Chapter 219

*LORENZO* Danica towel-dries her hair while I shave. The bruise on her side looks smaller, but it’s still a livid purple. A wave of guilt washes through me, she certainly gave me no indication last night or this morning that she was in any pain. She gives me a dazzling smile over her shoulder, and like a sea mist in the breeze, my guilt fades into the ether. Part of me wants to stay here with her forever. But I also need to leave. There was so much work for me to do in town and I didn’t want my father to notice. But it will be a shame to go. I’m enjoying our comfortable familiarity, and I marvel at the change in her. She seems far more confident, and it’s been only a few days. Tossing her hair to the side, with a glance at me, she strolls out of the bathroom, naked as the day she was born. I peek around the doorframe; the view is too tantalizing not to enjoy, her hair swinging almost to her waist in a gentle counterpoint to her walk. She stops at the bed and rummages through the wicker