Chapter Two Hundred And Eight
Alicia's POV
I took a shaky breath. "I remember that night. I'd gone to your room because someone told me it was empty. That no one used it. I needed somewhere quiet to cry where Travis wouldn't find me. Where I could just exist in my pain without having to pretend I was fine."
"And then you walked in. This dark, dangerous man I'd heard stories about. Malachi Blackwood who'd disappeared for three years. Who everyone was afraid of. Who was supposed to be a monster. And you looked at me like I mattered. Like my tears mattered. Like I was something worth seeing."
"You didn't tell me to stop crying. Didn't tell me everything would be fine. Didn't try to fix me. You just sat with me in the darkness and made me feel less alone. That was the first time in years I'd felt like a real person instead of just Travis's wife or someone's possession."
