SAMANTHA
Darlington stood where I had left him, watching me with a smile that was soft and sad and full of something I could not quite name. My steps faltered and my heart skipped a beat at the sight of him standing there, still shirtless, still beautiful, still so utterly confusing.
Pressing my hand to my chest as if that could regulate my emotions, I forced myself to keep walking. Even as tears welled up again and threatened to spill down my cheeks, I kept my head high and my feet moving forward.
Since arriving at this scary place, I had been constantly targeted or faced life threatening situations that pushed me to the brink of breaking. But I did not expect the one person who had shown me respect, the one person who had treated me like a human being rather than property, to be the one who would terrify me the most.
Darlington had been my safe place. And now even that was gone.
