la

was warm.

occo draped it around my shoulders without looking at me, without saying a word. It hung heavy on my

d it on me like I was some frag

e I

ceremony, no time to think. One second I was standing in it, trembling. The next

the discarded fabric, h

co muttered, a

oll

o white, like a hospital or a mausoleum. My bare feet padded

utterly silent. Vince was already inside, seated in the back, his silhouet

I thought he meant to help me in. But

. The leather seat was cold against the back of my thighs, and I

d behind me wi

e were

side the car w

e elbow against the door, head turned toward the window,

had stretched too thin to be

o

ug

takab

s your

lin

answering might trap me in

hter and forced my voice to work. "I

ightly. Just enough tha

se

. Gol

uriosity? Hunger? I couldn't tell. His stare p

His voice wrapped around it, ma

say anyt

n't ha

my name-it was

cl

the window as if the mo

en smears of light. But I did

his thigh, the other near the control panel-long fingers, strong, still. The air f

did

trying to disappear into

k where we

I alre

tress. The place

prop

ed off the main road, gravel crunched beneath the tires. Tall gates pa

ose out of

t a ma

ing

. Silen

only by the softest golden lights along its edges. Like it

he front, and the door

epped ou

oll

y skin. I flinched. The ja

walked a step behind him, up the wide marble steps, through a

ng smelled of mo

caught the light like fire. A chandelier the size of a car

house wa

qu

o footsteps

ud of my own hea

until we reached

pped.

ne like a knife press

First door

, but sharp enough

llowe

what's i

dn't

r ro

r

dn't

pped c

. You'll stay out of sigh

. Not anger. Not softness eithe

ng to me

s tongue felt

a wh

br

ps disappearing down a different corridor, leaving me alone at the bo

or a long time

imbed the stairs slowly, eac

se I

walked throug

s no goi

open with a sof

wrapped in a jacket that didn't belong to me-staring i

asn't what

s bea

Cold.

ched. As if no one had ever really lived here. L

ike spilled milk. At the far end, a four-poster bed loomed-king-sized, draped in ivory linens, too pe

e silk. The windows stretched so high they

.. everything s

Smoke. Wi

closing behind me with a soft cl

't tur

s nowher

ssed against me. Like the w

olasses. The jacket slipped slightly off one shoulder

I expected-chains?

was none

ty hangers. A bathroom door standing open, inside gleaming tile and glass and gold. A silent te

rds. N

a r

essed lik

, my legs finally giving in. The mattress didn't c

t my hands

Pale. S

dn't

ght I

ears woul

wrung out.

room for signs of him. Any trace that he'd been

was no

rried his presence.

room belon

it belonged

I belong

that thought mad

e my thighs press toge

uld still smell h

I needed t

folding it carefully-too carefu

it, I wa

a

o the bathroo

aling marble counters and a gold-framed mirro

gnize the gir

Wide eyes. Bru

en broken open and stitc

pped

loser

ed out... and tu

he room. A balm ag

am

ed agains

the shower wi

e wate

t. The fear. The weight of

wash me

ured over me, soaking my

kn

could cleanse what

had touched nothing bu

ore I could bring my

d stopped feeling like protection and started feeling like noise. Then, slowly, I

me, fluffy and white, folded on the counter like someone had known I would need

tepped back into t

door was wi

sn't empt

out. Like maybe this was the moment the il

found was

s in m

e. A pair of slippers nestled at the bottom. Shelves of delicate underthings in pale shades-crea

oat ti

hadn't just be

en prepar

every la

t

an an hour since my world cracked open and I was ha

e pla

wor

else's room bef

rept acro

walls knew things I didn't. Like the mirror had seen gir

next, hands trembling

brush, hairbrush, skincare products in glass bottles with gold lid

t somehow...

pajamas folded on top of the comforter. Long-sle

re while I showered

ped them on, the fabric cool and whisper-soft against my skin. The pant

melled

't smell

hat made m

didn't. It swallowed me whole-too big, too soft, too quiet. T

staring at

dn't

dn't

silence. Wondering if he was somewhere in this house. Wond

th

movement in

under t

art s

knock

voi

ilence

now what would happen tomorrow. I didn't want to know what he'd want from m

losed

the bed

y me away from

ow, everything

toni

owed room, in silk pajamas that weren't mi

i

t yet