Page 40 of Beautiful Ruins
Her eyes narrowed.“You care.”
I scoffed.“Don’t start.”
“Oh, I’m starting.”Tone’s lips twitched.“You care.”
“I care that she’s been associated with a man like Nathan, because it puts her at risk.”
“Sure,” Tone nodded, unimpressed.“And you care purely out of public service.”
I shot her a warning look.“Tone.”
She leaned in, grin sharpening.“You like having her here.”
“That’s not?—”
“She talks to you like you’re a regular person,” Tone continued, not letting me finish.“Not a monster.And it’s been so long since someone treated you that way.You like it.”
I felt something twist in my chest.Annoyance, yes—but also the ugly truth inside it.
Tone’s gaze didn’t move.“If you keep her here, she’ll start thinking she deserves it.That this is punishment.That she belongs in a cage because she loved the wrong man.”
The word cage scraped something raw in me.
I stood abruptly, the chair legs grinding against the floor.
Tone didn’t flinch.“Let her go.If you’re really worried about her ending up in his orbit again, then do something useful.Give her a way to call for help.Give her a safety net that isn’t a prison.”
A long beat passed.I hated that she was right.I hated it more that I was about to listen.
“Fine,” I relented.“I’ll take her home.”
Tone’s eyebrows lifted.“You’ll let her go?”
“I said I’d take her home,” I corrected.“That’s not the same thing.”
Tone’s smile returned, bright and smug.“Look at you,” she murmured.“Evolving.”
“Get out,” I told her.
She blew me a kiss and left the room knowing she’d won this round.
I didn’t move for a moment after the door shut.I stood there with my hands braced on the desk, staring at nothing, feeling something I didn’t like settling under my ribs.
Reluctance.Not about the decision.About what it would feel like afterward, when the house went silent again.
When I knockedon Izzy’s door, there was no answer.
I tried again, not louder, just firmer.
“Izzy.”
Silence.
“I’m taking you home,” I said through the door.
I heard the softest movement.A breath of air.Before the door opened slowly.
She stood there in one of the outfits Tone had brought—jeans, a pale top, hair still damp like she’d tried to wash the day off her skin.Her eyes were red-rimmed but dry.Like she’d cried earlier and refused to do it again.
