“Well, what do we do? We can’t just play house and cook spaghetti. I can’t just do the laundry and clean up knowing I was traded for so many people. How am I supposed to live?”

“This is the question.” I pick up a strand with a tine of my fork and start to twist it, but I can’t continue. I can’t eat this without clarity. I started the conversation directly, and she’s the one who pulled it in the direction she wanted.

“So what’s the plan, Dario? Don’t you have a plan? We need a plan!”

“I need…”

I need her. I need to protect her, and I need to keep her with me.

I need her to be still and stay where I can secure her, but I love the way she moves when she’s free.

She needs to be silent, but I need to hear her every thought.

I can’t have her both ways.

She needs to choose for herself.

“I need you,” I say. “That’s all. Nothing else. When I was in that box, I didn’t have anything, but I knew I had you. I knew you were close to me. Sometimes I could hear someone upstairs and I felt you there. No matter how far up the creek we got, you were my hope. You kept me alive to be with you, and I won’t live without you now. I can’t stay in that kind of darkness. I used to be able to.”

“Dario.” She takes my hand. I open my fingers so they interlock. Our scars match across. “I’m here.”

She’s not getting it.

“If I destroyed the Colonia and my own life with it, that was a fair trade. But I can’t now. I’m not the same man. I need to live in the light now, and that’s with you.”

“I’m here,” she repeats. “With you.”

“You are. But I can’t make a plan without knowing what you want. Do you want this house? This life? I can give it to you. But I need time to get those women back.”

She leans into me, ready for a fight. “Not without me, you’re not.”

Relief floods me, and terror hardens at the core.

“It’s not safe.” I’m telling her so she chooses wisely. I hope she stays by my side and stays home at the same time.

She pulls her hand away. “Nothing’s safe. Don’t shut me out, Dario. Don’t keep me in a cage the way you were kept.”

“I won’t.”

She’s already standing, pointing at me. “I will not be in a prison. I am not your pet. I’m not your prize. I’m valuable!”

Standing, I take her wrists.

“Okay.” I kiss her, pushing her against the table.

“I mean it.”