Chapter 35. The Woman Beside Him

She had chosen the pink dress. It still made her feel beautiful, and she refused to let Daphne own every memory attached to it.

“There,” Eva said. “You can stop twisting.”

“I wasn't.”

“I've seen less movement from people trying to escape handcuffs.”

Diana laughed, then smoothed the skirt unnecessarily. Her wrist no longer needed the brace all day, though she still handled it carefully. The fading bruises on her shoulder showed above the neckline. She'd considered covering them, then decided she wanted the dress more than she wanted to pretend the last two weeks hadn't happened.

Eva met her eyes in the mirror.

“You look happy.”

“I am.”

The admission felt easier now. There was still an investigation, still a guard downstairs, still a man who had tried to make her life smaller from the back of a van. None of those things had been repaired by falling in love. They also hadn't taken every good thing she had.

“