CHAPTER 44:"She Came in Silence, but Her Words Screamed Inside Me"

NADIA

I'd never known peace could feel like this.

Not silence filled with tension. Not the kind of stillness that came after a fight or a scream.

This was different.

This was safety.

This was Asher.

He didn't ask questions. Didn't probe.

He held me like I wasn't broken. Kissed me like I wasn't carrying something rotting inside me.

And each time his lips brushed my skin, a little part of the decay flaked off.

He didn't try to fix me.

He just loved me. Gently. Fiercely. Without expectation.

And somehow, I was beginning to love him back in the same way.

Without fear.

I'd stopped sleeping in the guest room two nights ago.

He didn't even flinch when I crept into his bed like a thief, my heart pounding like I was doing something wrong.

He just pulled the blanket over me and held me through the night like he'd been waiting all along.