ISABELLA'S POV
The footsteps stop right outside.
Someone tried the handle and finds it locked.
"Bella?" Viktor's voice, rough and urgent. "Bella, it's me. Open the door."
Relief floods through me. I start to move toward the door, then stopped.
What if it isn't really Viktor? What if they'd captured him, were using his voice to trick me into opening the door?
"How do I know it's really you?" I called out.
There's silence. Then: "The first time I saw you, you were sixteen years old at your father's funeral. You wore a black dress and tried not to cry because you thought crying was weak. But you cried anyway when you thought no one was watching. And I wanted to hold you then, I wanted to tell you it was okay to grieve, but I couldn't because you were Roman's daughter and I was already
