Breathe for Me by Rhonda Helms

heart and show him how I ache for things to be different. But I can’t seem to get anything else past my closed throat.
    He turns his head and opens his eyes. In the dimming light, they look dark and moody. “No apologies, remember?” He offers a smile that doesn’t quite reach his eyes. My heart squeezes—even disappointed, he’s ever the gentleman. “I’ll see you tomorrow at school.”
    â€œNo,” I blurt out. A sudden swell of panic overcomes me. If we leave it like this, everything will be changed. The closeness we’ve achieved will be shifted into a distant companionship, one that will fade into nothingness.
    Trust me , he told me before. He won’t hurt me. Can I trust him with my secret? He wants to know the real me. Can I find the courage inside to share it with him, to risk his fear or scorn or disbelief?
    Dominic lifts his head and stares straight at me. “What do you want, Isabel?”
    I force myself to say the words that have rested on the tip of my tongue from the moment I realized I wanted to know him better. The ones I haven’t even dared to speak to Samantha. “I want to tell you the truth. About me.”
    He blinks, then pulls his key out of his car and gets out. He runs around the back, opening my door, and guides me out. He pauses. “Are you sure?”
    I nod, then lead him through the courtyard and up to my apartment. I scope it out first, making sure Sitri isn’t there, and gesture for him to have a seat. My legs are jittery, my fingers twisting each other into painful bends. Sweat drips down the side of my neck, down my back. I swipe it away, wiping my damp, gloved palm on the thigh of my jeans.
    Where do I start?
    â€œYou can take your gloves off,” he says quietly. His eyes follow me as I pace back and forth. “Make yourself a little more comfortable.”
    It takes a few moments to pull the gloves off, since they stick to my sweaty skin. I fling them onto the back of the chair, then take a seat there myself, rubbing my bare hands against my knees.
    â€œOkay,” I say, willing the right words to come to me. Can I do this? Am I ready? Because once I reveal the truth to him, I can’t go back. I force myself on. “I realize this is going to sound crazy, but Aggie’s…word touched on a lot of sore spots. Ones that have been an issue for a very, very long time.”
    He nods slightly and remains silent. His eyes are calm, his posture relaxed. He’s allowing me all the time in the world to speak.
    â€œI’m not—I’m not who you think I am.” I consider my next words. “The guy you saw in the library isn’t my ex-boyfriend. He’s…he’s my captor.”
    Dominic’s eyes squint, and a frown line creases between his brows. “I don’t understand. Are you in danger?”
    I raise a hand. “Just hear me through. I need to spit this out. And if you think I’m crazy and walk out of here and never want to speak to me again, I’ll completely understand.”
    Courage, Isabel .
    I turn my eyes down to my lap and begin. “A long time ago, my parents forced my engagement to someone I hated.” Even now, after all this time, the memory of Mr. Baker’s rancid hot breath in my ear turns my stomach, memories of him whispering the vile things he was going to do to me when we were married. “He was in his fifties, a widowed landowner with several young kids. He wanted a young wife to care for them. My parents thought it would be a move up for us. They said I was lucky to attract such attention.”
    I draw several ragged breaths. Dominic remains silent; I can’t even hear him breathing. I’m too afraid to look into his eyes, knowing I’ll see disbelief. I’m risking everything to spill out these words that have festered in my gut for so long.
    â€œBut what I wanted was to be free,” I continued. “To travel and see