Elly rushed to my side, panic all over her face. “Are you hurt, Mommy?”
I managed a smile and shook my head. “No, sweetheart. Mommy’s okay. Let’s get out of here.”
I scooped her into my arms and turned for the gates.
But we didn’t make it far.
A cluster of guards moved in, blocking our way like a wall of stone. One stepped forward, voice cold. “Who said you could leave after that stunt?”
And then she appeared—Sally—striding out like a queen addressing her court, “Throw this crazy woman out like the trash she is. Don’t let her walk out of here.”
I hugged Elly tighter. “Don’t you dare touch her!”
Luckily they didn’t come for her. They came for me.
Five guards. Their hands gripped like iron, forcing me to the ground. I heard Elly scream, felt her little hands trying to pull them away. But she was no match for them.
My cheek scraped the stone as one of the guards shoved his boot between my shoulders, pinning me down. The pressure made my ribs scream.
And still—my only thought was Elly.
“Don’t cry, baby,” I gasped, blinking through the blur of pain. “Mommy’s okay. I promise.”
I let the pain settle, let it root itself deep into my bones—because in every ache, I remembered.
The first night I met Archie, saving him from the blackjack table with nothing but wit and bad luck.
The night we lay under the stars, talking about everything and nothing, until we fell asleep in the sand.
The moment he lifted me into the air, laughing, when we found out I was pregnant.
The way he knelt beside my hospital bed, that necklace in his hand, and promised to protect me and our child.
Every beautiful memory.
And in that moment, I chose to let them all go. Those memories didn’t belong to me anymore.
Archie Valez didn’t exist anymore.
The guards hoisted me up and dragged me through the courtyard like some criminal. Elly ran behind, trying to keep up, crying out between
