Page 70 of The Billionaire's Angel

All I got was a tiny nod. I kissed her gently and straightened. Amelia slid beside her and pulled Sophie close, tucking Sophie's head against her shoulder and stroking herarm.

“I won't be long,” I promised and slipped from theroom.

Chapter Thirty-One

Sophie

Iwantedto call Gage back, to beg him to pull me into his arms again, to promise one more time that he could keep me safe. My worst nightmare had come to life the moment I saw Anthony at the front door of WintersHouse.

Worse than thebeatings.

Worse than the fear that he’d kill me in a fit of rage and bury my body in thewoods.

I'd had two years of freedom. I'd found love. I was happy. And then suddenly he was there, telling me to come home with him in that calm, icy voice I knew toowell.

I felt that voice deep inside, freezing me, chilling my heart and stealing it from Gage. I couldn't love Gage. I couldn't be with him. He deserved so much better than a woman who had married amonster.

A woman who had stayed with that monster after he’d unmaskedhimself.

I thought I'd forgiven myself for that. Maybe I did forgive myself, but I was still a frightened, broken thing. Anthony had hurt me, and I’d stayed, too weak and afraid to leave him. Afraid he’d kill me. Afraid he’d go too far in his rage and bury me in the cold earth in the woods behind thehouse.

I should have run. I should have taken the risk. I’d faced pain so many times, but when it came down to it, I was too afraid of dying to reach forfreedom.

Gage deserved so much better than a woman paralyzed by fear. He deserved so much better than a shattered mess. One sight of Anthony and I fell to pieces. Gage had survived six months as a prisoner of war. He’d never given up. Gage hadescaped.

I’d never asked him how many times he tried to get away, but I'd bet it was more than two. He'd fought for himself. He deserved a woman who could do thesame.

Amelia’s gentle strokes on my arm centered me after my endless crying fit. I hated that she’d seen me weeping like a child. I lifted my head from her shoulder and sat up, scrubbing at my face with mypalms.

“Drink this,” she said, pushing a teacup into my hands. I sipped lukewarm, overly sweettea.

Without thinking, I said, “I need to leave. If Anthony's alive, and we're still married, I can't stay here. I can't be with Gage. I have toleave.”

“Don't be foolish,” Amelia said in her best no-nonsense voice. “You need to stay exactly where you are. We’re your family, and this is your home. Gage loves you. I know you lovehim.”

“He deserves better than me,” I said, needing to get it out, to hear the words spoken aloud and make them real. “He fell in love with me because I was here and I'm convenient, but he's so much stronger than I am. I’m so scared. All the time. I thought I was getting past it, but one look at Anthony and I fellapart.”

“Sophie,” Amelia said, trying to soothe me. I wasn’t havingit.

“No. You don’t understand. He hit me, and I stayed. He beat me and kicked me like a dog, and I stayed. How can I ask Gage to love a woman likethat?”

Amelia handed me a cookie and said, “Eat this. You need sugar in your brain. You're not making anysense.”

“I'm making perfect sense,” I snapped back, her brusque manner sparking temper that should have been extinguished by all mytears.

“Rubbish,” she insisted, pushing the cookie into my hand. “Eat. If I can't have it, I don't want to see it go to waste. Perfectly good shortbread. She knows that's myfavorite.”

The familiar grumble brought me back to myself a little bit more. I straightened, taking a bite of the cookie. Salty, buttery, sweet shortbread melted over my tongue. I was the only one who knew that Abel baked shortbread because it was Mrs. W's favorite dessert, and he'd been sweet on her for years. I hadn't yet figured out if she returned hisfeelings.

At the thought that I might have to leave Winters House without ever knowing, new tears sprung to my eyes. I blinked them back. No more crying. I had to figure out what todo.

I nibbled the rest of the cookie, took a sip of tea, and tried to make sense of my roiling emotions. A part of me wanted to run out of the room and find Gage, to burrow into his strength and love. To let him protect me as he’d promised hewould.

I couldn’t. I was still trying to process seeing Gage and Anthony standing almost side by side. They were so different. Anthony's elegant, smooth façade covered the heart of a monster. Gage was so strong, body and mind, his heart loyal andtrue.

How could a woman who'd chosen the monster deserve thehero?

There was a weakness in me, a weakness had led me to marry Anthony, had convinced me to give in, to stay when I should've kept trying torun.