Chapter Thirty-Three
Alicia's POV
Malachi was breaking through the walls I'd spent years building.
Brick by brick. Word by word. Touch by touch.
I'd learned at a very young age that survival meant silence. That trust was a luxury I couldn't afford. That the only person who would save me was myself.
My father taught me that lesson with his fists.
Travis reinforced it with his cruelty.
And now Malachi, dangerous, unpredictable Malachi, was standing in front of me asking me to believe in something I'd stopped believing in years ago.
Help.
I stared into his dark eyes, feeling that carefully constructed wall crack under the weight of his gaze. Tears I'd been holding back for hours, days, years, finally broke free, sliding down my cheeks in hot, traitorous streams.
"I..." The word came out broken. Fractured.
"Whatever it is," he said quietly, his voice softer than I'd ever heard it, "you don't have to face it alone."
God, I wanted to believe him.
