The fury in her eyes cools. It’s replaced with a sweet sort of hesitancy, like she hopes I’m telling the truth but can’t decide if I am or not.
My voice softer, I say, “Number three: total trust.”
She swallows. A panicked look replaces the hesitant one.
“I know that will be the hardest for you. Even more than you hate to be told what to do, you hate being vulnerable. Correct?”
After a moment, she nods.
She looks truly frightened now, the first time I’ve seen this from her. Kidnap her in a blaze of gunfire or tell her there’s a good chance she could die from a brain clot, no big deal. But ask her to open her heart, even for a night, and she reacts like a cornered wolf.
I wrap my arms around her and hold her tight. “It’s the same for me. The exact same. That’s why you have my word I’ll
