“With me.”
“Good.”
He crouched slightly.
“Listen to me.”
Emily nodded.
“You don’t have to be strong tonight.”
That broke her.
She started crying.
Lorenzo stood there while she cried.
He didn’t touch her.
He didn’t tell her to stop.
He simply stayed.
Exactly as he had promised without ever saying it.
Nobody would let her face the worst night of her life alone.
Margaret survived.
The injuries were serious, but she survived.
Lorenzo paid the medical bills.
Margaret argued with him the moment she woke up.
“You had no right.”
Lorenzo stood beside the hospital window.
“Probably not.”
“You can’t buy your way into our lives.”
“I know.”
“Then why?”
He looked at her.
“Because your daughter called me.”
Margaret stared at him.
“And if she calls again?”
“I’ll answer.”
Margaret was silent.
Finally, she whispered:
“Thank you.”
It was the first time she had ever said it.
