Page 149 of Uprising

“Why not?”

She shuts her eyes, palms her hands into them. “He was fixated on it. He’d taunt me about it. He tried to make me but I couldn’t and then in the end, I stopped fighting. I pretended I’d given in and I…”

Somehow I know what she’s going to say. That she acted the part that they made her. That she played the whore.

“It’s okay Rose.” I murmur. “Nothing you did was out of choice.”

“But I chose to do that, I chose to give him that.”

I cup her cheek, understanding now where some of that conflict came from. She made herself come for him, that’s why she doesn’t want to feel that pleasure now. Because he tarnished it. “You have nothing to be ashamed of. Nothing to explain. You’re alive because you did what was necessary. You’re alive because you fought. You fought for Lara and you fought for me and most importantly you fought for yourself.”

She drops her hands, placing one on my chest. “You’re not just saying that?”

“No.” I reply planting a kiss on her head. “You’ve been incredible. Everything you’ve been through, everything you’ve faced.”

“I want everyone to know.” She says.

“What?” I frown.

“I want everyone to know we’re together. I want Verona to know about Lara. I want to make it so that no one can separate us again. That no one can pretend that we aren’t in a relationship.”

“That won’t happen.” I state. “But if you want to go public, we can.”

She nods. “I know a journalist…”

“The one you were speaking with before?”

She looks surprised. “How did you know…?”

“Hastings told me. She went to him, she told him what she knew. She told him you risked your life.”

“It wasn’t like that.”

I place my hand on her lips. I don’t want to dwell on it. I don’t want her to keep denying what she went through. “We can do whatever you want Rose. Whatever makes you feel safe.”

“You make me feel safe.” She says pulling my arms tighter around her like now that she can tolerate it she doesn’t want to let me go.

She runs her hands up my chest, feeling my muscles. “You lost weight.” She says quietly.

“It’s muscle wastage.” I reply. Though I’ve been building it back I’m still not as strong as I was but I guess it takes time.

She leans into me more. “Perhaps we can work out together? Get stronger together?”

There’s a gym in the basement. It’s fully equipped with everything you could imagine. There’s a pool too and I’ve been looking forward to teaching Lara how to swim from the moment she told me she couldn’t.

“Would you like that Rose?” I ask grinning. “Me perving on you while you do your squats?”

She chuckles softly. “I was thinking that I need to get stronger.”

“Why?”

She fixes me with a fierce determined look. “Because when we find Darius I want to be able to match him. I want to be as strong as I possibly can be.”

I narrow my eyes, my hand moving to hold her chin. “You sure about that?”

She nods. “I need to do it. I need to prove that he didn’t break me.”

“You don’t need to prove anything Rose.” I state. “But if you want to do it, do it for yourself, not for anyone else.”