Page 54

“This is your room,” he says quietly, as he pushes the door open.

As soon as the door is all the way, he gestures for me to go inside first, which I do. I only take a few steps in before my eyes widen and my breath catches as I scan the room.

It’s the complete opposite of all the other rooms in the cottage. Whilst the others are sparse, barely decorated, almost cold, this room is far from that. The grey carpet is plush and squishy beneath my feet, and I have an overwhelming urge to take my shoes off, so I can feel how soft it is on my bare feet.

The room itself looks to be even bigger than Evan’s, and I distantly wonder if maybe this is the master bedroom.Why would he give me the master instead of keeping it for himself?

I notice that there are two doors leading off the room, and make a note to check those out in a moment, but for now, all I can do is take in the personal details around the room.

The walls are white, but there’s a beautiful deep purple accent wall that sets everything off. The large bed in the middle of the room looks much bigger than your average double. It may even be larger than a king-size. There’s a plush deep purple headboard and duvet cover that matches the design.

One wall is just made up of bookshelves, and each row seems to be full of books. I even note with a weird sense of pride that they seem to be organised by colour and size—just the way I used to do it.

There’s a small wooden desk with a black comfy-looking computer chair tucked under it. And there are two matching wooden bedside tables, one on either side of the bed, each with a gorgeous deep purple lamp on them.

Even though the room in itself is enough to fill me with calm, the thing that tips me over the edge is the little personal items that tell me this room was created just for me.

There’s my favourite baggy T-shirt that I’ve been sleeping in since I was sixteen years old, folded neatly on top of the pillow. On the bedside table to the right—the side I usually sleep on—there are two photo frames, each with a picture of me and Mum in them.

One is from when I was a child, and the other was taken a few weeks before she died. Both were on my bedside table in the flat I used to live in, before Whitlock took me and claimed me.

I never got a chance to return there, and I always wondered what happened to my memories.

My breath catches in my throat when I see the necklace draped over the corner of one of the frames. Tears fill my eyes before I can stop them, and I practically run over to it.

Sitting down on the side of the bed, with shaking fingers, I reach over and clutch the heart-shaped pendant in my hand.

As I pull it to my lips, a sob crashes through my body. I feel the bed beside me dip, and I don’t need to look up to know Evan is sitting beside me. I can feel his warmth.

At first, I think he’s going to put his arm around me, to pull me into his side like he used to do when we were younger, but he seems to stop himself. Instead, he leans in a little closer until our arms are almost touching.

“How did you get this?” My voice is as shaky as my hands, and the sheer emotion makes my voice hoarse.

“When Father found out Whitlock had taken you, he knew there wasn’t much he could do—him being dead and all—but he told me about your apartment. He said when you finally came home, you wouldn’t want to have lost everything that was important to you. So before Whitlock had a chance to clear it out, I took everything I thought might be of value to you, and brought it here,” he explains, a blush spreading across his cheeks as he gives me a small smile. “It’s the least I could do.”

I hate the guilt and anger that rumbles through his words. I know Evan feels like he should have done more, but he had no reason to. We weren’t even talking when all this happened, so he has no reason to blame himself.

“When Mum died, I wanted to have some way to carry her with me at all times. She wanted to be cremated, to have her ashes spread on the beach she used to take me to as a kid. But I couldn’t bear the thought of not having her with me in some way, so this pendant contains some of her ashes,” I explain, clutching the silver heart in my hands like it’s a lifeline I need to cling to.

“Why weren’t you wearing it?” he asks, his voice barely above a whisper.

I look over at him, wiping the tears from under my eyes so I can see him clearer. He looks sad, and I flash back to a time when he used to be the one to wipe my tears away for me. He used to say it broke his heart to see me cry, and I wonder if he still feels like that.

Don’t be fucking stupid, Teigan. He stopped feeling like that a decade ago,I remind myself harshly.

“Honestly, I was ashamed. Even though, at that time, the worst I was doing at your dad’s club was dancing to pay back my debt…it still felt sleazy. Mum would have hated to see me doing it, so I would take the necklace off and leave it on this picture frame while I was at work, putting it back on as soon as I got home. Out of everything, this is what killed me the most when I thought I’d lost it all,” I admit, looking up to meet his gaze.

Evan doesn’t look away like I’m expecting him to, and as his emerald gaze sparkles, my stomach flips the way it used to when I was a teenager, and he’d look at me like this. I’m sure he’s going to look away first, but when he doesn’t, I have to. It hurts too much to be reminded of the past right now…of what could have been.

Evan clears his throat awkwardly before standing up. Now when he speaks, his tone is more formal and forced again.

“Those doors there will lead you to your closet and en-suite. I got most of your clothes from your apartment, but if you need anything else, just let me or Bree know and we can sort it for you.”

He turns and points over at the desk. “As Bree said, over there is a mobile phone and a laptop. The phone has our numbers programmed in, for if you need them. The laptop should be all set up and connected to the internet. Obviously, I have to remind you that we are in hiding here, so please don’t do anything thatmight draw attention to the safe house or us. We need to keep this place a secret.”

I can’t hold back my humourless laugh that comes out almost like a huff. “Who the fuck would I tell? I have no family, and my only friends are still in captivity, so I’m guessing they don’t have access to a phone.”

My voice comes out more sarcastic than I intended, and I almost feel guilty when Evan winces. He moves towards the door, stopping just before he leaves as he looks over his shoulder.