"Turn your back and get on all fours," Damien ordered.
Her heart raced, but she obeyed.
She knelt on the mattress, her back facing him, her body trembling so hard she could barely stay up.
As she knelt on the mattress, she was no longer in this cold room. She was six years younger, sitting on a porch swing while a teenage Damien told her that as long as he was around, she would never have a reason to be afraid. The memory felt like a physical blow to her heart, sharper than the trembling in her knees.
Hot tears ran down her cheeks. She was so scared she could not even find the rhythm of her own breath.
Behind her, Damien stood still for a moment. His chest rose and fell heavily as he watched her shake, watched her arms wrap tightly around her own body. Something inside him twisted painfully. He hated her—he hated her for the jagged hole she had left in his life—but seeing Sofia like this, broken and terrified, triggered a protective instinct he tried desperately to kill.
