THIRTY-SEVEN
LIV
Neither one of us uttered a word on the drive back to the hotel. Warin was quietly seething by my side, knuckles tight around the steering-wheel. And I… I was too stunned to say anything, or even wipe away the steady streams of tears rolling down my cheeks.
At the hotel, Warin walked me to my room, a hand resting on the small of my back as a gentle but constant reminder that he’d kept his promise—he’d stuck by my side through a night I hadn’t known how to get through.
And he’d stood up for me, like no one ever had. Not even me, truth be told. I’d never had the strength to. There’d always been that small voice at the back of mind telling me that I deserved what my family said to me. What they did.
It wasn’t until tonight, until Warin had showed me that I truly wasn’t a
