Broken (The Captive #5.5)(50)

A shudder ran through him at the certainty of her words. If he'd been even a minute later Genny wouldn't be alive in the other room right now. His gaze settled on Camille again. They'd formed a truce that day in the market but he realized now they also had a common bond, and a common love. "I trust you and Merle is my cousin."

She smiled at him before focusing on her task again. Atticus gathered the rest of the ruined furniture and dumped it into a pile by the door. "There's a barrel outside the door," Camille told him.

Moving the ruined door aside again, he stepped outside and grabbed hold of the rickety barrel sitting there. With one hand he lifted it from the ground and brought it inside. He dumped the debris into it and then Camille gathered the blankets and dropped them on top of the furniture. He would have Merle take it into the woods and dispose of it when he returned.

"I'll gather some water from the river to wash away the rest," Camille said.

"Wait until Merle returns and send him to get it. Have him take the barrel too."

She laughed and shook her head. "Genny and I have been on our own most of our lives, I can take care of myself."

She was much more like her sister than he had originally thought, stubborn and defiant with a streak that leaned toward rebellion. Neither of them seemed to have any inclination to acknowledge his rank either. "Just do as I say, especially tonight. If your mother were to come back and find only me here…"

She held up a hand to forestall his next words. "I understand, I will stay but please stop calling her my mother. Her name is Marie and you'd do better to remember that around Genny also."

"Thank you for the advice."

"Hopefully you won't need it and she'll stop being so stubborn after tonight," Camille muttered.

He glanced at Camille questioningly but he suspected she would again tell him to speak with Genny first anyway. Without another word, he slipped back into the room with Genny, closed the door, and settled onto the uncomfortable pallet beside her. He stopped feeling the hard ground beneath him or the straw poking into his hips as he focused on her again. Mindful of her injuries, he gathered her in his arms and held her against him. For the first time in weeks, solace crept through him as her warm body pressed against his.

***

Genny stared at the far wall as she tried to assimilate everything that had happened yesterday with the arms that were wrapped securely around her. Arms that she knew were his even if she couldn't see him. The corded muscle of his biceps and forearms rippled against her as he held her against his broad chest. She wanted to meld against him and never face the world again but that was never going to happen.

She didn't know how to feel about what had transpired yesterday. She was so unbelievably relieved to be touching him again, to be back in his arms, but he had seen. Shame slid through her, she turned her face into the pallet as heat burned her cheeks. Though she felt consumed by shame, she was also filled with a sense of profound relief. It was over, Felix was dead and she was still alive. She hadn't thought that was going to be the case last night, she'd been certain she would never see the light of day again.

Atticus had killed a man, for her. "Will you be punished?" she inquired.

He brushed the hair tenderly back from her face. "Merle and Camille helped to take care of everything. No one will be able to prove he's dead."

"Is Camille safe?"

"She is," he assured her as his lips pressed briefly against her temple. "Why didn't you tell me what was going on here?"

"It's not something that was easy to share," she managed to get out around the lump in her throat. "I was ashamed of what was happening."

"You had nothing to be ashamed of. Those bruises I saw on you in the forest were from him."

It wasn't a question but she answered him anyway, "Yes."

A low hiss escaped him but his touch was still gentle upon her. "You should have told me Genny."

"I was going to," she whispered. "That last day, but…"

Her voice trailed off, she closed her eyes against the upsetting reminder of the last time she had seen him. "I told you about Anna."

So that was the name of the woman that would have his children and share his life, for some reason hearing her name made it all the more real and caused sorrow to lance through her heart. "Yes," she confirmed.

His hand stilled on her cheek, his body stiffened against hers. "I would have helped you."

"I know you would have but you had your own problems to deal with. It would have been unfair of me to put even more on you when it was better that we part."

He rested his hand on her arm and carefully rolled her over. The sight of those clover eyes above her caused tears to bloom as love swelled within her chest. She had missed him so much. She rested her hand on his cheek and felt the roughness of the bristles lining his face but she still couldn't believe he was actually real.

"You're here," she breathed.

A smile spread across his full lips, his eyes sparkled as he took hold of her hand and kissed her palm. "I'm here and I intend to stay here, if you'll let me."

"Atticus…"

"I understand why you had to leave before but I am going to keep you safe and I can give you a better life than this."