CHAPTER SIX #2
She looked out at the garden again. “I need you to understand something, Liam.” The way she said my name got my attention. There was no fear in her voice. She wasn’t talking to the man who’d saved her from danger. She was talking to the man standing in front of her now.
“I appreciate what you did for me,” she said.
“I really mean that.” Her fingers tightened a little on the frame before she let go again.
“But being grateful doesn’t mean I’m giving you permission to control me.
You don’t get to decide where I live, who I talk to, or what happens in my life, just because you think you know what’s best for me. ”
I looked at her carefully. There was no anger on her face.
“I’ve spent too much of my life being afraid of people who thought they could make choices for me,” she said.
“I’m not one of them,” I said.
“No,” she replied quietly. “You’re not. That doesn’t change what you’re doing. If you keep me here against my will, if you keep stopping me from leaving, if you keep making decisions about my life without asking me, then I’ll call the police.”
The room became still. It wasn’t because her threat scared me.
It did not. I’d been in situations more serious than a police investigation.
What bothered me was that she was serious.
She wasn’t trying to trick me. She wasn’t hoping I would get scared and back down.
She was telling me what she would do, and she was ready to do it.
There was no hesitation, which was surprising.
Most people who got to know me eventually learned the rules.
They learned what I could do. They learned when to be quiet.
Nora wasn’t learning my rules. She was reminding me that she had her own.
That unsettled me more than any threat. Because the truth I’d been avoiding was becoming impossible to ignore.
I’d told myself I was keeping Nora safe.
I’d told myself I was protecting her from people who wanted to hurt her.
But standing there watching her fight for the right to make her own choices, I had to ask myself the question I’d been avoiding since the first night I met her.
Was I protecting Nora because she needed protection? Or was there another reason?
She looked out at the garden. I watched her for a moment and realized she was trying to figure out if it was worth it to talk to me anymore.
“There’s something I still don’t understand,” she finally said. “How did you know I was in trouble that night?”
This question shouldn’t have surprised me.
If I were in her position, I would have asked the same thing.
But hearing her say it out loud made me quiet.
For the time since I brought her into the house I thought about whether I should tell her the truth or not.
It would be easier to lie. I could make up a story about how I found her by accident, I knew she wouldn’t believe it.
If I lied to her, she would never trust me again.
“A man came to the bar looking for you a few days before. After he left, I followed him to your apartment. The night you were attacked, I followed you home to make sure he didn’t stalk you again.”
She didn’t react. She just stared at me.
The words just hung there. I watched as she started to understand what I was saying.
“You followed me home.” It wasn’t really a question, but I still nodded.
She took a breath and looked down. When she looked back up at me, I saw disappointment in her eyes. That felt worse than if she was angry.
“So the night I was attacked…you were following me.” She didn’t raise her voice.
“I didn’t know you. You didn’t tell me someone was asking for me.
You made that decision to follow me like you’ve made every decision since then: without asking me.
I’ve been trying to understand why you won’t let me leave, and now I find out you started deciding what was best for me before I even knew your name. ”
The silence came back, but it felt heavier than before. I found myself looking at her face, trying to understand what she was thinking. Everything I’d told myself over the last week was still true. Following her had saved her life. Bringing her here had kept her safe. I would do it all again.
But looking at her now, I realized that what I thought was protecting her was also controlling her. We were both right. She looked at me and said, “Why does any of this matter so much to you?”
We stood there in silence for a second, and something changed. The anger we’d been feeling started to fade, and something quieter took its place.
I could see that crease between her eyebrows, the same one I’d noticed when she concentrated on orders at the bar. I had no reason to remember something so small about her, but I did.
The room seemed suddenly quieter. I could hear the faint ticking of the clock on the wall.
She was close enough now that I could see the uncertainty in her eyes.
My gaze dropped before I could stop it. Her lips.
The curve of her neck. The rise and fall of her breathing.
I looked back into her eyes, but the damage was already done.
I didn’t remember deciding to move closer to her. One moment we were standing there, and the next I was close enough to see the uncertainty in her eyes. My hand touched her cheek, and before I could think better of it, I kissed her.
The kiss was soft, almost hesitant, lasting no more than a heartbeat, yet it carried every thought I’d spent days refusing to name.
The moment I realized what I’d done, the weight of it crashed over me.
Nora stepped back, looking shocked. Without saying a word, she walked out of the library, closing the door behind her.
I was alone, and I knew I’d crossed a line in a way I could never take back.