"Are you out of your mind, Roman? You can't just go around playing executioner. That's my fucking family you're trying to murder." My voice cracked, sharper than I intended. The first-aid kit on my lap rattled as I shoved gauze and antiseptic back into it, my fingers trembling. "It was a long time ago. Let it go."

"Let it go?" he echoed, his tone razor-thin, like he couldn't believe the words had left my mouth. His eyes burned into me, lit with something between outrage and disbelief. "Savannah... are you the one who's lost your mind?"

I pressed my lips together, forcing a brittle smile. "You can't answer a question with another question, Roman." My tone was light, almost teasing,though the air between us was anything but that. I snapped the lid of the box shut and rose to my feet. "I asked first. So answer me first."

But he was faster.

Roman's hands clamped down on my shoulders, not harsh but firm enough to jolt me. He gave me a shake, the kind of shake that begged for me to wake up from whatever fog he thought I was lost in. His wounded hand left a faint smudge of blood against the fabric of my blouse.

"What is wrong with you?" His voice cracked, rough with urgency. "Why are you acting like this?”

"Let me go!" I shoved at him, wrenching free. My voice shot higher.trembling with fury that wasn't entirely about him. "You've gotten blood all over my blouse! I hope you're happy!"

"I don't give a damn about your blouse!" he roared back. His chest

rose and fell with ragged breaths. "I care about you. About whatever is happening up here." He jabbed a finger toward my temple. "Why do you care so little?"

"Maybe," I spat, "because I finally learned to stop expecting anything from anyone!"

His face went blank. I could feel the dam inside me breaking, words spilling faster than I could stop them.

"Maybe because I'ye been screwed over one too many times until disappointment became the only thing I could count on!" My hands shook,my throat ached, but still I kept going. "Maybe I started to care less because that's what you do when life grinds you down and teaches you over and over again that you're nothing but a plaything to ruin. Maybe I finally learned to shut up and be a 'good girl' after getting raped twice by someone I trusted."

The silence that followed was suffocating.

Roman staggered back a step, as if I'd struck him. His face crumpled in horror, eyes wide, lips parting with words he couldn't form. His fists clenched, his shoulders tight as though he wanted to fight the air itself.

Tears threatened to fall, but I swallowed hard, forcing myself to keep my chin high. "Maybe I care less because people have always cared less about me. No one-absolutely no one-gives a shit what happens to Savannah." My voice splintered. "So when you've been handed as much filth as I have, Roman, you learn to swallow it all down with a smile and a glass of wine."

The treacherous tear escaped anyway, burning hot down my cheek.

"Savannah..." His voice broke.

"Don't touch me." I threw up a hand before he could reach me."Please go."

"What?"

"I said go." I forced the words through the lump in my throat. "Get out. Leave me alone."

"Sav-"

"Leave!" I screamed this time, my voice ragged, the sound shaking the walls. If I didn't force him out, I was going to collapse in front of him.And I refused to shatter. Not again.

But Roman wasn't built for surrender.

Instead of obeying, he closed the distance in two strides and wrapped his arms around my waist, crushing me against his chest. His chin dropped to the crown of my head, the familiar weight of him pressing down like an anchor in a storm.

"Nice try. But you're not getting rid of me that easy, Sav," he whispered, the words vibrating against my hair. "I'm inside your blood.I'm part of you now."

I fought him, shoving against his chest, kicking at his shins."Why won't you just leave me alone?" My voice broke into sobs, hot and ugly.

He hissed when my elbow brushed his injured hand, but he didn't loosen his hold. Instead, he caught my wrists gently in his good hand,binding them together against my chest.

"You're gonna make this harder if you keep struggling, Savannah," he murmured, his voice low but... oddly familiar.

Way too familiar.

Something in me snapped. Maybe it was hysteria, maybe it was trauma, maybe desperation-but laughter burst out of me, raw and broken,tangled with heavy sobs.

Roman froze, then blinked down at me like I'd grown another head. "Are you...are you laughing right now?"

"That was exactly what Professor Kingston said the first time."

He fell silent instantly. And I knew it was because he was probably beating himself up for saying that.

'"This is all your fault," I whispered through tears, scrubbing at my wet cheeks with the heel of my hand. "You. Always you."

"Savannah." His voice softened, dropping into something rawer than l'd ever heard. "Don't bottle it up. Don't do this to yourself. You're hurting yourself more than anyone else ever could."

"Please, Roman..." I sniffled, forcing my body to go still against him."Just let me go."

For a long moment, I thought he wouldn't. His arms were iron bands.his jaw tight against my hair. Then, to my surprise, his grip loosened.

He slid down onto the couch and tugged me with him,guiding me until I landed clumsily on his lap.

"Great," I muttered, shifting, pushing at his chest. "Don't you

understand what let go means?"

"Stay," he said simply, as if it was the only word he knew. He pulled me closer,settling me so that I straddled him. His eyes burnedinto mine,and for once, I didn't see anger there. Just stubborn, relentless devotion.

"That's the opposite of letting go," I argued weakly. "Roman, my living room's a mess because of you. I should 'be cleaning right now,not...this." Excuses tumbled out of me because the truth-that I wanted to stay-was too dangerous to admit.

"I'll clean it," he said without hesitation. "Just stay here. Don't hide from me anymore,Savannah."

"I'm not hiding," I whispered.

"You are." His thumb brushed a stray tear from my cheek. "You've built so many walls around yourself you don't even realize they're crushing you. You don't have to be the unbreakable girl all the time."

"Easy for you to say."

His lips pressed into a grim line. "More than you know, I understand pain. I know what it's like to feel trapped inside yourself. I know what it's like to bleed and have no one notice."

His hand slipped beneath the hem of my blouse, rough calloused palm brushing against the bare skin of my back. His touch was slow,steady, nothing like the urgency in his voice. He wasn't trying to arouse me. He was grounding me. Each pass of his hand was a reminder: breathe.you're here,you're safe.

The tension in my shoulders began to melt despite myself. My body leaned into him of its own accord, exhaustion replacing the fight.

"You can lean on me. Savannah," he murmured.

I let out a shaky breath. "I know..."

The word slipped out before I could stop it.

My head rested against his chest, listening to the steady rhythm of his heart. His scent surrounded me. And my eyelids grew heavy.

And yet, as sleep threatened to pull me under, one thought circled endlessly in my mind.

What had Roman been through to know exactly how to hold me together when I was falling apart?