BELL

I braced myself against the shower wall, letting the hot water cascade down my body. It stung the cuts and scrapes, but I relished the sting. I would’ve doused myself with rubbing alcohol if it were possible. I’d scrubbed and scrubbed as if that might erase what had happened.

I jumped at the sound of the shower door opening. Ford stepped inside, the tension running through him, causing his muscles to ripple. “Hi.” The word came out with a tremble, and I hated it, the uncertainty in my voice, the weakness.

“Come here.” I went without hesitation, Ford wrapping me in his strong arms. “You’re safe.”

“I know.” And I did. Ethan was locked up in jail with a black eye and broken nose courtesy of Crosby and Hunter, and he wouldn’t be getting out anytime soon. It wasn’t that. It was as if I couldn’t feel that my feet were indeed on solid ground.

As if reading my mind, Ford pressed his lips to my wet hair. “It’s going to take time. But I’ll be with you every step of the way.”

I melted into him at those words. I wasn’t alone. I never had been, and I never would be. The thing I hadn’t realized before was that even when Ford was gone, I still carried him with me, the same way I held Vi inside me now. The things they’d taught me, the encouragement and support they’d given, but most of all, I’d always had their love, and I would forever. No amount of cold could drown out that warmth.

I tipped my head back, meeting Ford’s gaze. “I love you.”

He closed his eyes as if soaking in every syllable and embedding it within him. When his eyes opened, they blazed with that blue fire I loved so much. “I love you too, Bell. I’ve always felt it in one way or another. I didn’t say it because—”

“You don’t have to explain, Ford.”

He brushed his lips against mine. “I want to explain.” He took a deep breath. “The last person I said those words to died. I haven’t said them since. Not to my parents, to Hunter, to anyone. I didn’t realize it, but I was holding those words back out of fear. As some form of misguided self-protection. And I hurt the people I love most because of it.”