Bam. Bam. Bam.

Muriella and I both froze. In the frenzy of getting ready, I’d somehow forgotten he was coming. My nerves spiked and I took a deep breath, centering myself. Daniel wasn’t expecting Nervous Nelly, and that wasn’t me any damn way.

“It’s time,” she whispered and gave me a quick hug. “I’ll go wait back there.” She motioned toward the bathroom.

I grabbed her hand and dragged her across the living room. We’d become close so quickly that I behaved as if we’d been best friends all my life. The truth was I needed her. Making friends with the other interns at work was difficult since we all viewed one another as competitors, but a few weeks of friendship with Muriella had cured some of the loneliness.

The knock this time was more insistent, impatient even. I smiled and counted to twenty before I opened the door. Daniel looked irritated, his fist raised as if about to knock the door down. He was devastating, wearing jeans and a white oxford shirt, the sleeves rolled up, revealing a hint of his forearms. I stared at them, allowing my imagination to meander down the path of what the rest of those arms looked like, given the muscle in just the sneak peek.

Then I remembered myself, lifting my chin, daring him to say a word about me appreciating his body. A smile tugged the corner of his mouth up.

“You were two seconds away from me coming in to get you.” He flicked his chin at my feet. “Nice shoes.”

Goddamn he was sexy. He thought me wearing the ballet slippers was the green light to get me in bed, but he’d learn soon enough he was sorely mistaken.

“Thank you. I hope you’ve come up with something better to do than just stand here all day,” I said haughtily, though I figured we could make that entertaining enough if we wanted.

“If that’s your way of asking where we’re going, I’m not telling you, Princess.”

“That’s your name.” The prospect of doing this all day long excited me.

“Hmm. I believe I called you that first, so technically it’s yours .”

He was right, but I shrugged indifferently. “It suits you better.” I pointed with my head behind me. “Want to come in? M made coffee.”

His brow furrowed as he peered past me. His eyes softened. “Good morning, Muriella.”

“I brought your breakfast over here.” She grinned mischievously.

“You two are up to no good.” His steps faltered as he pushed his way into my apartment. At the look on his face, I wanted to die. He was stricken, a deep line creasing his forehead as he scrutinized my tiny space.

I squared my shoulders and leveled him with a look. “Want a muffin? M made them out of eggs instead of flour. And what else?”

“Lots of stuff he likes,” she said saucily as she moved toward the little space that constituted my kitchen.

He seemed to snap out of wherever he’d gone, his eyes sparkling when Muriella slapped at my hand as I bit off a chunk of the egg muffins before she could officially offer them to us.

I sagged against the counter as I chewed. “God, you’re spoiling me. So bad.”

Muriella made the sign of the cross over her chest and said something unintelligible toward the heavens.

“Taking the Lord’s name in vain really bothers you, doesn’t it?” She’d corrected me several times since we’d met, but I never thought much of it. “I’m sorry. I’ll try to be more cognizant.”

She looked at me over her shoulder and smiled. “Thank you.”

“What made you so religious?” I asked casually, genuinely curious about what drove people to their faith. Daniel tensed, and a look passed between them. “I grew up in the church, so I always believed in God. I prayed for a miracle, and He gave me one. I’m not a zealot, and I won’t be trying to convert you.”

“Believe it or not, I used to go to church before I went to college,” I said.

“You are welcome to come with me any time you’d like.”

“Sure,” I said, popping another bite of muffin in my mouth. “What was the miracle?”

Daniel’s expression turned wary, but M’s turned brave. She sent a reassuring smile in his direction. “Daniel.”

My brows rose. I looked over at him, and he was studying the cabinets above my head. “How?” This was personal for both of them. I didn’t want to push, but that one-word answer had my curiosity in overdrive.

She pressed her lips into a thin line as if considering how much she wanted to reveal. Daniel gripped the edge of the counter, refusing to look at us.

“When I was fourteen, my brother put me in a container on a cargo ship. I don’t know how many days I was in the darkness—”

“Twelve,” Daniel grated out. Muriella and I stared at him. He didn’t meet our eyes, but added, “I looked into it.”

She looked at him with love. “You never told me that.” He stared back without responding. “For twelve days I was in darkness. The time came when I’d eaten the last handful of nuts I had left. There was no more water. I didn’t know when or if would get out of there. I prayed for God to save me. It was either that or drive myself mad with fear.”

I had to sit down, but there was nowhere to go, so I let the counter prop me up. What little she’d described was unimaginable. A child. Alone. In the dark. Having to ration her food. My eyes stung, but when Muriella straightened her shoulders, I couldn’t let any tears fall. The last thing she wanted from me was pity.

“I still hear the sound of the door handle. The way it protested when someone tried to open it.”

“I had to do it. Vinny couldn’t manage,” Daniel said with a bitterness that made my skin prickle.

“Who’s Vinny?” I asked.

“No one you ever need to worry about.”

The finality in his tone had M and me looking at one another, but neither of us pushed.

“The light burned when it reached the back where I was. I tried to open my eyes, but it took me holding them open as the voices got closer before they would finally stay open on their own.” She closed her lids briefly as if she were still there.

I shot across the short distance between us and put an arm around her waist, resting my head on her shoulder. She hugged me back and put her cheek on the crown of my head.

“That man who was with you, he was talking loudly. I couldn’t understand anything. They kept coming closer. I’d backed up until there was nowhere else for me to go, but my foot got tangled in my bag and made a scraping noise.”

Muriella shuddered in my arms.

“I can’t imagine how terrified you were,” I said, scared for her even though it was a lifetime ago.

“Daniel had been quiet the whole time the other man spoke. He diverted his gaze toward me without drawing attention. When he saw me, I froze. I had no idea what he would do. But I noticed he purposely tried to keep that man from seeing me, and I knew. In that moment, I just knew.” Her voice cracked on the last part, and I blinked rapidly to keep from crying.

Daniel’s face was stoic, but he was staring at us now.

“What happened? How did you end up with him?” I asked.

Her cheek swelled against my head. “He and the man left. I didn’t move.” A strange sound escaped her. “That’s crazy, right? They both looked dangerous. I’d been around men like them all of my life. But I didn’t move a muscle.”

“I was only gone for four minutes.” I lifted a brow at Daniel. This was a long time ago, yet he knew the details of that day down to the minute. “I couldn’t believe she was still there.”

“Daniel came back, and it was like breathing for the first time.” That statement from any other woman would have had my claws coming out. But not this one. It was definitely about love, but not the romantic kind. This was life or death.

“We couldn’t communicate, but she understood when I offered my hand.”

“I must have smelled awful,” she said, a note of shame in her voice.

“We did okay, didn’t we?” The fondness in Daniel’s voice took me by surprise. His emotions were hardly ever at the surface, yet there was no mistaking he was as affected by Muriella coming into his life as she had been to find him.

“We did.” She squeezed me one more time and let go.

“Why were you in that shipping container anyway?” I asked.

“Not today,” Daniel said sharply.

“Not today,” M echoed more gently with a sad smile before she brightened. “You two should get on your way.”

Daniel took my hand, threading our fingers together. “Ready to do this?”

A flurry of excitement swirled in my stomach. I grinned at him. “Absolutely.”