make me safe. “Don’t look at me like that, all hopeful like I’ve
given you the keys to my inner workings. It’s not like that.
This doesn’t change anything. I’m not what you need,
Coralyn.”
Coralyn reached out, but her hand stopped midway. She
made herself stop. “Yes, you are, and you’re my fucked-up
calm in the storm.” Well, that wasn’t right at all. “My calm in
the fucked-up storm, I mean.”
“I think you had it right the first time.”
“Why did you tell me all of that?” Coralyn pressed. If Giana
wanted, she could brush past her and leave. She was still
standing there.
The hardness in Giana’s expression remained. “Because I
can force you into silence”
“No.” Her hand crossed that invisible boundary, reaching a
few more inches. “I think you needed to tell someone after all
these years. You aren’t who the world thinks you are. Maybe
you’re not even who you think you are.”
“I’m not interested in psychobabble. I’ve had ample
opportunity for therapy. It doesn’t help. You’re only here
because you’re confused. You went through a terrible trauma
and you’re turning to the first thing that you saw after, like a
baby coming out of its shell thinking that the first animal it
sees is its mother. I’m not that person. I’m not even your same
species. You’re the little hatchling and I’m the wrong animal.
I’m not kind or nurturing. I was there at your worst, and you
can’t get that out of your head.”
Did she really think that? “No.” Coralyn flat out refused
that. “You need this.”
Even after creating one massive fiancée and marriage lie,