Page 88 (1/2)

“It was a faonized breath “I was supposed to put my future in that locket When I met the man I planned to o inside” Silent tears fell from eyes that held such depths of pain “They took my future”

He shook his head “No, they didn’t Your future’s standing right in front of you They didn’t take anything froht inside of you, where they can’t get any of it”

“I was part of a tradition…” Her eyes begged hinize all that had been stolen froain “One that ended with me”

“We’ll start a new tradition One that we can pass down to our kids”

Her hand fluttered to her throat “I can still feel it there”

“I swear, it’s gone You got it off, and you’ll never see it again”

“Feel so dirty,” she mumbled, mostly to herself

“Don’t you feelit all away, Rachel?” He ran the cloth down her back and over her hip “Concentrate on how it feels Can you s Daffodils Take a deep breath; let it fill you It sood, doesn’t it? Fresh New Do you feel my touch, Rachel? My touch Not theirs Not anyone else’s It’s just you andall the memories away for you”

He addedsure he wiped it over every inch of her Head to toe “When we get out of here, all the badwill be clean and fresh and new But underneath it all, there will still be you The you nobody can change or daeous that you scare me half to death All the rest of it, what they did, that’s just on the surface, and we’re washing it away All that will be left is Rachel The aeous woman I love so damn much”

She pressed her forehead to his chest, her fingers curling into his hips as she cried herself raw “Michael,” was all she said

“Yeah, I’ away the soapsuds and wrapping her in a thick white towel

Once he’d dried her off, he carried her to the bed, where he cliainst the headboard, Rachel cradled in his lap He shut off the lights with the re her in his arms as she cried herself to sleep

A creak fro to the open door Elle appeared, giving hi, which meant Harry must have let the team into the apartment They would have found the evidence and realized what had taken place

Harvard held up a hand and signaled that Rachel was asleep

“We’ve cleaned up,” Elle whispered “The rug’s ruined, so we’ve taken it out of the aparth the video in detail Hopefully, it will give us o on than the photos did” She looked on Rachel with love and pity, and Harvard was glad she wasn’t awake to see it “What do you want us to do with the necklace?”