t the note when Adr

holding up

te and fling it

" I snarl by wa

as to be true though, right...? I mean, y

has my eyes. But the rest of h

tely Sonya t

t's a rhetor

only be

sappeared se

irl i

s out too fuc

o voices softly. "Fuck.

a possibility she was s

ks. "We had a funer

, a body never surfaced. There was no trail, no indication that she'd

never l

awa

appeared," Adriano says, thoug

aren

t I honestly don't know myself. My head is

u gonna do?"

ter under my breath. "Thi

The grounds of my mansion sprawl into the dista

s the same as it's ever been

Evie's eyes wouldn'

uc

H

," he suggests. "Places that wil

retending she'd never arrived on my doors

ain, even if everything else

ucking do

until a few minutes ago. But she's still my fuck

re foster homes. We can find a nice couple-a rich couple-to take her. Sh

t might even be the right cho

doesn't sit

N

N

g to anyone els

responsib

er what their real intentions

his eyebrows.

rta

" Adriano says cautiously. "But do you t

good qu

ave an answer

ee his grizzly, salt-and-pepper beard. His small, dark eyes. The

"father,

'm picturing gave

n't my fuc

er what

'good' father to go by

And I'm not even sure I can r

er her for me," I say, ignorin

extensive background checks. We'll need someone discreet, but I can have

t bot

wns. "What

murmur. "A way to kill t

ave a nanny in

t, I do. She's in m

RLO

LL IN THE MAZZEO

-is tha

I inch closer to the dark, co

finitel

by the lo

os

rif

lethora of scratches that have been etched

before me tried to

s almost relieved to see the glossy hardwood floors and handcra

pt on dragging m

frames of pr

ancient medi

surdly priceless collecti

ptly, and I was hurled into a

ollectibles lay on one s

obwebs, rat droppings

h side I e

the cell and slammed the door shut. The clunk of a

s an ho

lmost forty-five minutes

ved in

. Coaching myself through this like it was just a tiny b

erventilating and pacing back and f

foot jail cell was a

l, consuming all the calories I'd consum

s back with

at landed me here

nner door that separates m

set in the middle of it is a smallish

me to poke the tips

hands into the grooves and

just for a

uuc

y own voice sent back to me, distorted and h

t do me m

arse throat and painful

d up by the darkness. I can't

the walls and chills

ques

y ques

know I

ey come

ve realized I'm miss

wn the wall. I wrap my hands around my knees