Somehow, that gives me an extra dose of courage as I pick up a pair of tweezers and douse it in disinfectant. I close my eyes for a moment, breathing in and out. The pain is unavoidable. I know that. I've had so much pain my entire life, I should be used to it by now.

"I can do this," I whisper to myself.

But just as I lift the tweezers to my shoulder, the door behind me opens. My eyes flare open with panic, just as the tweezers slip out of my hand, dropping to the ground. Before I can scream or run, a hand covers my mouth, the other circling my waist and bringing me against his chest. A male chest.

Terror suffuses me.

I'm naked from the waist up, with a gaping wound in my shoulder. I'm at my most vulnerable and now at the mercy of a stranger. I know far too well how this will end. After all, I might be shunned by everyone at the hacienda—the cursed one as they call me for my blasphemous marks—but what no one sees, no one knows. Sergio may have decreed that I'm worse than a leper, but that hasn't stopped his men from trying to assault me when no one's watching.

"Don't scream," a voice speaks in my ear. It's an oddly familiar one, and I frown as I try to recall where I heard it before.

"I'm not going to hurt you, I swear. If I take my hand off, promise not to scream? No one knows I'm here and I'd rather keep it that way."

His words are even more confusing, but I slowly nod my assent.

He drops his hand from my mouth, but his arm is still around my waist. Instinctively, I draw back, turning to face him.

"You..." I whisper in awe.

He gives me a lopsided smile.

"I'm a little late, aren't I?"

I blink, wondering if this is a dream—is it? How many times had I conjured him before me just like this? Yet every time, it had only been a mirage that shattered the moment reality intruded on the fantasy.

"What are you doing here?"

"I promised you I'd come," he replies effortlessly.

God, he's even more handsome than I remember. His hair is shorter, his body leaner. But there's no way I would never not recognize those dark eyes—the eyes that still haunt my dreams. For years, his face has been the only thing I could fall asleep to, his presence the most comforting thing I've ever known in my life.

And now, to see him here, in the flesh? How is this possible?

"Are you real?" I ask in disbelief. "Is it really you, Nikki?"

"I'm here. I'm just so fucking sorry it took me so long, Luce. But I promise you, there's a good reason for it."