“Look at me.” I didn’t. “Look at me,” he repeated, tone calm and coaxing. I couldn’t. I felt him shift beside me and then his fingers were on my chin, tipping my face up to his. “You’re safe,” he whispered, cupping my cheek in his hand, eyes boring holes straight through my soul. “I promise.” That word. God. That one word broke me. It was all too much. My life. Those girls.

