ness crashing through her brain. The freezing air rushed into her lungs, triggering a violent, tearing co

ward. He did not offer her a handkerchief. Instead, his upper lip curled in disgust, and he took a deli

g fit to stop. She lowered her han

her bloodshot, fever-bright e

aves crushing underfoot, but she enunciated every single syllable with surgical precis

f his massive ego slammed down. He could not accept that his son, the heir to his political dynasty, was a mal

nance exploded into

visibly against his skin. "You are so consumed by your pathetic jealousy of Anabell

of her mouth twitched upward into a smile that was so co

with venom. "Your perfect son is a monster. And

of Carl's pride. It attacked his parenting,

mind completely

t to the wine racks. Resting on the table was a massive, leather-bound, hardcover edition of the

o silence her, to punish her for speaking the ugly truth, he whi

o narrow. There w

er head to the left, raising h

n't fas

s entirely absorbed by her delicate skin and bone, causing the directory to drop straig

ght eye. She stumbled backward, her shoulder blades slamming hard against the wine rack. Several expensive

iated from her cheekbone, shooting stra

d flying up to cover th

her freezing skin. She slowly pulled her hand away a

vered in thick,

e book had sliced the skin o

ed by a sudden, icy shock. He stared at the blood dripping through Justine's fingers.

nsibility. His political survival d

panic as he pointed a shaking finger at her. "You pushed me!

rgue. She did not

loody hand. She let her

jawline, dripping onto the pristine white collar of her cashmere t

Carl through her left eye; her ri

usting experiment. There was no fear. There was no shock. There was only the terrif

p. Her silence was infinitely worse than screaming.

an yourself up," he ordered, his voice trembling slightly despite his effort

id not sa

ed down her cheek and stopp

extended her tongue and licked

he knew intimately from her years in the trauma ward. It was the taste of surv

as dead. The a

he dragged her freezing, trembling legs for

his hand, wanting to grab her arm, wanting to say som

hand as if he were covered in a lethal, flesh-eating virus. The

ng her slowly climb the stone stairs. Her back was straight

c seized Carl's throat. He felt th

directory that lay on the floor. The book skid

her hand against her bleeding face and walked

ping their rags, their eyes wide with horror as they stared at the

taircase. With every step she took toward her bedroom, she mentally buried the weak, p