me? Fuck!”

His reaction is all I need to confirm how badly I’ve messed up with Silver, and a lump the size of a baseball forms in my throat.

“I’ll see what I can do,” he promises, and it’s enough for now.

I’m going to fix this. I have to.

***

When I walk into our bedroom it’s almost dawn. Silver is sleeping peacefully, sprawled across the bed as if searching for me in her sleep. I walk over and watch her beautiful face. She’s relaxed, worries have not settled into her brain yet. When she sleeps, she’s safe in her own world and I’m terrified that when she’s awake, her nightmare will begin.

I reach out my hand and caress her cheek. Her skin is soft. I notice that when she sleeps her skin seems softer than ever. Maybe because she isn’t tense yet, her problems give her some respite.

My heart squeezes in my chest. What if I can’t protect her like I promised? What if she’ll be ripped from me like every woman in my life? In the past, it wasn’t my fault. I couldn’t do anything to stop it. But I brought this on her. I put her in danger, and I don’t know if I’ll survive it if something happens to her.

I strip of my clothes, slip into bed, kiss her on the head and wrap my arms tightly around her. She huffs in her sleep, then she puts her hand around my waist, her head against my chest, and the fear in my heart intensifies.

“Are you fucking serious right now?” I storm into the bedroom and find Raphael putting on his shirt.

He turns around with a puzzled face and that innocent look makes my blood boil. He didn’t come back until this early morning and now he has the guts to look like he did nothing wrong.

“About what?” His eyebrows knit together without the slightest sign of guilt.

“I don’t know. Maybe about how it’s been fifteen days since we’ve started fucking and you spent the night with a prostitute!”