This was the brattiest I’d ever seen her, and I appreciated her attempt to act like a badly misbehaved child for what it was.
A test.
If she was disobedient for once, stopped being the good girl she’d been all her life, would I still love her?
Love her.
Love her.There.
I’d said it.
I spoke the words only in my mind, but even in the silence of that chamber, it sounded right.
This thing I held for Jessica in my chest, like a baby bird, afraid I’d drop it or hold it too tightly.
She was fragile but also powerful.
Anyone who could go her whole adult life being deceived by the one person who ought to keep her safe, her father, and not turn into a weeping sore of bitterness was resilient.
“No matter how nicely you ask me, you’re not taking me to bed, ever!” I could feel her heart thump
