Page 281 of No Need to Run

---

I turn my head, looking at her. “Why me?”

“I already told you. The first time we met?—"

“I know that. I mean, what is it about me?”

Her posture stiffens. Her fingers clench the steering wheel tighter.

“Because you were unlike anyone I’ve ever met.”

I wait, not saying anything.

“The world I come from is... cold. Transactional.”

Her expression tightens. I catch a quick flash of anger before she masks it.

“People use you. Hurt you.”

My chest tightens. Something vicious twists inside me.

She finally turns her head to me.

“But not you. You were soft. Caring. I saw it in that brief moment when you saved me.”

Jesus.

My heart aches for her.

“When you looked at me, it was like... you saw me.” She swallows hard. “You cared.”

I hate the way her voice trembles at the end.

I hate that she wasn’t seen.

That she was hurt.

That she's still carrying it.

I watch her for a second longer. “Violet,” I rasp. “I’m sorry.”

She looks at me again. “That’s what makes you special, Drew.” She reaches over, squeezes my hand, then continues driving.

“Because I have basic decency.”

“It’s more than that.” Her eyes flick from the road to mine. “Because you’re real.”

I watch her.

How certain she is, despite what her life must’ve been like.

I remember the way she took on Smoke without hesitation.

The way she handled Julia.

“You don’t doubt anything, do you?” I ask.

“No.”

“That’s not normal.”

---