He didn’t elaborate, but the weight behind his words made Elise’s stomach tighten. She wondered what kind of danger could require a person to abandon everything and how someone could live with the emptiness left behind.
He shifted in his seat, glancing at her pendant again. “There were people I thought of often,” he said, voice lower. “People I wished I could see again, if only to know they were safe.” Elise heard the ache beneath the controlled tone.